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Chapter 11 Proceedings | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2020
Reorganizations [Abstract] |
Chapter 11 Proceedings | Chapter 11 Proceedings On June 28, 2020, the Debtors filed voluntary petitions for relief under the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court. On June 29, 2020, the Bankruptcy Court entered an order authorizing the joint administration of the Chapter 11 Cases under the caption In re Chesapeake Energy Corporation, Case No. 20-33233. The Non-Filing Entities were not part of the Chapter 11 Cases. The Debtors and the Non-Filing Entities have continued to operate in the ordinary course of business during the Chapter 11 Cases. The Bankruptcy Court confirmed the Plan in a bench ruling on January 13, 2021 and entered the Confirmation Order on January 16, 2021. The Debtors emerged from bankruptcy on February 9, 2021 (the “Effective Date”). Although the Company is no longer a debtor-in-possession, the Company was a debtor-in-possession through the year ending December 31, 2020. As such, the Company’s bankruptcy proceedings and related matters have been summarized below. Debtor-In-Possession During the pendency of the Chapter 11 Cases, we operated our business as debtors-in-possession in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Bankruptcy Code. The Bankruptcy Court granted the first day relief we requested that was designed primarily to mitigate the impact of the Chapter 11 Cases on our operations, customers and employees. As a result, we were able to conduct normal business activities and pay all associated obligations for the period following the Petition Date and were also authorized to pay mineral interest owner royalties, employee wages and benefits, and certain vendors and suppliers in the ordinary course for goods and services provided prior to the Petition Date. During the pendency of the Chapter 11 Cases, all transactions outside the ordinary course of business required the prior approval of the Bankruptcy Court. Automatic Stay Subject to certain specific exceptions under the Bankruptcy Code, the filing of the Chapter 11 Cases automatically stayed all judicial or administrative actions against us and efforts by creditors to collect on or otherwise exercise rights or remedies with respect to pre-petition claims. Absent an order from the Bankruptcy Court, substantially all of the Debtors’ pre-petition liabilities were subject to compromise and discharge under the Bankruptcy Code. The automatic stay was lifted on the Effective Date. Plan of Reorganization In accordance with the Plan confirmed by the Bankruptcy Court, the following significant transactions occurred upon the Company’s emergence from bankruptcy on February 9, 2021: •On the Effective Date, we issued approximately 97,907,081 shares of the reorganized company (“New Common Stock”), reserved 2,092,918 shares of New Common Stock for future issuance to eligible holders of Allowed Unsecured Notes Claims and Allowed General Unsecured Claims and reserved 37,174,210 shares of New Common Stock for issuance upon exercise of the Warrants, which were the result of the transactions described below. We also entered into a registration rights agreement, a warrants agreement and amended our articles of incorporation and bylaws for the authorization of the New Common Stock and to provide registration rights thereunder, among other corporate governance actions. See Note 11 for further discussion of our post-emergence equity. •Each holder of a Predecessor equity interest in Chesapeake, including our common and preferred stock, had such interest canceled, released, and extinguished without any distribution. •Each holder of obligations under the pre-petition revolving credit facility received, at such holder's prior determined allocation, its pro rata share of either Tranche A Loans or Tranche B Loans, on a dollar for dollar basis. •Each holder of obligations under the FLLO Term Loan Facility received its pro rata share of 23,022,420 shares of New Common Stock. •Each holder of an Allowed Second Lien Notes Claim received its pro rata share of 3,635,118 shares of New Common Stock, 11,111,111 Class A Warrants to purchase 11,111,111 shares of New Common Stock, 12,345,679 Class B Warrants to purchase 12,345,679 shares of New Common Stock, and 6,858,710 Class C Warrants to purchase 6,858,710 shares of New Common Stock. •Each holder of an Allowed Unsecured Notes Claim received its pro rata share of 1,311,089 shares of New Common Stock and 2,473,757 Class C Warrants to purchase 2,473,757 shares of New Common Stock. •Each holder of Allowed General Unsecured Claim received its pro rata share of 231,112 shares of New Common Stock and 436,060 Class C Warrants to purchase 436,060 shares of New Common Stock; provided that to the extent such Allowed General Unsecured Claim is a Convenience Claim, such holder instead received its pro rata share of $10 million, which pro rata share shall not exceed five percent of such Convenience Claim. •Participants in the Rights Offering extending to the applicable classes under the Plan received 62,927,320 shares of New Common Stock. •In connection with the rights offering described above, the Backstop Parties under the Commitment Agreement received 6,337,031 shares of New Common Stock in respect to the Put Option Premium, and 442,991 shares of New Common Stock were issued in