Weatherford revokes its $1B public offering decision

Weatherford International, an oil and natural gas service company, has decided not to pursue its previously announced concurrent public offerings of ordinary shares of the company and mandatorily exchangeable subordinated notes of Weatherford International Ltd., a Bermuda exempted company and wholly owned subsidiary of the company. 

Namely, Weatherford on Monday issued a press release stating it would launch public offerings of ordinary shares and mandatory exchangeable subordinated notes of the company for an expected combined amount of $1 billion noting its intention to use the net proceeds from the combined offering to pre-fund potential acquisitions and for general corporate purposes. Hours later, Weatherford issued another press release stating it would not pursue the public offering.

“While investor interest was strong for this offering, we are unwilling to sell securities at prices that do not reflect the value we have created at Weatherford,” the company said in the second statement issued Monday.

Weatherford added: “The company continues on its resolute course of focusing on its core businesses and the efficiency of its operations. The company also continues to expect to deliver positive free cash flow in 2015 and years beyond, has ample liquidity, and remains focused on generating strong returns for our shareholders. “