West Texas fracker Sable Permian Resources LLC has filed for bankruptcy protection after years of riding the ups and downs of commodity prices in out-of-court restructurings, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Talks continue between the company and its top lenders, though secured bondholders owed more than $707 million say they have concerns about the company’s corporate governance. Damian Schaible, lawyer for a group of bondholders, said at a hearing Friday that Sable Permian’s top-ranking lenders had agreed on a restructuring plan weeks ago and presented it to the company. After a wait, Schaible said the company countered with an offer that he called dead on arrival, meaning it was unacceptable to the senior lenders. “The process that was used to reject it furthered certain concerns that our noteholders have had for some time about governance and management,” Schaible said. Instead of a negotiated turnaround strategy, Sable Permian opted for a “free-fall bankruptcy,” a proceeding ripe for contention, the bondholder lawyer said. Bondholders might ask for a court-appointed examiner to look into whether the company’s owners, including private-equity firms, were improperly intruding into decisions that should be left to independent directors, he said.
