A lawyer for a global group of investors in offshore drilling company Seadrill Ltd vowed yesterday to fight for fair treatment for bondholders unhappy with the company’s proposed debt-cutting plan, Reuters reported. Norway’s Seadrill filed for chapter 11 protection in Texas on Sept. 12, with a plan backed by nearly all lenders as well as holders of 40 percent of its bonds. The plan was backed by major shareholder John Fredriksen, the Norwegian-born shipping billionaire. It will extend by around five years maturities on billions of dollars in loans, intended to give the company breathing space until an industry recovery gains steam. Under the plan, holders of the company’s $2.3 billion in unsecured bonds would receive 14.3 percent of the stock in the reorganized company. That plan was “wholly unacceptable” to a group holding around 25 percent of Seadrill’s bonds, a lawyer for the group told a bankruptcy judge at a recent hearing. The group includes 38 investors from the United States, Europe and Asia, and funds managed by Nordic asset manager DnB Asset Management, Nine Masts Capital Ltd of Hong Kong, and U.S. hedge funds such as Phoenix Investment Adviser LLC.
