Watson Farley & Williams advised Altera on Chapter 11 restructuring

Watson Farley & Williams advised Altera on Chapter 11 restructuring

The leading offshore services group has now emerged with a strengthened balance sheet and foundation for long-term growth

Watson Farley & Williams has advised Altera Infrastructure on its Chapter 11 restructuring process in the United States.

The restructuring addressed over US$1bn of secured and unsecured holding company debt, US$400m of preferred equity and US$550m of secured asset-level bank debt.

The move comprehensively reprofiled Altera's bank loan facilities to better align its cash flow with its debt service obligations, equitizing US$1bn+ in junior debt obligations.

It enabled Altera to strike a deal with Equinor UK Limited for a bareboat charter of the Petrojarl Knarr, FSPO vessel which will generate future cash flows. The FPSO will be deployed for the Rosebank field development project off the Shetland Islands in the North Sea. The Equinor contract is valid for nine years, with options to extend it up to a total of 25 years.

Patrick Smith, the London assets, and structured finance partner at Watson Farley & Williams remarked, "We are proud to have assisted our long-standing client Altera and its advisors in this restructuring and entry into the Petrojarl Knarr charter. This was a great cross-border effort by our firm spanning multiple service lines in our core sector of maritime across several jurisdictions, including England and the Marshall Islands."

Altera is a leading global energy services provider to the oil and gas industry. It supplies critical infrastructure assets to its customers in the offshore oil and gas regions of the North Sea, Brazil, and the east coast of Canada. Its fleet includes floating production, storage and offloading units, floating storage and offtake units, long-distance towing and offshore installation vessels, and a unit for maintenance and safety.

The Watson Farley & Williams team advised Altera on English and Marshall Islands law, finance, and maritime matters, including various aspects of the Petrojarl Knarr's charter. It also assisted with transactions involving Brazil, Australia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

The cross-border team was led in London by Patrick Smith. He was assisted by senior associates Tanpreet Rooprai and Gabriela Roque and associates Ella Vries, Holly Pickering and Alice Lightfoot and trainee Amy Tully.

Corporate partner Steven Hollander led the New York-based team advising on Marshall Islands law matters. He worked along with assets and structured finance partner Daniel Rodgers, corporate partner Will Vogel, counsels Celinda Metro and Maxi Adamski-De Visser, and paralegal Gregory Pastore.

The firm's lawyers in Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Sydney also provided local law assistance.