Kramer Levin Represents Ad Hoc Group of Guaranteed Noteholders in Noble Corp. plc Bankruptcy

Category: Defining Matters
Date: Sept. 10, 2020
Title: Kramer Levin Represents Ad Hoc Group of Guaranteed Noteholders in Noble Corp. plc Bankruptcy

On July 31, 2020, Noble Corp. plc and certain of its subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy in the Southern District of Texas. Noble, a leading offshore drilling contractor with over $1 billion in operating revenue in 2019, conducts drilling operations in Canada, the Middle East, Far East Asia, Oceania, the North Sea, South America and the Gulf of Mexico.

Kramer Levin represents an ad hoc group of Noble’s $750 million of priority guaranteed notes. Noble filed for bankruptcy with a restructuring support agreement supported by the company’s major creditor constituencies, including the ad hoc group. The restructuring support agreement will reduce the company’s funded debt from approximately $4 billion to less than $450 million, and contemplates a rights offering of $200 million of new second lien notes, a portion of which will be backstopped by the ad hoc group.

Kramer Levin worked hand in hand with Ducera Partners LLC, as financial advisor, and Akin Gump LLP, as UK counsel, to advise the ad hoc group in connection with the negotiation of the restructuring support agreement, and continues to guide the ad hoc group through the restructuring process.

The Kramer Levin team includes Bankruptcy and Restructuring partner Thomas Moers Mayer, special counsel Joseph A. Shifer, and associates Andrew Pollack and Benjamin Sieck; Corporate partners John Bessonette, Abbe L. Dienstag and Adi Herman, and associates Adam Busch, Nicholas Tarnowski and Benjamin A. Edlin; Banking and Finance associate Lia Pistilli; Tax partner Barry Herzog and associate Rita Celebrezze D’Souza; Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits partner Marissa J. Holob and special counsel Avram J. Cahn; Bankruptcy Litigation partner P. Bradley O’Neill; Litigation partner Jeffrey S. Trachtman; Intellectual Property partner Mark A. Baghdassarian and associate Julian Pymento; and Real Estate partner James P. Godman and associate Dennis K. Heyman.