Gulfport Energy Corp., Oklahoma City, Okla. together with its wholly owned subsidiaries, filed petitions for voluntary relief under chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas in order to implement restructuring contemplated by a restructuring support agreement.
Gulfport intends to continue to operate in the ordinary course of business during the restructuring process. For the year’s second quarter, the company’s last available quarterly report, Gulfport posted a net loss of $561.1 million (OGJ Online, Aug. 4, 2020).
The company entered into the RSA with over 95% of its revolving credit facility lenders and certain noteholders holding over two-thirds of the outstanding aggregate principal amount of its senior unsecured notes. Attached to the RSA is a pre-negotiated restructuring plan. Gulfport expects to eliminate $1.25 billion in funded debt and significantly reduce annual cash interest expense going forward. Gulfport also will issue $550 million of new senior unsecured notes under the plan to existing unsecured creditors of certain Gulfport subsidiaries. Certain of Gulfport’s noteholders have committed to backstop a minimum new money investment of $50 million in the form of convertible preferred stock.
Gulfport has secured $262.5 million in debtor-in-possession financing from existing lenders under its revolving credit facility, including $105 million in new money that will be available upon court approval. Gulfport has also received a commitment from its existing lenders to provide $580 million in exit financing upon emergence from chapter 11.