connection with the backstop obligation thereunder to purchase unsubscribed shares of the New Common Stock. •2,092,918 shares of New Common Stock and 3,948,893 Class C Warrants were reserved for future issuance to eligible holders of Allowed Unsecured Notes Claims and Allowed General Unsecured Claims. The reserved New Common Stock and Class C Warrants will be issued on a pro rata basis upon the determination of the allowed portion of all disputed General Unsecured Claims and Unsecured Notes Claims. •The 2021 Long Term Incentive Plan (the “LTIP”) was approved with a share reserve equal to 6,800,000 shares of New Company Stock. •Each holder of an Allowed Other Secured Claim will receive, at the Company's option and in consultation with the Required Consenting Stakeholders (as defined in the Plan): (a) payment in full in cash; (b) the collateral securing its secured claim; (c) reinstatement of its secured claim; or (d) such other treatment that renders its secured claim unimpaired in accordance with Section 1124 of the Bankruptcy Code. •Each holder of an Allowed Other Priority Claim (as defined in the Plan) will receive cash up to the allowed amount of its claim. Additionally, pursuant to the Plan confirmed by the Bankruptcy Court, the Company’s post-emergence Board of Directors is comprised of seven directors, including the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, Robert D. Lawler, and six non-employee directors, Michael Wichterich, Timothy S. Duncan, Benjamin C. Duster, IV, Sarah Emerson, Matthew M. Gallagher and Brian Steck. DIP and Exit Credit Facilities On June 28, 2020, prior to the commencement of the Chapter 11 Cases, the Company entered into a commitment letter (the “Commitment Letter”) with certain of the lenders under the pre-petition revolving credit facility and/or their affiliates (collectively, the “Commitment Parties”), pursuant to which, and subject to the satisfaction of certain customary conditions, including the approval of the Bankruptcy Court, the Commitment Parties agreed to provide the Debtors with a post-petition senior secured super-priority debtor-in-possession revolving credit facility in an aggregate principal amount of up to approximately $2.104 billion (the “DIP Credit Facility”), consisting of a revolving loan facility of new money in an aggregate principal amount of up to $925 million, which includes a sub-facility of up to $200 million for the issuance of letters of credit, and an up to approximately $1.179 billion term loan that reflects the roll-up of a portion of outstanding borrowings under the pre-petition revolving credit facility. Pursuant to the Commitment Letter, the Commitment parties have also committed to provide, subject to certain conditions, an up to $2.5 billion exit credit facility, consisting of an up to $1.75 billion revolving credit facility (the “Exit Revolving Facility”) and an up to $750 million senior secured term loan facility (the “Exit Term Loan Facility” and, together with the Exit Revolving Facility, the “Exit Credit Facilities”). The terms and conditions of the DIP Credit Facility are set forth in the Senior Secured Super-Priority Debtor-in-Possession Credit Agreement (the “DIP Credit Agreement”) attached to the Commitment Letter. The proceeds of the DIP Credit Facility may be used for, among other things, post-petition working capital, permitted capital investments, general corporate purposes, letters of credit, administrative costs, premiums, expenses and fees for the transactions contemplated by the Chapter 11 Cases, payment of court approved adequate protection obligations, and other such purposes consistent with the DIP Credit Facility. On the Effective Date, the DIP Credit Facility was terminated and the holders of obligations under the DIP Credit Facility received payment in full in cash; provided that to the extent such lender under the DIP Credit Facility is also a lender under the Exit Revolver, such lender’s allowed DIP claims were first reduced dollar-for-dollar and satisfied by the amount of its Exit RBL Loans provided as of the Effective Date. Potential Claims We filed with the Bankruptcy Court schedules and statements setting forth, among other things, the assets and liabilities of us and each of our Debtor subsidiaries, subject to the assumptions filed in connection therewith. Certain of these schedules and statements were amended after filing. Certain holders of pre-petition claims that are not governmental units were required to file proofs of claim by the deadline for general claims, (the “bar date”), which was set by the Bankruptcy Court as October 30, 2020. Governmental units were required to file proof of claims by December 28, 2020, the deadline that was set by the Bankruptcy Court. As of February 25, 2021, the Debtors had received approximately 8,100 proofs of claim, approximately 72% of which represent general unsecured claims, for an aggregate amount of approximately $42.7 billion. We will continue to evaluate these claims throughout the Chapter 11 process and recognize or adjust amounts in future financial statements as necessary using the best information available at such time. Differences between amounts scheduled by us and claims by creditors will ultimately be reconciled and resolved in connection with the claims resolution process. In light of the expected number of creditors, the claims resolution process may take considerable time to