全球最大海上钻机所有者瓦拉里斯宣布破产

    中国石化新闻网讯 据彭博新闻社8月19日纽约报道，总部设在英国的瓦拉里斯公司成为全球油价暴跌的最新受害者，这个试图重组其大约70亿美元债务的全球最大海上钻机所有者周三（19日）宣布破产。

    在根据美国破产法第11章向美国德州南区破产法院申请破产保护之前，瓦拉里斯公司曾表示，该公司可能会因逃避支付债券而被迫寻求债权人保护。

    瓦拉里斯公司在一份声明中称，该公司已与大约半数票据持有人达成了一项具有约束力的重组支持协议，并获得了5亿美元的债务人持有资产融资。在破产申请中，瓦拉里斯公司的资产总额约为130亿美元，债务总额约为78.5亿美元。根据重组提议，瓦拉里斯公司将取消股份，并将其循环信贷安排和无担保票据换成股权。

    瓦拉里斯公司首席执行官汤姆·伯克在声明中说：“Covid-19疫情加剧了能源行业的大幅下滑，这要求我们采取这一步骤，创建一家能够适应该行业长期收缩的更强大的公司。”他说，该公司计划在破产期间继续不间断地为客户提供服务。

    声明称，重组协议将削减逾65亿美元债务，并将把瓦拉里斯公司现有的信贷安排和无担保票据转换为股权。现有债券持有人同意支持5亿美元的新债券。

    李峻 编译自 彭博社

    原文如下：

    Valaris, world’s largest offshore rig owner, declares bankruptcy

    Valaris Plc became the latest casualty of the global slump in oil prices, filing for bankruptcy Wednesday as the world’s largest offshore rig owner by fleet size seeks to restructure a roughly $7 billion debt load.

    The Chapter 11 filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas comes after the company said it could be forced to seek creditor protection after skipping bond payments.

    Valaris has entered into a binding restructuring support agreement with about half of its noteholders and received $500 million in debtor-in-possession financing, the company said in a statement. The company listed total assets of about $13 billion and total debts of about $7.85 billion in its bankruptcy petition. Under the restructuring proposal, the Valaris will cancel shares and will swap for equity its revolving credit facility and unsecured notes.

    “The substantial downturn in the energy sector, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, requires that we take this step to create a stronger company able to adapt to the prolonged contraction in the industry,” Valaris Chief Executive Officer Tom Burke said in the statement. The company plans to continue serving customers uninterrupted throughout the bankruptcy, he said.

    The restructuring agreement, which will cut more than $6.5 billion of debt, will convert Valaris’s existing credit facility and unsecured notes to equity, according to the statement. Existing note holders agreed to backstop $500 million of new notes.