White Plains lawyer Michael E. Foreman has been appointed to help a Singapore company restructure $325 million in debt in a rare Chapter 15 cross-border bankruptcy.
Blue Ocean Resources Pte. defaulted on notes due in 2020 and has filed a “scheme of arrangement” under the Companies Act in the Republic of Singapore.
Blue Ocean is an investment and trading subsidiary of PT Central Proteina Prima Tbk, an aquaculture company based in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Creditors have approved the reorganization plan proposed in Singapore. The Chapter 15 petition, filed on May 25 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, White Plains, is a mechanism for getting U.S. courts to recognize the plan and make it binding on American creditors and bondholders.
Any asset, such as a local bank account, is enough for foreign companies to establish jurisdiction and get access to the U.S. bankruptcy system.
White Plains is a popular place to file foreign bankruptcies because local U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert D. Drain has a reputation for being well versed in cross-border financial restructuring.
Meanwhile, Foreman describes himself as first and foremost “a restructuring lawyer,” on his website, with expertise in corporate bankruptcies, mergers and acquisitions, governance and dispute resolution.
