McDermott International, Inc. announced that it has the support of more than two-thirds of all its funded debt creditors for a restructuring transaction that will equitize nearly all the Company's funded debt, eliminating over $4.6 billion of debt.
The restructuring transaction will be implemented through a prepackaged Chapter 11 process that will be financed by a debtor-in-possession ("DIP") financing facility of $2.81 billion. Subject to court approval, McDermott expects the DIP financing, combined with cash generated by McDermott, to enable the Company to stabilize its cash flows, continue operating in the normal course and fulfill its commitments to key stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, joint-venture partners, business partners and employees.
The Company also has secured committed exit financing of over $2.4 billion in letter of credit facility capacity and will emerge from Chapter 11 with approximately $500 million in funded debt. The restructuring transaction will strengthen the Company's balance sheet, normalize its trade debt and position the Company for long-term growth.
All of McDermott's businesses are expected to continue to operate as normal for the duration of the restructuring. McDermott expects to continue to pay employee wages and health and welfare benefits, and to pay all suppliers in full. All customer projects are expected to continue uninterrupted on a global basis.
This morning, the Company commenced solicitation of votes from its lenders and bondholders in support of a prepackaged Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization ("the Plan"). The Company intends to commence the prepackaged Chapter 11 filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas ("the Court") later today. The Company's support from all of its creditor constituencies is memorialized in a Restructuring Support Agreement. The Company plans to move swiftly toward Court approval of the Plan, with confirmation expected within approximately two months from filing.
As part of the restructuring transaction, subsidiaries of McDermott have entered into a share and asset purchase agreement (the "Agreement") with a joint partnership between The Chatterjee Group and Rhône Group (the "Joint Partnership") pursuant to which the Joint Partnership will serve as the "stalking-horse bidder" in a court-supervised sale process for Lummus Technology.
Under the terms of the Agreement, the Joint Partnership has agreed, and is committed, to acquire Lummus Technology for a base purchase price of $2.725 billion. McDermott will have the option to retain or purchase, as applicable, a 10 percent common equity ownership interest in the entity purchasing Lummus Technology. McDermott expects to hold an auction in approximately 45 days to solicit higher or better bids for the Lummus Technology business. Either the Joint Partnership or the winning bidder at the auction will purchase Lummus Technology as part of the Chapter 11 process, subject to regulatory and court approval.