4th Circuit: In re Province Grande Olde Liberty- Recharacterization of Debt as Equity

Summary: Following In re: Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors for Dornier Aviation (North America), Inc., 453 F.3d 225 (2006), the Court of Appeals affirmed the recharacterization by bankruptcy court of an equity investment as debt. The Dornier factors are: (1) the names given to the instruments, if any, evidencing the indebtedness; (2) the presence or absence of a fixed maturity date and schedule of payments; (3) the presence or absence of a fixed rate of interest and interest payments; (4) the source of repayments; (5) the adequacy or inadequacy of capitalization; (6) the identity of interest between the creditor and the stockholder; (7) the security, if any, for the advances; (8) the corporation’s ability to obtain financing from outside lending institutions; (9) the extent to which the advances were subordinated to the claims of outside creditors; (10) the extent to which the advances were used to acquire capital assets; and (11) the presence or absence of a sinking fund to provide repayments. For a copy of the opinion, please see: Province Grande Olde Liberty- Recharacterization of Debt as Equity