Texas-based utility Energy Future Holdings Corp. is looking to get out of bankruptcy by way of a $12.2 billion deal focused on its valuable Oncor electricity-transmission business, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The proposed transaction was made official yesterday in a revised chapter 11 exit plan filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. The new plan is expected to expedite the big bankruptcy case, with the first confirmation hearing moving up to October from January, as originally scheduled. The sale of Oncor, the key component of the new plan, would guarantee full payment to the creditors of the unit that owns it. Under the plan, Energy Future’s other unit — which comprises its electricity generating and retailing businesses — would be spun off into a separate company. The Dallas energy giant sought chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 2014, hoping a pre-packaged restructuring of its $42 billion debt load would gain sufficient support from creditors to carry the plan to court approval. The first plan fell apart, leaving Energy Future struggling to find a path out of bankruptcy that wouldn’t doom it to years of litigation. Among the chief backers of the new turnaround plan are creditors who were the most vocal opponents of Energy Future’s original restructuring strategy.
