12/13/17 Recap: Houston-based publicly-traded ($CIE) deepwater exploration and production company operating in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and offshore Angola and Gabon in West Africa has filed for bankruptcy. The company blames "a failed sale of Cobalt’s Angolan assets and the related litigation, the prolonged downturn in the exploration and production industry, and nearly $3.0 billion of funded indebtedness" for its filing. The company seeks a sale in bankruptcy. Other than the failed 2016 Angolan transaction, this story is pretty similar to other E&P bankruptcies we've seen in the past. Upshot: offshore exploration is expensive and with oil in the high 50s (a relatively high number), the economics aren't there to support the capital structure.
Jurisdiction: S.D. of Texas (Judge Isgur)
Capital Structure: $500mm '21 first lien notes (Wilmington Trust NA), $934.7mm '23 second lien notes (Wilmington Trust NA), $619.2mm '19 2.625% unsecured notes (Wells Fargo Bank NA), 3.125% $786.9mm '24 unsecured notes (Wells Fargo Bank NA)
Company Professionals:
Legal: Kirkland & Ellis LLP (James Sprayragen, Marc Kieselstein, Chad Husnick, Brad Weiland, Laura Krucks, Gabor Balassa, Stacy Pepper) & (local) Zach A. Clement PLLC (Zach Clement)
Investment Banker: Houlihan Lokey Capital
Claims Agent: KCC (*click on company name above for free docket access)
Legal: Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP (Andrew Goldman)
Significant Equityholders: First Reserve GP XI Inc., The Carlyle Group, Riverstone Holdings LLC, Paulson & Co., Hotchkis and Wiley Capital Management LLC
