Rosehill Resources and Brahman Resource Partners are the latest energy companies to appear on the Texas bankruptcy docket at the mercy of the pandemic-fueled economic hardships hitting companies left and right.
After pre-announcing is bankruptcy, Houston-based Rosehill Resources made it official Sunday evening when it filed its Chapter 11 voluntary petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Jones’ court. The filing comes 11 days after the original July 15 date Rosehill said it would likely file by.
Gibson Dunn, & Crutcher and Haynes and Boone are advising Rosehill.
Haynes and Boone’s Kelli Norfleet filed the Rosehill’s voluntary petition, which was signed by Rosehill General Counsel Jennifer Johnson, who is serving as is the authorized representative of the debtor.
The Texas-based lawyers on the Gibson Dunn team include Houston partners Hillary Holmes, Shalla Prichard and James Chenoweth; Dallas partner Krista Hanvey; and Houston associates William Bald and Jordan Rex.
In addition to Norfleet, the Houston-based Haynes and Boone team includes partner Buddy Clark, counsel Arsalan Muhammad and associates Martha Wyrick, Kim Mai and Liz Felicidario.
The company turned to Opportune to serve as its financial advisor, Jeffries to serve as its investment banker and Epiq Corporate Restructuring to serve as its claims, balloting and administrative agent throughout the corporate reorganization.
An independent oil and gas operator with assets in the Permian Basin, Rosehill listed nearly $500 million in debt and $872 million in assets on its voluntary petition.
The company previously announced that it anticipated only filing for bankruptcy to implement the restructuring support agreement that it already reached with its lenders. Rosehill said in a company press release Monday that it entered bankruptcy under the same terms previously reached under the RSA.
Rosehill also said it plans to emerge from bankruptcy as a private company. If Judge Jones approves Rosehill’s plan, the company’s equity will go to certain of the consenting creditors and holders of Rosehill’s preferred stock. General unsecured creditors, including trade creditors and vendors, “will pass through the Chapter 11 cases with their claims unimpaired by the bankruptcy and being satisfied in full.” The plan also calls for all of Rosehill’s common equity to be cancelled with no recovery potential.
Rosehill’s largest unsecured creditor is New Orleans-based Cimarron Underground Services, which says it is owed $615,446. Other unsecured creditors in the top five all hail from Texas: Fort Worth-based Baseline Energy Services, San Angelo-based Multi-Chem, Dallas-based Goodnight Water Solutions and Pecos-based Z & T Cattle Company. Their debts owed range from $290,000 to $376,000.
The case is moving quickly; according to the docket, a final hearing on the disclosure statement and plan confirmation began this morning at 11 a.m.
For more information on the bankruptcy, see the Houston Chronicle’s report here.
Brahman Resource Partners
Spring, Texas-based Brahman Resource Partners also appeared on Judge Jones’ docket Sunday. The Delaware Basin and Val Verde Basin-focused oil and gas developer filed for Chapter 11 with $10 to $50 million in debts but less than $10 million in assets to work with.
Brahman’s legal advisor for the bankruptcy is Okin Adams, an eight-lawyer boutique firm that specializes in bankruptcy and restructuring, commercial litigation and corporate transactions.
Name partner Matthew Okin and associate Ryan O’Connor, both based in Houston, are on the bankruptcy. Before forming Okin Adams, Okin practiced at Akin Gump and Vinson & Elkins. Okin’s expertise stretches across all three of the firm’s core specialties.
In a court filing, Brahman Chief Executive Officer Clay Border cited the commodity prices and its inability to make timely payments to certain vendors critical to the company’s operations as reasons leading to Brahman’s Chapter 11 reorganization. Numerous vendors have already asserted mechanics and materialness liens against Branham and have initiated litigation in an attempt to collect their debts, the filing says.
Brahman’s top five unsecured creditors are all Texas-based companies: ETC Texas Pipeline Ltd ($6 million), Profac Services ($1 million), Stellar Drilling Fluids ($783,000), Schlumburger Technology Corp. ($498,000) and Wellbenders Directional Services ($487,000).