Aberdeen-headquartered Altera Infrastructure (NYSE: ALIN-A) has said there will be no impact on its operations or employees as it enters a Chapter 11 bankruptcy process.
The firm, listed in New York but with a head office in Westhill just outside Aberdeen, is entering the process with the US courts as it seeks to restructure more than $1.5bn of debt.
Chapter 11 lets firms continue trading while paying off debts, a method also taken by oilfield services firm Expro in December 2017, alongside numerous helicopter and rig operators in more recent years.
Altera has already reached an agreement with lenders and banks for its restructuring, and is working towards confirmation of the restructuring plan by the end of the year.
The company, which supplies production units for operators in the North Sea and further afield, has 130 employees in the UK: 44 onshore in Aberdeen, alongside nine on the Voyageur Spirit and 77 on the Foinaven FPSO.
Confident
Altera, which employs more than 2,000 people worldwide, said there will be no impact on workers or operations as a result of the restructuring.
Private equity group Brookfield has agreed to equitise $750m of the debt as part of the agreement.
It comes after the company reported its first-half results earlier this month, with pre-tax losses of $20.3m. Altera also said it had missed an 8.5% interest payment on $230m of bonds due in July.
Announcing the restructuring deal, CEO Ingvild Sæther said: “We enter into this phase of our balance-sheet restructuring with the support of the majority of Altera’s secured lenders and equity sponsor Brookfield.
“We are confident that this Chapter 11 process will result in a comprehensive recapitalisation transaction that will not only stabilise liquidity, but also deleverage our balance sheet and better position Altera for future growth.”
© Supplied by Alan NewbyAltera, formerly part of Teekay, is focused on supplying critical infrastructure assets to its customers in in the North Sea, Brazil, and the East Coast of Canada.
The company’s fleet of 41 vessels includes floating production, storage and offloading units, shuttle tankers, floating storage and offtake units, long-distance towing and offshore installation vessels and a unit for maintenance and safety.
Although employees are not expected to be impacted by the restructuring, redundancies are being made on the Foinaven FPSO which recently arrived at Hunterston from the namesake BP oilfield in the West of Shetland.
Foinaven is expected to be decommissioned after work to remove signage from the vessel is completed.
Altera Series A shares are trading at $1.35.