Seadrill New Finance updates on restructuring, SeaMex joint venture

Chicago, June 11 – Seadrill Ltd. gave an update on the restructuring discussions for the 12% senior secured notes due 2025 issued by Seadrill New Finance Ltd. in a press release Friday evening.

Good progress continues to be made, Seadrill said.

The restructuring discussions include SeaMex Ltd., a 50/50 joint venture which Seadrill established with an investment fund controlled by Fintech Holdings Ltd. in 2014.

Seadrill has agreed in principle the key terms of a restructuring proposal in relation to SeaMex with a majority of noteholders and which provides for a refinancing of the secured bank debt of SeaMex.

The key terms include:

• Materially deleveraging SeaMex’s balance sheet by equitizing all or a significant proportion of the approximately $454 million of subordinated debt controlled by the issuer; and

• Injecting short-term liquidity into SeaMex in order to bridge toward a refinancing of SeaMex’s senior bank debt as part of a comprehensive restructuring of SeaMex’s balance sheet.

Seamexholding International, Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Fintech) served a petition to place SeaMex under provisional liquidation in Bermuda. In the absence of a consensual agreement with Fintech on restructuring terms, the issuer and a significant majority of the financial creditors of SeaMex are nominating their own provisional liquidators in order to be able to implement a creditor supported restructuring of SeaMex to maximize value for creditors and other stakeholders.

The need for the provisional liquidation and restructuring has arisen as a result of Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) not having paid material receivables to SeaMex over a prolonged period of time as well as an objective to deleverage SeaMex's balance sheet.

The financial creditors of SeaMex remain fully supportive of SeaMex. Such a restructuring is only at the SeaMex holding company level and will not impact the operational activities of the business. There will similarly be no impact to employees, customers or suppliers. Any use of a court supervised process in Bermuda will benefit from funding and result in an orderly restructuring of SeaMex's balance sheet for the benefit of all stakeholders, including employees, customers and suppliers.

London-based Seadrill owns, operates and acquires offshore drilling rigs. Seadrill Partners and Seadrill Ltd. made their Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings on Dec. 1 under case number 20-35740 and Feb. 7 under case number 21-30427, respectively.

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