全都是泡沫？美国十大破产企业六成是油企

With one exception, the Top 10 List of “public company” (defined as a company with publicly traded stock or debt) bankruptcies of 2016 consisted entirely of energy companies—solar, coal, and oil and gas producers—reflecting, as in 2015, the dire straits of those sectors caused by weakened worldwide demand and, until their December turnaround, plummeting oil prices. The exception came from the airline industry. Each company gracing the Top 10 List for 2016 entered bankruptcy with assets valued at more than $3 billion. Half of the companies on the Top 10 List filed prepackaged or prenegotiated chapter 11 cases.

Saint Louis, Missouri-based solar-energy company SunEdison Inc. (“SunEdison”) flared into the No. 1 spot on the Top 10 List for 2016 when it filed for chapter 11 protection on April 21, 2016, in the Southern District of New York with $11.5 billion in assets and more than $8 billion in debt. Bankruptcy had been a near-certainty for one of the nation’s biggest and fastest-growing developers of renewable-power plants for some time. SunEdison borrowed heavily in recent years to acquire wind and solar developers but faced disappointing earnings from its yield company subsidiaries, TerraForm Global Inc. and TerraForm Power Inc., which did not file for bankruptcy. SunEdison also failed to close several deals, including the $2.2 billion takeover of Vivint Solar Inc. and the $700 million buyout of Latin America Power, and faced allegations of financial reporting improprieties as well as investigations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice.

The No. 2 position on the Top 10 List for 2016 was excavated by the largest U.S. coal mining company, St. Louis, Missouri-based Peabody Energy Corporation (“Peabody”), which filed for chapter 11 protection on April 13, 2016, in the Eastern District of Missouri with $11 billion in assets and $10.1 billion in debt. Peabody’s chapter 11 filing was part of a wave of bankruptcies that have ricocheted through the U.S. coal mining industry, following filings by Arch Coal Inc.; Alpha Natural Resources, Inc.; Patriot Coal Corp.; and Walter Energy, Inc. Even though just under one-third of the U.S. grid is still powered by coal, and hundreds of mines are still profitable and operating, coal mining companies have struggled with a host of challenges. These include high leverage, low energy prices, stringent new environmental regulations, the decline of steel production, and power plants that have replaced coal with natural gas made abundant and cheap by shale drilling. The industry has also been troubled by slower demand from China. Jones Day is representing Peabody in connection with its chapter 11 filing.

Houston, Texas-based oil and gas producer LINN Energy, LLC (“Linn Energy”) trickled into the No. 3 spot on the Top 10 List for 2016 when it filed for chapter 11 protection on May 11, 2016, in the Southern District of Texas after reaching the broad terms of a deal with the majority of its lenders to restructure $8.3 billion in debt and obtain $2.2 billion in fresh financing. Linn Energy focuses its exploration and production efforts on the Colorado Rockies, California, the Hugoton Basin, the Mid-Continent, the Permian Basin, Texas, Louisiana, Michigan, and Illinois. It listed $10 billion in assets at the time of the chapter 11 filing. Yet another victim of the commodities rout, Linn Energy was once the largest energy producer operating as a partnership. Such partnerships were bankrolled by the U.S. shale boom, but many took on heavy debt loads to fund their acquisitions.

St. Louis, Missouri-based Arch Coal, Inc. (“Arch Coal”) collapsed into the No. 4 position on the Top 10 List of 2016. The second-largest coal miner in the U.S., Arch Coal filed for chapter 11 protection on January 11, 2016, in the Eastern District of Missouri to implement a restructuring to eliminate more than $4.5 billion in debt from the company’s balance sheet. Arch Coal produces and sells thermal and metallurgical coal from 16 surface and underground mines located in the U.S. It also sells coal to power plants, steel mills, and industrial facilities. Arch Coal ran into debt trouble after purchasing International Coal Group Inc. for $3.4 billion during a coal price peak in 2011. The company listed $8.4 billion in assets and $6.5 billion in debt at the time of the bankruptcy filing. The bankruptcy court confirmed a chapter 11 plan for Arch Coal on September 13, 2016. The plan provides for a debt-for-equity swap that cut Arch Coal’s debt load by 93 percent.

