38 | LEXPERT • June 2018 | www.lexpert.ca/usguide
were located in Toronto, a decision was
ultimately reached to restructure its finan-
cial affairs, through a "formal Plan of
Arrangement" under the CCAA.
It was not an easy agreement to reach,
especially considering that Colombia had
its own, and different, process of dealing
with a company in such dire financial
straits. "Pacific has about 100 companies
in its group," says Tony Reyes, a partner
in the Toronto office of Norton Rose
Fulbright, which represented Pacific
during the restructuring process. "None
of them were in the US or Canada."
Under Colombian law, a Superinten-
dent was appointed, who potentially
had the power to take over the company
and run it as a Receiver would. If that
occurred, "you lose a lot of control and
that's very bad for business," says Brendan
Pacific Exploration
& Production Corp.,
the largest non-state oil
producer in Latin America,
announced it had successfully
implemented a restructuring
plan under Canada's
Companies' Creditors
Arrangement Act (CCAA)
By Paul McLaughlin
Insolvency
On November 2, 2016, Pacific Exploration
& Production Corp., the largest non-state
oil producer in Latin America, announced
it had successfully implemented a Restruc-
turing Plan under Canada's Companies'
Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA).
Falling oil prices in 2014 and 2015 had
crippled the company, which, by the time
of the negotiated Restructuring, had $5.4
billion in debt.
Pacific operated primarily in Colom-
bia and, to a lesser extent, in Peru, Brazil
and Belize, where collectively it employed
more than 2,000 people. e vast majority
of its creditors, however, were based in the
United States, where most matters such as
this would involve the company filing for
Bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11.
But because Pacific had been incorporated
in British Columbia and its headquarters
CANADIAN LAW IN
INTERNATIONAL INSOLVENCY
