26 Sept 2016material agreement▼ Bad
Amended the restructuring support agreement a second time as Chapter 11 negotiations continued.
Announcements, explained
Each one in plain English, with the numbers worked through for a shareholder.
9 Sept 2016material agreement▼ Bad
Amended the Chapter 11 restructuring support agreement with creditors -- continued negotiation of plan terms while the case proceeded.
18 July 2016material agreement▼ Bad
Extended the deadline under its April 2016 noteholder settlement agreement while the Chapter 11 case proceeded -- routine bankruptcy-process housekeeping.
10 June 2016listing compliance notice● NeutralMajor
Pressburg, LLC's exchange filed to remove a class of its securities from listing.
11 May 2016bankruptcy or receivership▼ BadMajor
Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection jointly with LinnCo and Berry Petroleum in the Southern District of Texas, after negotiating a restructuring support agreement with creditors holding at least two-thirds of its credit facility debt -- the culmination of the debt-funded growth strategy meeting the 2015-16 oil price crash.
28 Apr 2016listing compliance notice▼ BadMajor
Received a Nasdaq notice that its units had traded below $1.00 for 30 straight days, risking delisting -- another marker of how far the stock had fallen from its 2011-12 highs.
15 Apr 2016debt financing▼ BadMajor
Amended its credit agreement to forestall defaults through May 11, 2016 and freeze the borrowing base while it negotiated a full restructuring support agreement with lenders -- the immediate precursor to bankruptcy.
5 Apr 2016material agreement▼ BadMajor
Settled with holders of the new 12% secured notes over a missed mortgage-recording deadline required by the November 2015 exchange, agreeing to complete the collateral filings -- restructuring mechanics tightening as 2016 began.
23 Nov 2015debt financing▼ BadMajor
Completed the exchange: holders handed in about $2.0 billion of Linn's unsecured notes and took back roughly $1.0 billion of new 12% second-lien notes due 2020 - a distressed swap in which they accepted about half their principal, and the new notes still rank behind the Wells Fargo-led priority-lien facility.
17 Nov 2015material agreement▼ BadMajor
Entered exchange agreements to swap roughly $2.0 billion of existing unsecured notes for about $1.0 billion of new 12% senior secured second-lien notes due 2020 -- a distressed debt exchange that cut face-value debt by half but subordinated remaining unsecured creditors, a clear signal of financial distress.
22 Oct 2015debt financing▼ BadMajor
Reaffirmed its borrowing base at $4.05 billion for now, but disclosed it would automatically step down to $3.6 billion on January 1, 2016 -- a scheduled squeeze on liquidity as the oil price downturn deepened.
9 July 2015material agreement▼ BadMajor
Agreed to sell its remaining Howard County, Permian Basin position for about $281 million, continuing to shed assets to shore up liquidity as commodity prices fell.
7 July 2015material agreement● NeutralMajor
Brought in Quantum Energy Partners as a $1 billion equity-commitment partner in a new joint drilling vehicle (QL Energy I, LLC), giving Linn an off-balance-sheet way to fund development without further diluting unitholders or adding balance-sheet debt -- a sign it was already managing capital more defensively.
21 May 2015material agreement▼ BadMajor
Sold 16 million units at $11.79 -- roughly a third of the $35-38 prices Linn commanded in 2011-12 -- the collapsing oil price was now visibly hitting its cost of equity capital.
15 May 2015debt financing▼ Bad
Had its borrowing base reduced to $4.05 billion in a scheduled redetermination, and loosened restrictions on how much it could invest in the former Berry Petroleum subsidiary -- the first hint of the tightening credit conditions that would soon force a full restructuring.
20 Feb 2015material agreement● Neutral
Renewed its at-the-market equity program at up to $500 million with an expanded bank group -- routine continuation of its standing capital-markets tools.
18 Dec 2014asset acquisition disposition▲ GoodMajor
Closed the Granite Wash/Cleveland sale for roughly $1.8 billion, using proceeds to fully repay its $1.3 billion term loan and cut revolver borrowings -- deleveraging just as oil prices began falling.
6 Oct 2014material agreement● NeutralMajor
Agreed to sell its entire Granite Wash and Cleveland-play position in the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma to EnerVest and FourPoint Energy for $1.95 billion -- a major divestiture even as the Devon deal was still being digested, an early sign of portfolio-pruning ahead of the 2015 oil price crash.
23 Sept 2014material agreement● Neutral
Agreed to a second ExxonMobil asset swap, trading more Permian Basin properties for ExxonMobil's South Belridge Field assets in California.
9 Sept 2014debt financing▲ GoodMajor
Sold $1.1 billion of new senior notes ($450 million due 2019, $650 million due 2021) to repay the bridge loan and revolver debt used to fund the Devon acquisition.
2 Sept 2014asset acquisition disposition▲ GoodMajor
Closed the $2.24 billion Devon Energy asset acquisition, structured as a tax-deferred Section 1031 exchange.
1 July 2014material agreement▲ GoodMajor
Agreed to acquire a large multi-basin package (Rockies, Mid-Continent, east Texas, north Louisiana, south Texas) from Devon Energy for $2.3 billion -- its largest acquisition since Berry and the biggest pure cash purchase in its history, to be funded with committed interim financing.
22 May 2014material agreement● Neutral
Agreed to an asset swap with ExxonMobil, trading Permian Basin properties for ExxonMobil's Hugoton Basin assets -- Linn's first major exchange transaction rather than a straight cash purchase.
18 Dec 2013asset acquisition disposition▲ GoodMajor
Completed its acquisition of Berry Petroleum through LinnCo, LLC via a multi-step merger that converted Berry into an LLC subsidiary -- by far Linn's largest transaction to date and the high-water mark of its debt-funded roll-up strategy.
9 Dec 2013business combination● Neutral
Reached an agreement in principle to settle shareholder litigation challenging the pending Berry Petroleum merger, clearing a legal hurdle on the path to closing Linn's largest-ever transaction.
5 Nov 2013debt financing▲ Good
Drew a new $500 million secured term loan under an amended credit agreement to fund the Permian acquisition just announced.
19 Sept 2013material agreement▲ GoodMajor
Agreed to acquire Permian Basin properties for $525 million, to be funded by a committed term loan rather than a bond or equity offering.
4 Apr 2013material agreement● Neutral
Agreed to sell its Texas/Oklahoma Panhandle interests (held alongside Panther Energy and Red Willow) to Midstates Petroleum for about $220 million.
4 Oct 2012material agreement● Neutral
Amended its credit facility to accommodate the newly formed LinnCo, LLC -- a special-purpose affiliate created to let a broader set of investors hold Linn's economics through a corporate structure, foreshadowing its later use as the acquisition vehicle for Berry Petroleum.
2 Aug 2012asset acquisition disposition▲ GoodMajor
Closed the $1.025 billion Jonah Field acquisition from BP America.