Jeffrey Michalik

Seadrill Limited (Second Restructuring) — Representation of Seadrill Limited and certain of its direct and indirect subsidiaries in their multi-jurisdictional restructuring of approximately $6.1 billion of funded debt. Seadrill is a leading global provider of offshore contract drilling services and employs nearly 3,100 individuals across 15 countries and five continents. Seadrill's Chapter 11 cases, one of the largest filings of 2021, equitized approximately $4.9 billion of secured debt across twelve silos and facilitated a capital investment of $350 million, enabling Seadrill to continue to operate its modern fleet of drilling units.  

Seadrill New Finance Limited — Representation of Seadrill New Finance Limited and 11 of its affiliates (together, the “NSNCo Group”), the fourth group of Seadrill Limited entities to undergo a restructuring, in their one-day prepackaged Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. The NSNCo Group utilized Chapter 11 to implement an amend-and-extend of approximately $622 million in senior secured notes and transfer majority ownership of NSNCo from the wider Seadrill Limited group to Seadrill’s secured noteholders. The NSNCo Group’s reorganization plan was confirmed within one day of the filing of the Chapter 11 cases

Valaris plc — Representation of Valaris plc and 89 of its subsidiaries in their prearranged Chapter 11 cases. Valaris, which is incorporated in the United Kingdom, is the world’s largest offshore driller by fleet size, owning 67 drilling rigs and operating in every major offshore hydrocarbon basin throughout the globe. Valaris filed Chapter 11 with a restructuring support agreement and backstop commitment agreement to fully equitize all $7.1 billion of its prepetition funded debt, consisting of an unsecured revolving credit facility and 15 series of unsecured notes. The noteholders supporting the restructuring also have committed to a fully backstopped rights offering for $500 million of new secured notes upon emergence from Chapter 11 as well as to provide a $500 million DIP financing facility.

Ascena Retail Group, Inc. — Representation of Ascena Retail Group, Inc. and its affiliates in their prearranged chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Eastern District of Virginia. At the time of its filing, Ascena was a leading specialty retailer for women and girls fora collective of seven brands, including Ann Taylor, LOFT, Lou & Grey, Lane Bryant, Cacique, Catherines, and Justice, and over 2,800 stores, approximately 37,000 employees, and $1.6 billion in funded debt. Ascena entered chapter 11 with a restructuring support agreement designed to preserve its going concern business and allowed it to engage in a marketing process that resulted in a sale of Catherines’ assets for $40.8 million, Justice assets for $71 million, and the Lane Bryant and Premium Brands’ assets, including Ann Taylor, LOFT, and Lou & Grey, for $540 million. Ascena ultimately confirmed its chapter 11 plan with the support of its term lenders and general unsecured creditors.

McDermott International, Inc. — Representation of McDermott International, Inc. and 225 of its subsidiaries and affiliates, including 107 foreign domiciled entities, in their prepackaged Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of Texas. McDermott is a premier, global upstream and downstream engineering, procurement, construction, and installation company and employs over 42,000 individuals across 54 countries and six continents. McDermott’s prepackaged Chapter 11 cases were confirmed in less than 60 days and contemplated a transaction that re-equitized the company, deleveraged over $4 billion of funded debt, preserved an unprecedented $2.4 billion in prepetition letters of credit, left trade claims unimpaired, and included a sale of McDermott’s Lummus technology business for $2.725 billion. McDermott emerged from Chapter 11 only five months after the petition date.

Forever 21 Inc. — Representation of Forever 21 Inc. and its affiliates in their Chapter 11 restructuring in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Based in Los Angeles, California, Forever 21 is a fast-fashion retailer specializing in women’s and men’s fashion, jewelry and accessories with over 750 stores globally.

Jones Energy Inc. — Representation of Jones Energy Inc. and its affiliates in their prepackaged Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of Texas. Jones Energy is an Austin, Texas based independent oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development, production, and acquisition of oil and gas properties in the Anadarko Basin in Oklahoma and Texas that fully equitized over $1 billion in funded debt and preferred equity obligations. Jones obtained confirmation of its uncontested plan just three weeks after filing.

Vanguard Natural Resources Inc. — Representation of Vanguard Natural Resources Inc. and its affiliates in their Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of Texas. Vanguard is an independent exploration and production company focused on the production and development of oil and natural gas properties in the United States with operations in the Gulf Coast, Permian and Anadarko Basins. Vanguard had approximately $850 million in debt at the time of filing and obtained a commitment for a $130 million debtor-in-possession financing facility, which included $65 million in new money.

Gastar Exploration Inc. — Representation of Gastar Exploration Inc., and its wholly-owned subsidiary Northwest Property Ventures LLC, in their prepackaged Chapter 11 restructuring in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Gastar is a publicly-traded oil and natural gas exploration and production company headquartered in Houston, Texas with assets concentrated in the STACK shale play in Oklahoma. The company’s prepackaged restructuring proposes to address nearly $600 million in funded-debt and preferred equity obligations, including the elimination of more than $300 million in funded-debt and preferred equity obligations, and provides for $100 million in committed financing to fund the Debtors’ business in and upon emergence from Chapter 11.  

Agrokor d.d. — Representation of the extraordinary administrator and foreign representative of Agrokor d.d. and its subsidiaries in its Croatian restructuring proceedings and certain recognition proceedings around the world, including Chapter 15 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Accounting for approximately 15 percent of the entire gross domestic product of Croatia, Agrokor d.d. and its subsidiaries employ over 53,000 people and have operations in 20 countries. Agrokor’s ground-breaking restructuring was the largest in Europe in 2017 and 2018 and was the first ever restructuring under the 2017 Law on Extraordinary Administration Proceedings for Companies of Systemic Importance for the Republic of Croatia. In the U.S., Kirkland obtained full recognition and enforcement of Agrokor’s Croatian proceedings and restructuring agreement under a 55-page opinion issued by the bankruptcy court.

Seadrill Limited — Representation of Seadrill Limited and certain of its direct and indirect subsidiaries in their multi-jurisdictional restructuring of approximately $20 billion of contract and debt obligations. Seadrill is a leading global provider of offshore contract drilling services and employs nearly 4,000 individuals across 22 countries and five continents. Seadrill's pre-arranged Chapter 11 cases, one of the largest filings in 2017 based on asset size, resulted in the re-profiling of approximately $6 billion of secured debt, eliminated approximately $3.5 billion of unsecured bond and contractual obligations, and facilitated a capital investment of more than $1 billion. In the months preceding Chapter 11, Seadrill also consummated a series of ring-fencing transactions that successfully prevented its non-consolidated businesses from also having to commence Chapter 11 cases. Seadrill and its debtor subsidiaries confirmed their Chapter 11 plan with near universal consensus in approximately 7 months and emerged from Chapter 11 in less than 10 months.

Summer Associate, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, 2016