Kathleen Vouris.
Last week saw one of those scenarios – not entirely uncommon – where the chair of a deadlocked meeting has to give effect to the phrase “creditors will determine the future of the Company”.
As well as defenestrating the spirit of the term in its purest sense, chairman or chairwomen choosing to use their power to break a deadlock invariably create a situation where their motives will be scrutinised intensely, and in the co-administrations of Orbis Commodities and Pacific Investment Holding there is no scarcity of microscopes.
Sources reporting to iNO in regards to the June 17 reconvened second meeting report that the creditors rejected each of the remuneration resolutions put up by the companies’ administrators, Kathleen Vouris and Richard Albarran of Hall Chadwick.
That resistance may perhaps be understood in the context of the Hall Chadwick duo’s original estimate of between $50,000 and $100,000 for a six to eight week VA.
The resolutions put to the vote however sought approval for fees in the order of $1.3 million, generated in the space of 15 months.
Albarran and Vouris of course can rightly allude to myriad complexities and delays which they clearly did not anticipate when slinging out the original costs and duration estimate.
This matter involves protracted negotiations with the Solomon Islands Government (SIG), a secured creditor and Chris Darin in his capacity as receiver appointed.
They’ve also undertaken public examinations of Darin and others in respect of lengthy asset sale campaigns.
This and other issues have forced the pair to seek court approval to extend the convening period for the second meeting on multiple occasions.
But creditor resistance didn’t discourage Vouris who chaired the meeting last week when it came to voting on the DoCA proposal, which the VAs had recommended.
When it was clear the vote was tied she used her chairwoman’s casting vote to break the deadlock.
This means the DoCA, which provides for the VA and deed administrators remuneration to be paid, got up despite resistance from certain creditors unhappy with the fees.
iNO was told that the draft DoCA includes a typographical error that indicates the VA and deed administrators’ remuneration and expenses are to be paid in priority to the debt owed to the secured creditor.
We asked Vouris and Albarran to confirm or deny but there was no response prior to publication.
Further reading:
VAs And Receiver Battle Over Battlefields
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