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SemGroup LP closer to exiting bankruptcy
 
By STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Published: 11/27/2009  6:21 PM
Last Modified: 11/27/2009  6:21 PM

There continue to be indications that bankrupt Tulsa energy firm SemGroup LP will emerge from Chapter 11 creditor protection as soon as Monday.

Bloomberg News reported Friday that SemGroup may have its financing in place as the week begins, citing information from a person familiar with matter.

The debt package, arranged by BNP Paribas SA, Bank of America Corp. and Calyon, consists of $192.25 million in prefunded letters of credit and a $307.75 million revolving line of credit, said the person, who declined to be identified because the discussions are private.

SemGroup, which filed for Chapter 11 on July 22, 2008, will pay lenders to the prefunded letters of credit interest of 7 percentage points more than the London interbank offered rate with a Libor floor of 1.5 percent, the person said.

Late last week, SemGroup attorney Martin Sosland told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan L. Shannon in Wilmington, Del., that the company could exit Chapter 11 on Monday.

The plan calls for SemGroup, which has been a private company since its founding nine years ago, to emerge as a reorganized, publicly traded company focused on crude oil transportation and storage services.

Its stock listing on an exchange, such as the Nasdaq market or the New York Stock Exchange, will wait until early next year, according to officials.

Current CEO Terry Ronan, who has guided SemGroup ever since co-founder Tom Kivisto was replaced, is scheduled to get a $400,000 bonus.

Ronan will step aside for new leader Norm Szydlowski when the company emerges from Chapter 11.

The company also recently hired Bob Fitzgerald, a former Windsor Energy Partners executive and longtime Tulsan, as chief financial officer. He takes the post held until last year by SemGroup co-founder Gregory Wallace.

The parent SemGroup’s liquidity crisis became public 16 months ago when traded units of SemGroup Energy Partners LP, a publicly traded affiliate, tanked from $22 to $11 in one day. SemGroup LP sought Chapter 11 protection a few days later, listing at least $2.4 billion in lost margin calls and billions more in debt to secured and unsecured creditors.

The company filed its fourth reorganization plan before gaining approvals from producers, creditors and the judge. A yearlong battle over payment for oil and gas bought on credit was settled when SemGroup offered more than $300 million to producers.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reportedly is investigating actions at SemGroup LP.

A bankruptcy examiner’s report has accused Kivisto of misleading creditors and trading partners, enriching himself with millions of dollars in improper bonuses, and guiding a secretive, risky trading strategy that depleted cash flow in order to cover margin calls on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Kivisto, Wallace and Kevin Foxx formed what was later named SemGroup in 2000. The company grew rapidly, making national lists by 2005 with billions in annual revenue.

Wallace and Foxx also have been accused of mismanaging the company. All three SemGroup co-founders and other executives were later sued by their former employer in bankruptcy court. Kivisto, Wallace and Foxx have denied any wrongdoing and are fighting the lawsuit.

By STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

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Reader comments for this story have been moved to the most updated version of the story, now under the headline "SemGroup LP may soon emerge from bankruptcy," which was published on 11/28/2009. So far, 0 comments have been made.
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