The directors of Waldorf Production Limited (‘WPL’), the key holding company (‘HoldCo’) of the Waldorf UKCS oil and gas group (‘Group’), have today filed a Notice of Intention to appoint Administrators from Interpath Advisory. A further non-trading group HoldCo, Waldorf Energy Partners Limited, has also today been placed into administration, with administrators from Interpath.
The Group, which is Aberdeen-headquartered, owns oil and gas assets in the North Sea.
Waldorf’s HoldCos are not trading entities. Importantly, Waldorf’s operating companies (‘OpCos’) are not in administration. Waldorf’s OpCos hold the Group’s participating interests in a number of UKCS oil and gas fields, such as Catcher and Kraken. The OpCos continue to trade as normal, outside administration, under the control of their directors. All the Group’s 40 staff are employed at OpCo level, alongside the Group’s day-to-day operations and oilfield assets, which are unaffected by the administrations of the HoldCos.
WPL is an obligor under a $150m bond issued by Waldorf Energy Finance plc (‘WEF’). A number of WPL’s subsidiaries are also obligors under this $150m bond, which is secured over various Group assets. These assets include a 20% interest in the Catcher field, owned by Waldorf CNS (I) Ltd, and interests in Bittern and Scolty Crathes fields owned by other OpCos.
A $23 million WEF / WPL bond payment originally due yesterday, 3 June 2024, was not paid, due to a lack of available liquidity. This is the immediate cause of today’s filing of a Notice of Intention to appoint Administrators.
WPL’s prospective administrators - Jim Tucker, David Pike and Luke Wiseman from Interpath - will commence urgent discussions with the WEF/WPL bondholders and their representatives regarding the options and strategy for the administration.
At high level, the administration strategy is to stabilise and reorganise the Group. Whilst OpCo management stabilise the OpCo businesses, the eventual exit routes from HoldCo administration could include:
• in consultation with WPL’s creditors, a rescue of WPL as a going concern.
• a sale of WPL’s shareholdings in the Group’s OpCos, following a sale process which the administrators would run, again in close consultation with the secured creditors.
Jim Tucker, Managing Director at Interpath Advisory, said “While we will be speaking to WPL’s bondholders and other key stakeholders as a matter of priority, it is important to stress that Waldorf’s operating companies are not in administration, and continue to trade as normal under the control of their directors.”
The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) and Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment & Decommissioning (OPRED), the key UK Government regulators for UKCS interests, have been kept appraised of the prospective HoldCo administrations, and have provided certain assurances to the proposed administrators as they undertake their role. The administrators will keep the NSTA and OPRED informed of key developments.
A separate secured bond with $50 million outstanding (the WPUK bond) has been issued by Waldorf Production UK plc (WPUK), another Group subsidiary. The main assets secured in favour of the WPUK Bond are WPUK’s 20% interest in the Catcher field (nb separate from Waldorf CNS (I)’s 20% interest in Catcher above) and 29.5% interest in the Kraken field. Again WPUK, which owns these assets, is not in administration. WPUK will be engaging with an ad-hoc committee of WPUK bondholders in short order.
Notes to Editors:
Jim Tucker, David Pike and Alistair McAlinden were appointed Joint Administrators to Waldorf Energy Partners Limited on 4 June 2024.
Jim Tucker, David Pike and Luke Wiseman are the prospective administrators of Waldorf Production Limited.
Please see abridged group structure below.
