The application for directions
22 There is no doubt that s 437A(1)(c) of the Act permits an administrator to sell the assets of a company in administration. In the present case, acceptance of the ASA offer will mean that, by the time of the second meetings of creditors, essentially the whole of the assets of the companies in administration will have been sold. This will likely limit the type of arrangement that might otherwise have been available under a deed of company arrangement proposal, and the creditors will not have an opportunity to consider the sale transaction. The Administrators submitted that, although acceptance of the ASA offer will not render a deed of company arrangement impossible, it will certainly render it more unlikely.
23 Although satisfied of the commercial benefits of accepting the ASA offer, Mr Reidy has noted that:
he has not publicly advertised the availability for sale of the assets of the companies in administration;
the period within which the assets have been offered for sale has been truncated;
the creditors will not have had an opportunity to vote on the transaction contemplated by the ASA offer; and
the transaction will not be part of a deed of company arrangement proposal.
24 Mr Reidy said that, generally, it is his preference to conduct a public sales process and to conduct a longer marketing program. However, for the reasons explained in his affidavit, he is mindful of the risks posed with respect to a significant diminution in the value of the group's assets, with little prospect of achieving a greater return to creditors.
25 It is, therefore, the circumstances in which the ASA offer comes to be accepted that is of concern to the Administrators, and whether the propriety or reasonableness of their actions in accepting the ASA offer in those circumstances will be called into question.
26 Former s 447D(1) of the Act provided that an administrator of a company under administration may apply to the Court for directions about a matter arising in connection with the performance or exercise of any of the administrator's functions and powers. This provision has now been repealed. The Administrators submitted that a comparable facility is now to be found in s 90-15 of Sch 2 to the Act, which provides that the Court may make such orders as it thinks fit in relation to the external administration of a company, including an order determining any question arising in the administration. I am not aware of any case that has considered and explained the ambit of s 90-15, in particular whether it includes a similar facility to that provided by former s 447D(1). Certainly, some cases have pointed to that possibility without deciding the question: In the matter of Glengrant Civil Pty Limited (in liq) [2017] NSWSC 843 at [11]; In the matter of Worthbrook Pty Limited [2017] NSWSC 1036 at [14]; Cussen, in the matter of Zerren Pty Ltd (in liq) [2017] FCA 981 at [12].
27 Uninstructed by authority, I would have thought that directions about a matter arising in connection with the performance or exercise of an administrator's functions or powers would fall within the purview of the statutory power to make an order that determines a question arising in the external administration of a company. I propose to proceed accordingly. In so doing, I will act on the principles which have guided the Court's jurisdiction under former s 447D(1), in particular Goldberg J's summation in In the matter of Ansett Australia Ltd and Korda (No 3) [2002] FCA 90; (2002) 115 FCR 409 (Re Ansett).
28 At [65] in that case, Goldberg J said:
This review of the authorities satisfies me that the prevailing principle adopted by the courts, when asked by liquidators and administrators to give directions, is to refrain from doing so where the direction sought relates to the making and implementation of a business or commercial decision, either committed specifically to the liquidator or administrator or well within his or her discretion, in circumstances where there is no particular legal issue raised for consideration or attack on the propriety or reasonableness of the decision in respect of which the directions are sought. There must be something more than the making of a business or commercial decision before a court will give directions in relation to, or approving of, the decision. It may be a legal issue of substance or procedure, it may be an issue of power, propriety or reasonableness, but some issue of this nature is required to be raised. It is insufficient to attract an order giving directions that the liquidator or administrator has a feeling of apprehension or unease about the business decision made and wants reassurance. There must be some issue which arises in relation to the decision. A court should not give its imprimatur to a business decision simply to alleviate a liquidator's or administrator's unease. There must be an issue calling for the exercise of legal judgment.
29 His Honour continued at [66]:
The administrators may be correct in their submission that there is no rule of law and no fixed principle that a consideration of commercial issues is precluded, as the jurisdiction of the Court to give directions under provisions such as s 447D and s 479(3) of the Act is discretionary. The exercise of that discretion will vary depending upon the nature and novelty of the matters and issues which are brought before the Court. From time to time, the Court is necessarily drawn into a consideration of commercial issues where there is a matter giving rise not only to the need to make a business or commercial decision, but also to issues of propriety, power, reasonableness of conduct, contested issues of legal principle or procedure or challenges to the decision made by the liquidator or administrator. Such a situation arose, for example in Re Codisco Pty Ltd (supra), Sanderson v Classic Car Insurances Pty Ltd (supra) and Re Addstone Pty Ltd (in liq) (supra). Nevertheless, there is the well-established principle to which I have referred, namely that a court will not give directions approving of a commercial or business decision made by a liquidator or administrator where the decision is within the power of the liquidator or administrator, and there is no challenge to it or other issue arising in relation to it such as propriety or reasonableness, or calling for the exercise of legal judgment.
30 In Killer, in the matter of North Coast Wood Panels Pty Ltd (Administrators Appointed) [2011] FCA 776, in circumstances very similar to the present case, Greenwood J was disposed to give directions under former s 447D(1). In that case, the administrators had decided to sell the business of the company in administration where the sale had been brought about within an extremely short period of time and where, as a consequence, the market had not been fully tested for the sale of the assets. The business was the only asset of the company. His Honour noted (at [47]) that the administrators were concerned to ensure that their conduct was "proper, justifiable, reasonable and prudential in the circumstances confronting them". After considering Re Ansett, Greenwood J concluded (at [58]):
In these proceedings, a question arises about whether it is proper and reasonable in all the circumstances reflected in the matrix of fact deposed to by Mr Killer and accepted by the Court, to enter into, perform and settle the transaction for the sale of the business of the Company. That question is a "matter arising" for the purposes of s 447D which properly goes to the exercise of the discretion in order to provide protection to the administrators. I am satisfied having regard to the matters identified by the administrators that it is proper and reasonable to enter into and perform the transaction.
31 I accept that, in the present case, the Administrators are not merely seeking reassurance in relation to the commercial decision they have reached. Their decision to accept the ACA offer, in the circumstances facing them, raises at least the possibility of issues concerning the reasonableness and propriety of their actions in proceeding in that way.
32 Counsel for the Administrators submitted:
The Administrators seek the protection [of a direction] because of the unusual circumstances in which the undoubted power to sell the assets of the companies comes to be exercised. The effect of the transaction will be to limit any real prospect of the business of the companies being continued as a going concern. Further it is a transaction which is to be undertaken without the administrators having undertaken what might be seen as a more usual sales and marketing campaign. These matters render the decision a matter in which it is reasonable for them to approach the Court and seek the protection of a [d]irection. Although the decision does involve an element of commercial judgment they do not ask the Court to approve or sanction their exercise of that judgment. That decision has been made by them. For the reasons given by Greenwood J in the North Coast Wood Panels decision the subject matter of the application is an appropriate one for the giving of a direction.
33 I accept that submission.
34 I also accept the submission that:
There is no reason to doubt the soundness of the administrators approach to the proposed transaction. In the limited time available to them they have received and/or sought offers and expressions of interest for the assets of the companies. They have retained external experts to assist in managing that process and have as a result satisfied themselves that the [ACA offer] is the best that can be achieved. Further they have obtained valuation advice that the price to be obtained for the assets is above that which might reasonably be anticipated for the assets which are actually available for sale. They have explained the reasoning behind the exercise of their commercial judgment and that reveals no error of approach or principle.
35 In the circumstances, I propose to give an appropriate direction under s 90-15.