The Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2013 became law on 24th December 2013.  Section 2 of the Act gives jurisdiction to the Circuit Court to hear examinership petitions for small private companies which meet certain criteria. The criteria for assessing whether a company is a small company are defined under the 1986 Companies (Amendment) Act 1986 and must satisfy two out of three of the following conditions:-

1. Turnover not exceeding €8.8 million
2. Balance sheet assets not exceeding €4.4million
3. No more than 50 employees

Upon issue of the commencement order for Section 2 from the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, small companies eligible under the stated criteria will then have the option to apply directly to the Circuit Court to have an Examiner appointed rather than only being able to apply to the High Court as was previously the case.   The intention of this provision is to make the examinership process more accessible and cost effective for small private companies. If you are interested in discussing this further, please contact Mary Flanagan, Director of Business Advisory Services at Cooney Carey, on +353 (0)1 677 9000 or by email.

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