Ocean Rig completes debt restructuring. Lenders to name directors

Ultra-deepwater drilling company Ocean Rig has informed that it has completed its debt restructuring.

In a statement on Thursday, the company providing offshore drilling rigs to the international oil and gas industry, said that all the scheme conditions previously agreed with creditors and its rig-owning subsidiaries were satisfied, meaning that the company has now completed its debt restructuring.

Ocean Rig said the restructuring schemes provided for substantial deleveraging of the scheme companies -it and its subsidiaries – through an exchange of approximately $3.7 billion principal amount of debt (plus accrued interest) for new equity of the company, approximately $288 million in cash and $450 million of new secured debt.

After the hearing held before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court on September 20, 2017, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court issued an order granting comity and giving full force and effect to the Schemes in the United States.

As part of the deal, the board of directors will consist of seven directors, of which three will be appointed by certain significant lenders and four directors will be appointed by Chairman and CEO George Economou.

This means that, without the approval of the lenders’ directors the company will not be able to issue of common shares or other securities, pay dividends, if any, on the its common shares, modify debt, or enter into of certain extraordinary transactions and engage in certain other major actions.

Post restructuring, the company will have a total cash of at least $690 million, including about $20 million restricted cash associated with the Ocean Rig Apollo, and assets (book value basis) of about $2.9 billion, including about $570 million associated with newbuilding installments and about $650 million associated with the Ocean Rig Apollo.

Furthermore Ocean Rig debt will be about $567 million, including about $117 million associated with the Ocean Rig Apollo. Backlog is about $1.2 billion, including about $109 million in termination fees associated with the Ocean Rig Apollo drillship.

George Economou, Chairman and CEO said: “I thank the Joint Provisional Liquidators, our advisors and our financial creditors for the tremendously hard work required to implement a complex restructuring of this nature. We have been supported throughout by our clients, employees and vendors and, having been placed on firm financial footing, Ocean Rig looks forward to focusing back on its underlying business.”

Offshore Energy Today Staff