Mable Commercial Funding Limited (in administration)
This site provides information regarding the progress of the administration of Mable Commercial Funding Limited ("Mable") and will be updated as and when new information becomes available.
On 4 April 2025 the Administrators of Mable have issued a combined progress and final report including sending notice of move from administration to dissolution to the Registrar of Companies.
By order of the Court, the Administrators will be discharged from liability 28 days after the Registrar of Companies registers the notice. Mable will also be dissolved three months after the notice has been registered by the Registrar of Companies.
Alison Campbell Grant, David James Kelly, Dan Yoram Schwarzmann, Edward John Macnamara and Gillian Eleanor Bruce were appointed as Joint Administrators of Mable Commercial Funding Limited to manage its affairs, business and property as agents without personal liability.
Timeline
- In 2008, Mable Commercial Funding Limited ("Mable") entered administration after its parent company Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US.
- The administrators pursued the objective of achieving a better result for Mable's creditors than a winding up. Mable was a holding company that funded mortgages and asset-backed debt for its subsidiaries, which held various mortgage loan assets, bonds and residual interests in securitisation structures (Mortgage Assets).
- In 2009, the administrators implemented a hold strategy for Mable's mortgage loan assets, which were pledged as security for a loan to one of its subsidiaries.
- The Administrators also pursued intercompany debt recoveries from other Lehman entities, such as Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (LBIE), Storm Funding Limited (Storm) and Eldon Street Holdings Limited (Eldon Street).
- In 2010, the Administrators obtained creditors' approval for their remuneration and disbursements on a time-cost basis, and circulated their first fee analysis to creditors.
- The Administrators also instructed Linklaters LLP as their legal advisors and subcontracted tax services to the Lehman finance team employed by LBIE.
- n 2011, the administrators received distributions from the US affiliates of Lehman Brothers, as part of a global settlement of inter-company claims.
- They also applied to the Upper Tribunal to strike out the FSD proceedings, but the application was denied.
- In 2012, the administrators received further distributions from the US affiliates and other Lehman entities, as well as tax and VAT repayments.
- They also appealed the Upper Tribunal's decision on the FSD to the Court of Appeal, which was scheduled to begin in April 2013.
- In 2013, the Administrators obtained court permission to make distributions to unsecured creditors and set a last date for proving claims.
- The Administrators paid a first interim dividend of 16.1 pence in the pound, totalling £116 million, to creditors with agreed claims.
- In 2014, the Administrators paid a second interim dividend of 4.7 pence in the pound, totalling £33.9 million, and a third interim dividend of 3.3 pence in the pound, totalling £23.8 million, to creditors with agreed claims.
- The Administrators also received dividends from Storm and Eldon Street, and resolved a possible pension liability with the Pensions Regulator.
- In 2015, the Administrators paid a fourth interim dividend of 3 pence in the pound, totalling £21.6 million, to creditors with agreed claims.
- The Administrators also received dividends from Storm and Eldon Street, and reviewed the tax consequences of the proposed restructuring of Mable's subsidiaries.
- In 2016, the Administrators paid a fifth interim dividend of 3.43 pence in the pound, totalling £24.7 million, to creditors with agreed claims.
- The Administrators also received dividends from Storm and Eldon Street, and executed a transaction with a third party to realise value from a number of securitisation structures held by Mable's subsidiaries.
- In 2017, the Administrators paid a sixth interim dividend of 1.35 pence in the pound, totalling £9.7 million, to creditors with agreed claims.
- The Administrators also received dividends from Storm, Eldon Street and Resetfan Limited (Resetfan), and liquidated Preferred Funding 5 Limited (PF5), one of Mable's subsidiaries.
- In 2018, the Administrators issued a notice of intended dividend for a seventh interim distribution, expected to be between 35 and 43 pence in the pound.
- The Administrators also received principal and interest payments from the Mortgage Assets and prepared for the liquidation of three more subsidiaries: Preferred Holdings Limited (PHL), Preferred Group Limited (PGL) and Resetfan.
- In 2019, Mable Commercial Funding Limited (Mable) received dividends totalling £20 million from its subsidiaries SPML and PML, and paid its tenth and eleventh interim dividends to unsecured creditors, bringing the cumulative distribution to 85.53 pence in the pound.
Mable also commenced a sales process for SPML and PML, but did not receive any suitable bids, and began exploring alternative exit options with various stakeholders.
In 2020, Mable received a dividend of £1.1 million and a receivable of £1.4 million from Storm Funding Limited, another subsidiary, and issued a Notice of Intended Dividend for a twelfth interim dividend to unsecured creditors.
- Mable also faced challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected the performance of the mortgage assets held by SPML and PML, and required contingency plans and repayment holidays for some borrowers.
- Mable successfully concluded a compromise arrangement with its creditors, enabling them to receive a final dividend over and above what might have been paid on an interim basis.
- In April 2022, the Administrators issued their twenty-fifth progress report, which announced the successful conclusion of a compromise arrangement with Mable's creditors, enabling them to receive a final dividend over and above what might have been paid on an interim basis. The compromise arrangement also provided for the transfer of the majority of Mable's assets to LBIE and the creation of a trust in favour of LBIE over Mable's shares in its solvent subsidiaries, SPML and PML, which continued to generate dividends from the mortgage assets
- In 2023, Mable Commercial Funding Limited (in Administration) continued to receive payments from Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LBHI) as part of its claim in the LBHI bankruptcy proceedings.
- The payments totaled approximately $6,279 (£5,089) in 2023 and were paid directly to Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (in Administration) (LBIE) as Mable's sole remaining creditor under the Compromise Arrangement.
- LBIE also received dividends from Southern Pacific Mortgage Limited (SPML) and Preferred Mortgages Limited (PML), two subsidiaries of Mable that LBIE beneficially owns.
- The dividends amounted to approximately £6 million in 2023 and were part of LBIE's efforts to realize the value of SPML and PML, which involved entering into Non-Disclosure Agreements with interested partiees.
Contacts
- All queries to the Administrators of Mable should be sent to: generalqueries@lbia-eu.com.
Alison Campbell Grant, David James Kelly, Dan Yoram Schwarzmann, Edward John Macnamara and Gillian Eleanor Bruce are licensed in the United Kingdom to act as insolvency practitioners by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. The Joint Administrators are bound by the Insolvency Code of Ethics which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/insolvency-practitioner-code-of-ethics
The Joint Administrators may act as controllers of personal data, as defined by the UK data protection law, depending upon the specific processing activities undertaken. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP may act as a processor on the instructions of the Joint Administrators. Personal data will be kept secure and processed only for matters relating to the Joint Administrators' appointment. Further details are available in the privacy statement on the PwC.co.uk website or by contacting the Joint Administrators.
Mable Commercial Funding Limited is registered in England and Wales with registered no. 02682316.
VAT registration no. 446 9315 28
The Administrators are bound by the Insolvency Code of Ethics which can be found here.
Contact us
Performance and Restructuring Partner, UK Head of Insolvency, PwC United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)7974 332659
Chief Finance and Administrative Officer for Lead Advisory and Restructuring, PwC United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)7739 873104
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