Chesapeake Energy Corporation announced it has engaged Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and MUFG to assist with the arrangement of a secured five-year term loan in an aggregate principal amount of $1.0 billion. Chesapeake intends to use the net proceeds of the loan to finance tender offers for certain of its unsecured notes announced today. Chesapeake expects this financing and the tender offers to improve its financial flexibility as it will allow for the retirement of existing debt with upcoming maturities.

The loan will be from one or more commercial banks, and will be secured by the same collateral securing the company's revolving credit facility (with a position in the collateral proceeds waterfall junior to the credit facility).

Amounts borrowed under the new term loan facility will be unconditionally guaranteed on a joint and several basis by Chesapeake's direct and indirect wholly owned domestic subsidiaries that are guarantors under the company's revolving credit facility.

Chesapeake's ability to establish the new facility and borrow thereunder will be subject to the receipt of commitments from lenders to provide the facility, the negotiation and execution of definitive loan documents and other customary conditions.

Headquartered in Oklahoma City, Chesapeake Energy Corporation's operations are focused on discovering and developing its large and geographically diverse resource base of unconventional oil and natural gas assets onshore in the United States.  The company also owns oil and natural gas marketing and natural gas gathering and compression businesses.