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OW Bunker receivers, trustees and ING Bank strike cooperation agreement

OW Bunker receivers, trustees and ING Bank strike cooperation agreement
OW Bunker receivers PwC, trustees Plesner and Gorrisen Federspiel, and ING Bank have agreed to cooperate on post-bankruptcy collection of assets assigned and charged to the bank.

PwC was appointed earlier in the month by ING Bank as agent for bankrupt OW Bunker's syndicate of banks to collect receivables owed to it under an Omnibus Security Agreement signed with the bunker company at the end of 2013.

Under the agreement between PwC, the trustees and ING the receivers collections team based in Denmark will pursue all global receivables assigned and charged to ING.

"All recoveries from receivables as at the point of bankruptcy will be paid into ING accounts and recoveries from currently uninvoiced OW Bunker Denmark sales will be paid into accounts controlled jointly by ING and the trustees," a joint statement said.

A team of 12 employees will be retained in Denmark to assist in the recovery process.

"The transaction provides for a stable platform to work out the OW Bunker global receivables book in an orderly manner," said Paul Copley, joint receiver and PwC UK partner.

"This deal demonstrates that, despite completely different jurisdictions, insolvency office-holders are able to co-operate across borders and creatively come up with solutions to enhance recoveries for both secured and unsecured creditors alike."

The trustees said they believe the deal will improve the position of unsecured creditors.

"This deal offers significant value for the unsecured creditors of OW Bunker Denmark," said Pernille Bigaard, trustee and Plesner partner. "By working together with the receivers and ING, we aim to maximise recoveries from the group's receivables base. That means that the chances of material recoveries for Danish unsecured creditors after repaying the banks are significantly improved."