Administration And The Statutory Purpose: Unsuccessful Challenge To An Application To Appoint Administrators

Duncan Lole and Olivia Robinson discuss their recent case in the High Court (Strategic Advantage SPC v High Street Rooftop Holdings Limited [2020] EWHC 2572), in which the Court considered the statutory purposes of administration and in what circumstances the making of an administration order is an appropriate exercise of the court's discretion on the application of a qualifying floating chargeholder. Hugo Groves and Matthew Maddison of Enterprise Chambers were instructed by Walker Morris LLP on behalf of the Applicant.

What was at issue?

The case involved an application by Strategic Advantage SPC (the Applicant) for an administration order in relation to High Street Rooftop Holdings Limited (the Company). The Applicant applied principally on the ground that it was a debenture holder under a facility agreement and that events of default had arisen in relation to loans which it made to the Company, entitling it to appoint an administrator under paragraph 14 of