complete and has continued after our emergence from bankruptcy. Fresh-Start Reporting Upon emergence from bankruptcy on February 9, 2021, we expect to qualify for fresh-start reporting. In order to qualify for fresh start-reporting (i) the holders of existing voting shares of the Company prior to its emergence must receive less than 50% of the voting shares of the Company outstanding following its emergence from bankruptcy and (ii) the reorganization value of our assets immediately prior to confirmation of the plan of reorganization must be less than the post-petition liabilities and allowed claims. Under the principles of fresh-start reporting, a new reporting entity will be considered to have been created, and, as a result, the Company will allocate the reorganization value of the Company to its individual assets, including property, plant and equipment, based on their estimated fair values. The process of estimating the fair value of the Company’s assets, liabilities and equity upon emergence is currently ongoing and, therefore, such amounts have not yet been finalized. In support of the Plan, the enterprise value of the Successor Company was estimated and approved by the Bankruptcy Court to be in the range of $3.5 billion to $4.7 billion. Financial Statement Classification of Liabilities Subject to Compromise The accompanying consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2020 includes amounts classified as liabilities subject to compromise, which represent liabilities we anticipate will be allowed as claims in the Chapter 11 Cases. These amounts represent our current estimate of known or potential obligations to be resolved in connection with the Chapter 11 Cases, and may differ from actual future settlement amounts paid. Differences between liabilities estimated and claims filed, or to be filed, will be investigated and resolved in connection with the claims resolution process. We will continue to evaluate these liabilities throughout the Chapter 11 process and adjust amounts as necessary. Such adjustments may be material. Liabilities subject to compromise includes amounts related to the rejection of various executory contracts and unexpired leases. Additional amounts may be included in liabilities subject to compromise in future periods if additional executory contracts and unexpired leases are rejected. The nature of many of the potential claims arising under our executory contracts and unexpired leases has not been determined at this time, and therefore, such claims are not reasonably estimable at this time and may be material. The following table summarizes the components of liabilities subject to compromise included on our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2020:
|  | December 31, 2020
|  | ($ in millions)
Debt |  | $ | 7,166 |
Accounts payable |  | 15 |
Accrued interest |  | 235 |
Provision for contract rejection damages |  | 729 |
Other liabilities |  | 498 |
Liabilities subject to compromise |  | $ | 8,643 |
Reorganization Items, Net We have incurred and will continue to incur significant expenses, gains and losses associated with our reorganization, primarily the write-off of unamortized debt issuance costs and related unamortized premiums and discounts, debt and equity financing fees, provision for allowed claims and legal and professional fees incurred subsequent to the Chapter 11 Filings for the reorganization process. Provision for allowed claims primarily represents damages from contract rejections and settlements attributable to the midstream savings requirement as stipulated by the Plan. The amount of these items, which are being expensed as incurred significantly affect our statements of operations. The following table summarizes the components in reorganization items, net included in our consolidated statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2020:
|  | Year Ended December 31, 2020
|  | ($ in millions)
Provision for allowed claims |  | (879) |
Write off of unamortized debt premiums (discounts) |  | 518 |
Write off of unamortized debt issuance costs |  | (61) |
Debt and equity financing fees |  | (145) |
Loss on divested assets |  | (128) |
Legal and professional fees |  | (113) |
Gain on settlement of pre-petition accounts payable |  | 15 |
Loss on settlement of pre-petition revenues payable |  | (3) |
Reorganization items, net |  | $ | (796) |
Going Concern During the Company’s bankruptcy proceedings and prior to the Bankruptcy Court’s entry of an order confirming the Debtors’ Plan of Reorganization, the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern was contingent upon, among other things, its ability to (i) develop and successfully implement a plan of reorganization and obtain creditor acceptance and confirmation under the Bankruptcy Code, (ii) achieve savings on certain midstream contracts through rejection or renegotiation of terms, (iii) achieve certain liquidity metrics, and (iv) obtain exit financing sources sufficient to meet the Company’s future obligations. The Company’s debt obligations and uncertainties related to the bankruptcy process raised substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. As a result of the execution of the Plan of Reorganization and emergence from bankruptcy on February 9, 2021, management concluded there is no longer substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

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