Pacific Drilling S.A. (OTC: PACDQ) (the “Company”) announced that
effective today the Company and certain of its affiliated chapter 11
debtors have emerged from bankruptcy after successfully completing
restructuring transactions pursuant to their chapter 11 plan of
reorganization (the “Plan”).
In connection with emergence from bankruptcy, the Company raised
$1.5 billion in gross proceeds in new capital, consisting of
$1.0 billion of new secured notes and $500 million of equity.
Pursuant to the Plan, the Company equitized approximately $1.85 billion
in pre-petition debt associated with the Company’s Term Loan B, 2017
Notes and 2020 Notes, and paid in full approximately $1.2 billion of
debt related to its pre-petition senior secured credit facility,
revolving credit facility and the post-petition debtor-in-possession
financing. Customer, employee and ordinary trade claims were unimpaired.
The Plan has strengthened the Company’s balance sheet by significantly
reducing its leverage and enhancing its liquidity, with approximately
$400 million in cash upon emergence and no debt maturities until late
2023, positioning the Company to take advantage of its dedicated,
high-specification deepwater drillship fleet in anticipation of an
improving market for offshore drilling services.
Following a reverse stock split and the issuances of common shares in
connection with the Plan, the Company has approximately 75.0 million
shares outstanding. The Company’s shares prior to the Company’s
emergence from the Chapter 11 proceedings have been diluted such that
they represent in the aggregate less than 0.003% of the Company’s
outstanding shares.
Any questions regarding distributions pursuant to the Plan should be
directed to the Company’s claims agent, Prime Clerk, at the numbers
provided below.
The Company was principally advised by Togut, Segal & Segal LLP and
Jones Walker LLP.
In accordance with the Plan, a newly constituted Board of Directors of
the Company was appointed, consisting of W. Matt Ralls (Chairman),
Bernie G. Wolford Jr. and David Weinstein as Class A Directors and
Daniel Han, Donald Platner and Kiran Ramineni as Class B Directors.
In addition, the Company announced today that Bernie G. Wolford Jr. has
been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Company, effective
immediately. Mr. Wolford succeeds Paul T. Reese, who served as Chief
Executive Officer of the Company since August 2017.
Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Wolford served as Senior Vice
President – Operations of Noble Corporation (“Noble”) since February
2012 and Vice President – Operational Excellence from March 2010 to
February 2012. Mr. Wolford began his career in the offshore drilling
industry with Transworld Drilling Company in 1981, which was
subsequently acquired by Noble.
“On behalf of the Board and the entire Company, I want to thank Paul for
his service and contributions to the Company, especially during the
reorganization. We wish him the very best in his future endeavors," said
W. Matt Ralls, Chairman of the Company’s Board of Directors.
Additional information regarding the Company’s new capital structure and
restructuring details can be found at the Company’s restructuring
website at www.pacificdrilling.com/restructuring,
in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.pacificdrilling.com/investor-relations/sec-filings,
and via the Company’s restructuring information line at +1 866-396-3566
(Toll Free) or +1 646-795-6175 (International Number).
About Pacific Drilling
With its best-in-class drillships and highly experienced team, Pacific
Drilling is committed to becoming the industry’s preferred
high-specification, deepwater drilling contractor. Pacific Drilling’s
fleet of seven drillships represents one of the youngest and most
technologically advanced fleets in the world. Pacific Drilling has its
principal offices in Luxembourg and Houston. For more information about
Pacific Drilling, including our current Fleet Status, please visit our
website at www.pacificdrilling.com.
Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements and information contained herein constitute
“forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and
are generally identifiable by the use of words such as “anticipate,”
“believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “our
ability to,” “may,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “potential,”
“projected,” “should,” “will,” “would,” or other similar words, which
are generally not historical in nature. The forward-looking statements
speak only as of the date hereof, and we undertake no obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements after the date
they are made, whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
Our forward-looking statements express our current expectations or
forecasts of possible future results or events, including our future
financial and operational performance and cash balances; revenue
efficiency levels; market outlook; forecasts of trends; future client
contract opportunities; contract dayrates; business strategies and plans
and objectives of management; estimated duration of client contracts;
backlog; expected capital expenditures; projected costs and savings; and
the potential impact of our Chapter 11 proceedings on our future
operations and ability to finance our business.
Although we believe that the assumptions and expectations reflected in
our forward-looking statements are reasonable and made in good faith,
these statements are not guarantees, and actual future results may
differ materially due to a variety of factors. These statements are
subject to a number of risks and uncertainties and are based on a number
of judgments and assumptions as of the date such statements are made
about future events, many of which are beyond our control. Actual events
and results may differ materially from those anticipated, estimated,
projected or implied by us in such statements due to a variety of
factors, including if one or more of these risks or uncertainties
materialize, or if our underlying assumptions prove incorrect.
Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
from our expectations include: the global oil and gas market and its
impact on demand for our services; the offshore drilling market,
including reduced capital expenditures by our clients; changes in
worldwide oil and gas supply and demand; rig availability and supply and
demand for high specification drillships and other drilling rigs
competing with our fleet; costs related to stacking of rigs; our ability
to enter into and negotiate favorable terms for new drilling contracts
or extensions; our ability to successfully negotiate and consummate
definitive contracts and satisfy other customary conditions with respect
to letters of intent and letters of award that we receive for our
drillships; our substantial level of indebtedness; possible
cancellation, renegotiation, termination or suspension of drilling
contracts as a result of mechanical difficulties, performance, market
changes or other reasons; our ability to execute our business plans; the
effects of our completed Chapter 11 proceedings on our future
operations; and the other risk factors described in our 2017 Annual
Report on Form 20-F and our Reports on Form 6-K. These documents are
available through our website at www.pacificdrilling.com
or through the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
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