Simpson Thacher is representing Morgan Stanley Capital Administrators Inc., as administrative agent, for a group of prepetition term lenders and DIP lenders (comprising Morgan Stanley, Ares, Apollo and Angelo Gordon), in connection with Sundance Energy Inc.’s comprehensive financial restructuring, which is being implemented through a pre-packaged chapter 11 plan of reorganization.
On March 9, 2021, all of the lenders executed a restructuring support agreement with Sundance and Sundance’s RBL lenders, which allowed Sundance to file for chapter 11 in the Southern District of Texas on March 9, 2021 with 100% creditor support. Sundance expects to continue operations uninterrupted through the chapter 11 case. Trade creditors are expected to receive payment in full under the pre-packaged plan.
In connection with the filing, the term lenders committed to provide a junior DIP facility of up to $50 million, which will be used to support Sundance’s ongoing operations and comprehensive restructuring. Upon confirmation of the pre-packaged plan, the term lenders and DIP lenders will each receive a pro rata share of all of the reorganized equity in exchange for their outstanding DIP loans and prepetition term loans. The RBL lenders agreed to accept a partial pay-down of the prepetition RBL and will provide a new Exit Facility, which will be used to finance the reorganized company upon emergence from chapter 11.
Sundance Energy Inc. is an independent energy exploration and production company located in Denver, Colorado, that is focused on the acquisition and development of large, repeatable oil and natural gas resource plays in North America.
The Simpson Thacher team included David Zylberberg, Daniel Biller and Dov Gottlieb (Restructuring); Robert Rabalais, Andrew Lanius, and Hunter Hampton (Credit); Jim Cross, Brad Honeycutt and Daniel Lewis (M&A); Brian Rosenzweig (Capital Markets); Bill Russell (Litigation); Jonathan Goldstein and William Smolinski (Tax); Larry Moss and Alyssa Ohanian (ECEB); and Michael Isby (Environmental).