Los Angeles, California-based Breitburn Energy Partners LP (“Breitburn”) drilled into the No. 5 spot on the Top 10 List for 2016 when it filed for chapter 11 protection in the Southern District of New York on May 15, 2016, with $4.8 billion in assets and $3.4 billion in debt. Breitburn, once the largest U.S. oil producer organized as a master limited partnership, acquires, exploits, and develops oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas properties in the Midwestern U.S., Ark-La-Tex, the Permian Basin, the Mid-Continent, the Rockies, the Southeastern U.S., and California. Another victim of plunging oil prices and an unsustainable debt load, the company joined a crowd of oil and gas firms in bankruptcy.

Hamilton, Bermuda-based oil and natural gas producer Energy XXI Ltd. (“Energy XXI”) trickled into the No. 6 spot on the Top 10 List when it filed for chapter 11 protection on April 14, 2016, in the Southern District of Texas with $4.7 billion in assets and $3.6 billion in debt. Energy XXI engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of oil and natural gas properties onshore in Louisiana and Texas and offshore on the Gulf of Mexico. Energy XXI filed for bankruptcy to implement a prenegotiated chapter 11 plan that would eliminate substantially all of its debt by means of a debt-for-equity swap. The bankruptcy court confirmed Energy XXI’s chapter 11 plan on December 13, 2016.

Indianapolis, Indiana-based short-haul carrier Republic Airways Holdings Inc. (“Republic”) taxied into the No. 7 position on the Top 10 List for 2016, when it filed for chapter 11 protection in the Southern District of New York on February 25, 2016, with $3.5 billion in assets and $3.6 billion in debt. Republic operates a fleet of smaller planes that provide flights for larger airlines, including American Airlines Group Inc. (“American”), Delta Air Lines Inc., and United Continental Holdings Inc. Republic’s bankruptcy filing is the first by a major airline since American filed for chapter 11 in 2011. Republic blamed its failure to succeed on a pilot shortage and the grounding of planes during its negotiation of labor contracts and agreements with larger carriers. Key features of a proposed chapter 11 plan filed by Republic on November 16, 2016, include reinstatement of its secured debt, distributions of cash and stock to unsecured creditors, and the extinguishment of old equity. Republic also intends to standardize its operating fleet to a single line of jets, return “out of favor” leased aircraft, and modify codeshare agreements with other airlines.

Houston, Texas-based oil and gas exploration company Halcón Resources Corporation (“Halcón”) drilled its way into the No. 8 position on the Top 10 List for 2016 when it filed for chapter 11 protection on July 27, 2016, in the District of Delaware to implement a prenegotiated restructuring agreement that would eliminate $1.8 billion in debt and $222 million in preferred stock by means of a debt-for-equity swap. Founded in 2011 by legendary wildcatter Floyd C. Wilson, Halcón was a pioneer of the shale oil and gas boom, with operations in the Bakken Shale in North Dakota and the El Halcón in central Texas. The company listed $3.5 billion in assets and $3.1 billion in debt at the time of the filing. The bankruptcy court confirmed Halcón’s prenegotiated chapter 11 plan on September 8, 2016.

The No. 9 spot on the Top 10 List for 2016 belonged to Houston, Texas-based offshore drilling rig operator Paragon Offshore PLC (“Paragon”). Paragon filed for chapter 11 protection on February 14, 2016, in the District of Delaware to implement a prenegotiated restructuring plan that would reduce its debt by approximately $1.1 billion. Paragon listed $3.3 billion in assets and $2.6 billion in debt at the time of the filing. Sinking oil prices slowed Paragon’s drilling and production activities. In addition, Paragon’s big customers, including Petróleos Mexicanos and Petrobras, cut back their contracts significantly. Paragon proposed a chapter 11 plan that offered bondholders cash and equity in the reorganized company and allowed existing equity holders to retain a 65 percent stake in the company. The bankruptcy court denied confirmation of Paragon’s plan on October 28, 2016, ruling that the plan was not feasible because it drained too much cash from the company to allow it to survive the current downturn in the oil and gas industry.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma-based oil and gas producer SandRidge Energy, Inc. (“SandRidge”) trickled into the final spot on the Top 10 List for 2016 when it filed for chapter 11 protection on May 16, 2016, in the Southern District of Texas to implement a prenegotiated $3.7 billion debt-for-equity swap. SandRidge listed $3 billion in assets and $4.4 billion in debt at the time of the filing; the company engages in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and NGLs in Oklahoma and Kansas. The bankruptcy court confirmed SandRidge’s chapter 11 plan on September 9, 2016.