Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) is facing a crisis from falling prices in oil and natural gas. The company that brought major changes to the oil market through pioneering drilling for shale oil has overloaded itself with debt, a situation that it has tried to remedy for many years. It has led the company to issue a "going concern" warning, a dangerous signifier of poor financial health that it looks to clear up. Long-term predictions of relatively low prices in oil and natural gas deny the energy giant from the usual way energy companies build themselves out of financial holes. The situation is so bad for this energy company that analysts predicted a reverse split, a move that typically only happens as a last-ditch effort to turn a company's fortunes around. However, a recent debt restructuring from Chesapeake might allow them to avoid the dreaded reverse split and turn the company's fortunes around.
One of the centerpieces of Chesapeake's debt restructuring plans is its new $1.5 billion bond issue. It has a maturity of 4.5 years, replacing an existing secured credit plan that it plans on paying back at 97% of its original value. It seeks a total of $2.34 billion in new debt with a maturity horizon somewhere around 2025. Many of these debts have an early exchange rate around 65-70%, the rate at which the bond is paid if it is paid before maturity, well below their issuance value, a reflection of the dire straits the company is in. However, with current bonds trading below 50 cents on the dollar for early exchange, this actually represents an improvement in the company's financial health.
Another issue with Chesapeake that looms on the horizon is the share price requirement to remain listed on the New York Stock Exchange. To keep trading on the NYSE, a company has to remain above $1.00. If it falls below $1.00, the company has six months to regain value, reverse split, or be delisted from the NYSE. Chesapeake now faces the great task of setting course before getting delisted.