Legal advisory for debt collection from ST3 Offshore – successful recovery of 1.25 million PLN out of turn

In 2017, we assisted a client in recovering a debt from the well-known factory ST3 Offshore sp. z. o.o., based in Szczecin. The initial debt amount owed by the factory to our client was 4.5 million PLN. The chances of recovering this amount were slim.

ST3 Offshore sp. z o.o. ceased paying its creditors. The factory’s management filed for bankruptcy, but soon withdrew the application. The reason was a decision by one of the shareholders (the state fund Mars TFI) to buy out the remaining shares and invest over 200 million PLN to repay part of the debt. Most creditors received up to half the value of their claims at the time.

However, a restructuring application was filled simultaneously.

For creditors and their effective recovery of the remaining debts, this was a rather risky move (restructuring suspends enforcement proceedings). Some creditors waited idly during this period, while others filed lawsuits hoping that the judgments would become final quickly, allowing them to immediately seize ST3 Offshore’s accounts.

We took a different approach. We knew it wouldn’t be possible to quickly conclude court proceedings with a final judgment. Therefore, we did not file lawsuits but instead submitted applications for security by registering mortgages on ST3 Offshore’s properties. The idea was that if the debt is secured by a mortgage, it can be pursued independently of the restructuring process.

The client was owed approximately 2.25 million PLN. We managed to secure an additional 1.25 million PLN with a mortgage. There wasn’t enough time for the last 1 million PLN (although this was beyond our control). We received the security on a Monday, but a few days later, it turned out that the court had announced the restructuring the before the weekend (on Friday, 2017).

As a result, our client was the only one among 400 to be able to recover an additional 1.25 million PLN during the ongoing restructuring. The remaining 1 million PLN was unfortunately included in the list of creditors. Due to the unsuccessful restructuring and bankruptcy of ST3 Offshore in 2020, we are still waiting to recover this amount.

Nevertheless, due to our bold approach, we successfully recovered 1.25 million PLN for the client in a hopeless situation. Other creditors were left empty-handed and are still waiting for the proceeds from the sale of ST3 Offshore to the Danish company VESTAS to be distributed.

Thank to our actions, the client:

• recovered an additional 1.25 million PLN during the ongoing restructuring,
• limited losses associated with the restructuring and bankruptcy proceedings,
• could participate in the prolonged bankruptcy process with greater peace of mind.

Such legal support is our specialty, which we can successfully provide thanks to our extensive experience and unconventional solutions.