Fieldwood Energy LLC, one of the largest oil producers in the Gulf of Mexico, sought bankruptcy protection yesterday after agreeing to the terms of a novel deal with investors that calls for a combination of a debt-for-equity swap and the purchase of Noble Energy Inc.’s Gulf-based oil and gas assets, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Fieldwood, which is backed by energy investment firm Riverstone Holdings LLC, filed for chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston with a pre-packaged bankruptcy plan that hands control of the reorganized business to a group of junior debt holders, which includes Riverstone, and slashes $1.6 billion in debt off its books. Riverstone, which pumped nearly $700 million into Fieldwood’s equity since founding the company in late 2012, will see its stake greatly reduced under the chapter 11 plan. The New York investment firm will emerge with about 50 percent of the equity in the reorganized company by swapping debt it owns and injecting new cash.
