Houston Chronicle by Sergio Chapa May 10, 2019 Updated: May 11, 2019
The oilfield services company Weatherford International has entered into an agreement with its top creditors that will allow the company to file for a "prepackaged" Chapter 11 bankruptcy — after more than four years without making a profit.
Weatherford said late Friday that the company had reached an agreement with creditors that hold 62 percent of a type of debt known as unsecured senior notes. Although not backed by company assets, unsecured senior notes have greater seniority and pay higher amounts of interest than other forms of debt.
The agreement allows the Swiss company, which has principal operations in Houston, to shed $5.8 billion of its $7.6 billion in long-term debt — in exchange for 99 percent of the stock in the reorganized company. The agreement also provides the company with $1.75 billion in fresh credit and loans.
Weatherford expects to implement the agreement through a "prepackaged" Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in the United States and similar proceedings in Ireland.
In a statement, Weatherford CEO Mark McCollum said high levels of debt hinder the company's ability to invest in growth and prevent it from completing a Feb. 2018 transformation plan. The agreement, he said, would improve the company's balance sheet without interrupting operations, vendors, customers and employees.
"We expect a restructuring will provide us with improved liquidity and greater financial stability and flexibility to make investments to enhance our platform while we continue to invest in the resources necessary for our business to grow," McCollum said. "We are confident that these steps will allow us to continue our transformation journey and position Weatherford for long-term success."
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https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Struggling-oilfield-service-company-Weatherford-13836989.phpMy son started with Weatherford right out of the Navy as a tech tearing down oil tools. Around about 4 years later when they laid him off he was a MWD Field Engineer.