Seadrill eyes date for emergence from Chapter 11

Offshore driller Seadrill Limited expects to emerge from the Chapter 11 process in the first half of July 2018. 

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas overseeing the Seadrill’s chapter 11 cases entered an order confirming the driller’s plan of reorganization in April.

Since confirmation of the plan, the company has been preparing to close the plan transactions and satisfy conditions precedent, which will occur on the “Effective Date” of the plan anticipated to be in the first half of July 2018, Seadrill said in a statement on Thursday.

Existing Seadrill Limited will be wound up and the new company with the reorganized capital structure will assume its name.

“We plan to re-list the new company’s common stock on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Oslo Stock Exchange as before, retaining the same ticker symbols as before. Listing for both exchanges is expected to occur during July 2018, shortly after the effective date,” Seadrill said.

The plan will result in the equitization of approximately $2.3 billion in unsecured bond obligations, more than $1 billion in contingent newbuild obligations, substantial unliquidated guaranty obligations, and more than $250 million in unsecured interest rate and currency swap claims, while leaving employee, customer, and ordinary trade claims largely unimpaired.

On the effective date, the company will issue its equity, debt, and cash distributions.

According to Seadrill, the plan will enable the company to emerge with a re-profiled capital structure and sufficient liquidity that puts the company in a strong position to execute its business plan.