SemGroup files bankruptcy reorganization plan
NEW YORK (Reuters) - SemGroup LP SEMGP.UL on Friday filed a bankruptcy reorganization plan with the court, saying it has lined up $500 million in financing, and expects to emerge from Chapter 11 as a publicly traded company later this year.
SemGroup, an oil and gas services company, was the 14th-largest privately held U.S. company when it filed for bankruptcy protection in July 2008, after sustaining $3.2 billion in losses due to bad bets on oil prices.
The company, which had earlier expected to liquidate, on Friday filed a Chapter 11 reorganization plan with a Delaware bankruptcy court, saying it expects to be able to distribute about $2.27 billion in value to its creditors.
The company said it is still on track to emerge from bankruptcy in the third quarter of 2009, pending a creditor vote, and court approval.
In its reorganization plan, SemGroup said its creditors will own substantially all of the equity of the reorganized publicly traded company.
SemGroup has lined up a $500 million senior-secured revolving credit facility from a group of its pre-bankruptcy lenders, which will provide working capital when it exits from bankruptcy, the company said in a statement.
The company's reorganization plan contemplates the issuance of $300 million in new secured notes, the creation of a litigation trust, retaining its Canadian subsidiaries and keeping its headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
SemGroup also plans to refinance an existing $120 million secured facility that is used to partially fund construction of the White Cliffs pipeline, and reenter the crude oil marketing business, it said.
SemGroup is the parent of SemGroup Energy Partners LP (SGLP.PK), an oil and gas transportation company, but the companies have said previously they plan to separate as SemGroup exits bankruptcy.
The case is In re: SemCrude LP, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware, No. 08-11525.
(Reporting by Emily Chasan; Editing by Gary Hill)
