SAPURA 1200 LTD & 3 Ors

Case Significance

Re Sapura 1200 Ltd [2024] SGHC 242 was a grounds of decision of Aedit Abdullah J in the General Division of the High Court of Singapore, dated 18 September 2024, following hearings on 5 July and 2 September 2024 in Originating Application No 626 of 2024. The applicants were Sapura 1200 Ltd together with Mohd Anuar bin Taib, Chew Seng Heng and Norzaimah binti Maarof. The application was brought in the matter of Part 11 and Section 252 of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (2020 Rev Ed) and Articles 15 and 19 of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency.

The judge issued brief grounds to capture the use of the Protocol on Court-to-Court Communication and Cooperation between Malaysia and Singapore in Cross-Border Corporate Insolvency Matters, and the application of the draft Judicial Insolvency Network guidelines on the Management of Applications for the Arrest of Vessels where the Vessel Owner or Bareboat Charterer is the Subject of Cross-Border Insolvency Proceedings, with the stated hope of guiding practitioners. The catchwords identify the issues as recognition of foreign insolvency proceedings and coordination of cross-border insolvency proceedings. By way of background, Sapura 1200 Ltd is a direct subsidiary of Sapura Offshore Sdn Bhd, itself a subsidiary of Sapura Energy Berhad, and on 20 February 2024 the Sapura Group applied to the Malaysia Court for an order to convene meetings. The applicants were represented by Oon & Bazul LLP, including Angela Phoon Yan Ling and Han Guangyuan Keith.