Article
Hunkemoller LME Challenge: Minority Bondholders Appeal Dutch Pre-Action Discovery Decision, Hearing Due Dec. 2; English Court to Set Trial Date Next Month
By: Connor Lovell
An ad hoc group, or AHG, of Hunkemoller’s former minority bondholders has appealed a January judgment of the Amsterdam District Court dismissing its pre-litigation discovery action against the lingerie company and its directors, sources tell Octus. The Amsterdam Court of Appeal is scheduled to hear the appeal on Dec. 2.
The pre-litigation suit was intended to support a prospective Dutch claim seeking “substantial” damages arising from a June 2024 uptiering transaction and subsequent distressed disposal in March 2025, which saw Redwood Capital take control of the lingerie group. The AHG also sought to have both transactions unwound.
The ad hoc group, which includes Cheyne Strategic Value Credit, Contrarian Capital Management and Man Group, held about 30% of the €272.5 million 9% senior secured notes due 2027, which were canceled as part of the distressed disposal.
In January the Amsterdam court rejected the request for documents as “premature and speculative.” To rule otherwise, the court said, would amount to “an unauthorized fishing expedition,” and preliminary evidence is not intended for that purpose.
English Litigation
The minority bondholders have also launched proceedings in England against the security trustee, TMF. The claimants are challenging the acquisition of the group by Redwood under the distressed disposal provisions in the English intercreditor agreement, sometimes called an “ICA drag.” The principal claim is that the enforcement instructions were invalid because the contractual power breached the implied abuse principle (the equitable principle that a contractual power must be exercised in good faith for the purpose of benefiting the class as a whole and not merely individual members or for a collateral purpose).
Rolling coverage of the English case is HERE.
A case management conference is listed for one day between July 27 and July 29. At that hearing, the court will set the scope of party discovery, the areas for expert evidence, the schedule leading up to trial and the trial date, among other details.
A ruling is expected either on the day or shortly after given the proximity to the end of the court term on July 31 and the subject matter, sources added.
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