Bankrupt fracking-sand supplier Emerge Energy Services LP is sparring with the committee representing its unsecured creditors over the value the company’s assets, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The committee says the Fort Worth, Texas-based company is worth nearly double what Emerge has estimated as its worth. Emerge Energy’s experts have valued the company at roughly $200 million, while the committee’s experts say it is worth about $390 million. Patrick J. Carew, a lawyer representing the committee, said, “The fact that the debtors have had a shift in their industry, the fact that they have had constrained liquidity, does not mean these debtors are not valuable.” Hugh Keenan Murtagh, a lawyer representing Emerge Energy, said the company’s operations are challenged and its outlook is uncertain. Over the past couple of years, Emerge Energy hasn’t met its earnings projections and has had to revise lower owing to volatility in the oil-and-gas industry, Murtagh said. For example, pretax earnings for 2018 were forecast to be $135 million, but the actual results were $36 million, he said. Judge Karen Owens is expected to hear testimony over the company’s valuation over the next couple of weeks before confirming Emerge Energy’s chapter 11 reorganization plan.
