Companies that face serious difficulties in fulfilling their obligations on time are in a difficult economic situation (Article 17-B of the CIRE).

The Special Process of Revitalization (PER) aims to allow a company that is in an economically difficult situation or in a situation of near insolvency, the possibility of being able to recover, negotiating with its creditors with a view to reaching an agreement that allows its revitalization (Article 17-A, paragraph 1 of the CIRE).

For this purpose, the company will have to issue a written statement signed by its legal representatives, certifying that it meets the necessary conditions for its recovery (Article 17-A, paragraph 2 of the CIRE).
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It must also present a signed statement, no more than 30 days ago, by a certified accountant or a chartered accountant, whenever the auditing of accounts is legally required, certifying that it is not currently in a situation of insolvency.

The process begins with a written declaration, by the debtor and at least one creditor, to negotiate the revitalization of the latter, through a recovery plan, which they will have to approve. The debtor and all creditors who wish to participate in the negotiations must sign the final agreement document, which must contain the date on which this document was signed.

Subsequently, with the declaration signed by all, the debtor must: communicate to the competent court that he intends to start negotiations with a view to its revitalization, and the court must appoint a provisional judicial administrator; copies of the documents that form part of the process must also be sent by the debtor.

After this phase, when the company is notified of the appointment of the provisional trustee, it is obliged to immediately communicate to all creditors who have not subscribed to the initial declaration, inviting them to participate in the negotiations and informing them of the documentation delivered in the court secretariat, for consultation if they wish (Article 17-D, paragraph 1 of the CIRE).

Subsequently, creditors have a period of 20 days to claim claims from the provisional judicial administrator, counting from the publication of the order appointing him on the CITIUS portal (support portal for the functioning of the courts), pursuant to article no. 17-D of the CIRE.

The provisional list of credits is immediately presented and published and, if not challenged within five working days, it becomes definitive.

After this moment, the declaring parties have 2 months, which can be extended for another one, to conclude the negotiations (Article 17-D, paragraph 5 of the CIRE).

During the entire time that the negotiations take place, creditors who did not initially sign the declaration may declare that they intend to participate in them. These statements will then be added to the process.

With the beginning of the PER, the so-called stand still period is enshrined, which means that the special revitalization process prevents the initiation of any actions for the collection of debts against the debtor and suspends ongoing actions with the same purpose , which will be extinguished as soon as the recovery plan is approved and ratified, unless it provides for something else (article 17-E, paragraph 1 of the CIRE).

Likewise, if the debtor’s declaration of insolvency has been requested, this process will also be suspended, unless his insolvency has already been declared. Likewise, if the insolvency process has been suspended during the negotiations, it will be terminated with the approval and ratification of the recovery plan (article 17-E, no. 6 of the CIRE)

Finally, if the judge appoints a provisional judicial administrator, the debtor is prevented from performing acts of special importance without his authorization (article 17-E, paragraph 2 of the CIRE).

Negotiations can be concluded with the approval of the recovery plan (Article 17-F of the CIRE) or without its approval (Article 17-G of the CIRE).

Since the recovery plan is unanimously approved, it must be signed by all, and sent to the process for approval or rejection by the judge. If there is no unanimous approval, the plan is sent to the court, being considered approved if:
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being voted by creditors whose claims represent at least one third of the total claims related to voting rights, collect the favorable vote of more than two thirds of the total votes cast and more than half of the votes cast corresponding to non-subordinate claims, abstentions not being considered as such; or
collect the favorable vote of creditors whose claims represent more than half of all claims related to voting rights, and more than half of these votes corresponding to non-subordinate claims, abstentions not being considered as such.

The process may end, either because the deponents conclude that it is not possible to reach an agreement, or because of the lapse of time to complete the negotiations (2 or 3 months).

If the company is not insolvent, all PER effects cease.

However, if the company is already in a situation of insolvency, the closure of the PER entails the declaration of insolvency of the company, declared within 3 working days from the notification to the court of the termination of negotiations.

The company that wants to use the PER, must take into account the fact that the closing of the process prevents it from using it for the next two years.