Hercules Offshore Inc. plans to put itself into bankruptcy next month in a creditor-supported deal that would wipe out all of its $1.2 billion of debt, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The offshore drilling rig owner grappling with a cash crunch after oil prices plunged entered into a pact with more than 67 percent of its junior-ranked bondholders that would transfer the company’s ownership to them in exchange for canceling its borrowings, according to a regulatory filing yesterday. The restructuring support agreement requires Houston-based Hercules to file for bankruptcy by July 8. Investors of six sets of unsecured and convertible notes would trade their holdings for 96.9 percent of new common stock in a reorganized Hercules, according to the filing. The company’s existing equity holders would see their stake reduced to 3.1 percent. The company plans to issue $450 million of new borrowings when it emerges from bankruptcy to fund the remaining cost of constructing a new drilling rig, the filing shows.
