26th July 2020

Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court grants petition by Antigua PM to appoint LIAT Administrator

By DNO

The efforts of Prime Minister Gaston Browne, toward the reorganization of LIAT, advanced further Friday with a successful petition in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.

The petition was for the appointment of an Administrator, who would be charged with taking the lead in restructuring the regional carrier.

Cleveland Seaforth of BDO (an international network of public accounting advisory firms), was the Prime Minister’s nominee – and his appointment led to a stay being granted on the LIAT creditors meeting, which was scheduled for July 31.

Senior Counsel, Anthony Astaphan, led the government’s case in the court and shared with Observer what these developments mean for LIAT.

“It was a petition to begin the process of reorganization by the appointment of an Administrator and a stay on all proceedings against LIAT — civil, liquidation, proceedings by the shareholders, creditors — which would give the Administrator, who was also appointed by the court [the power] to take a deep look at LIAT and to make a recommendation one way or the other,” Astaphan said.

The next step would be the Administrator assuming control of the assets and management of LIAT.

“Then they would have to begin the exercise imposed on him by the legislation of the amendments that were made [in the Antigua and Barbuda parliament] recently,” Astaphan explained.

He said the big takeaway from this decision, should be that LIAT is no longer under immediate threat of liquidation.

“It is a very, very important step because it gives the Prime Minister the opportunity to be able to work with the Administrator, and for the administrator to take a look at everything to be able to come to the conclusion whether LIAT 1974 Ltd, of one sort of the other, would be able to reorganize and to be back in the sky,” he said.

The court made it clear that the stay extends to both the creditors meeting, as well as the shareholder’s agreement to liquidate the company.

LIAT was represented in the court by Attorney, Stacy Roach, who did not object to the petition or the appointment of the Administrator.

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