New Fortress completes restructuring, cuts debt to $700 million
New Fortress completes restructuring, cuts debt to $700 million Sept 11 (Reuters) - U.S. liquefied natural gas firm New Fortress Energy NFE.O said on Friday it had completed its restructuring plan, bringing its debt down to $700 million from $5.7 billion.
The firm received approvals from the UK and the U.S. in June, completing years-long efforts to reorganize mounting debt obligations as it grappled with a severe liquidity crunch.
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Its Brazilian business and operations were separated to establish two distinct, standalone enterprises, BrazilCo and New NFE, New Fortress said.
The company said the transaction extinguished nearly $5.7 billion of third-party debt, adding that it received all of the equity of BrazilCo.
It has also received New NFE's preferred equity with $2.45 billion of liquidation preference, 65% of the common equity and nearly $571.3 million of its term loans. New NFE also raised $136.5 million in new financing.
The company is much simpler and more streamlined, CEO Wes Edens said, adding that now "the company owns a portfolio of critical LNG and power assets, including a substantial and growing LNG portfolio, terminal operations and logistics in Mexico and Puerto Rico and a 735-megawatt power and turbine portfolio."
In March, the company said it would separate its Brazilian operations into a standalone company as part of a broader restructuring deal with creditors aimed at cutting its debt.
New Fortress began exploring options including bringing in strategic partners in 2024, selling assets after deferring shareholder dividends to preserve cash and working out a deal with bondholders to push back maturities.
(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)