KKR’s Samson Resources to file Ch 11: WSJ

The producer of oil and gas is expected to make the filing in mid-September, the Journal said.

The Journal reported that Samson “agreed to hand ownership to its lenders in bankruptcy, a move that would wipe out the roughly $4.1 billion investment of KKR and its partners in the buyout, the people said… Samson’s board approved the restructuring agreement Friday afternoon, one of the people said.”

Samson said in a March regulatory filing that it might file for Chapter 11 if it was unable to refinance its debt obligations, according to Reuters.

Citing a Bloomberg report, Reuters reported last month that Samson was in talks with its unsecured bondholders to come up with a restructuring plan to avoid bankruptcy.

The following Reuters story was first published on July 2, 2015:

Samson Resources revives debt talks with unsecured bondholders: Bloomberg

U.S. oil and gas producer Samson Resources Corp is reviving talks with its unsecured bondholders on a restructuring plan that would allow it to stay out of bankruptcy court and preserve some value for shareholders, Bloomberg reported.

Samson Resources had said in March that it may file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection if it was unable to refinance its debt obligations.

The company, which was acquired in a $7.2 billion deal in 2011 by a team of investors led by KKR & Co, had a total debt of about $3.9 billion as of December 31.

Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Samson is running a dual-track negotiating process with two creditor groups – its unsecured bondholders and a group of senior creditors, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The unsecured bondholders – led by Blackstone LP’s credit unit GSO Capital Partners LP, Oaktree Capital Group and Centerbridge Capital Partners – have proposed that Samson convert its debt into a combination of senior notes and equity. The new debt will be senior to the second-lien term loan, Bloomberg reported.

The senior creditors have been working on an alternative plan that would give them control of the company in a court restructuring. Under their plan, the senior lenders would swap debt for equity, which would leave junior creditors without much to recover, Bloomberg said.

Representatives of Samson, Blackstone, Oaktree Capital and Centerbridge Capital could not immediately be reached for comments outside regular U.S. business hours.

(Reporting by Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru)