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TransCoastal Corp

US:TCEC
US$0.0001Close 6 Oct 2026 · delayed

Past year: ▲ 0%(0.01c – 0.01c USD)

Market cap
A$4k
Shares on issue
30.0m
Story beats
21 since 2006
Last event
20 Oct 2015

History

A small healthcare-claims firm financed by shareholder loans became an oil and gas company in 2013, then faced losing its only asset to its lender in 2015.

2006-2012: A claims business living on loans

The company that became TransCoastal began as Claimsnet.com, a healthcare claims-processing business. The record for these years is thin. In July 2006 its exchange filed to remove a class of its securities from listing, and in December 2006 it signed a new revenue-sharing agreement with MedAvant, a 10% customer, ending a 2002 services deal. In February 2008 it bought the assets of Acceptius, Inc. for $25,000 cash, 1,700,000 restricted shares and a further $5,000 owed.

The company leaned on related parties and shareholders for money. In March 2008 it borrowed $500,000 from Elmira United Corp. through two convertible notes, and another $200,000 followed in May. A $100,000 note from National Financial Corporation was reset to be payable on demand. In September 2010 it borrowed $50,000 from a division of Elmira United to pay a retainer to Blackhawk Partners, hired to find financing, possibly tied to a merger or acquisition. In May 2011 it borrowed $40,000 more from National Financial and corrected a first-quarter 2011 report that had wrongly booked a $138,000 impairment loss. Shares on issue stayed at about 34.9 million through 2011.

2013: The oil and gas takeover

In March 2013 Claimsnet agreed to buy TransCoastal Corporation, a Texas oil and gas exploration and production company, in a deal that would hand TransCoastal's owners control. In April the payment changed from common shares to up to 4,000,000 Series F preferred shares. The deal closed on May 9, 2013: 3,721,036 Series F preferred shares were issued for 93.03% of TransCoastal's common stock, carrying about 99.2% of the votes. The company's business became Texas oil and gas, with Barnett shale and Pampa-area oil properties.

The old business was then removed. On June 27, 2013 the claims subsidiary ANC Holdings was sold to debt holders in exchange for cancelling about $1.5 million of debt. A 200-to-1 reverse split and the name change to TransCoastal Corporation took effect on July 1. On July 30 the preferred shares were converted into 21,154,478 restricted common shares. That, together with the reverse split, explains the swing in shares on issue, which stood at 22,453,773 at the end of 2013. In November the company signed a $5,000,000 equity line with Kodiak Capital Group and gave Kodiak 256,410 restricted shares; no money was committed until registration, and the record does not show it was used.

2014: Restatements and a loan in trouble

Trouble came in 2014. In May the company said its 2013 and 2012 statements could not be relied on because of an error in reserve estimates and depletion expense. Restated 2013 net loss rose to $4,053K, and 2012 net income fell to $1,036K. In June it said notes payable had been wrongly shown as long-term: some lenders had not waived their right to call the loan, so about $17.1 million (December 2013) and $16.8 million (March 2014) moved to current liabilities. Days later, auditor Rothstein Kass resigned, and Whitley Penn was approved again; both years' reports had carried a going concern warning.

The company sought other money. Effective June 30, 2014 it borrowed $1,500,000 from Dalton Lott, father-in-law of CEO Stuart Hagler, at 5.5% interest, guaranteed personally by three executives. On July 30 it signed a joint venture with Core Resource Management to drill up to ten wells at Pampa, with Core paying drilling and completion costs up to $475,000 per well. Shares on issue rose to 29,334,264 by year end, though the record does not explain the increase.

2015: Handing the keys to the lender

On February 20, 2015 the company signed a forbearance agreement with Melody Business Finance, which had taken over the $15,750,000 May 2011 Green Bank loan due June 1, 2015. Melody agreed not to act on defaults, interest became 15% paid in kind, and the company had to pursue a plan of reorganization. In April a Ninth Amendment lifted the principal to $16,729,200.78 and extended forbearance to June 1. Second-quarter 2015 revenue was $202K, with a net loss of $1.3M.

On October 9, 2015 a Tenth Amendment raised the loan commitments to $20,245,945.15, alongside a Restructuring Support Agreement. As of October 20, 2015, the plan was a pre-packaged Chapter 11 filing in which Melody would take 100% of the equity in the Texas subsidiary, the company's sole asset. Existing shareholders would receive nothing, unsecured creditors would be paid in full, and the company expected to become a shell. Confirmation had not been reported.

Written from the 21 story beats below (2006 to 20 Oct 2015), which come from the company's own announcements and filings.

Beat by beat

The events that changed the company's story, in plain English, each written against everything known about the company at the time. The dot shows whether it was good, bad or neutral for shareholders.

shares on issue market cap (log scale)

201530.0m shares · US$750k market cap

  1. 20 Oct

    Effective October 9, 2015, the company and its Texas subsidiary signed a Tenth Amendment with lender Melody Business Finance, raising the loan commitments to $20,245,945.15 and extending the forbearance, alongside a Restructuring Support Agreement. The term sheet calls for a pre-packaged Chapter 11 plan, to be filed within 30 days of signing, in which Melody gets 100% of the equity in the reorganized Texas subsidiary and current equity holders, including the company, get no recovery and lose their equity. The filing says that subsidiary is the company's sole asset, so the company would have no operations or revenue and would likely be a shell. This is the reorganization that the February 2015 forbearance pointed to, and it ends in a total loss for shareholders; unsecured creditors are to be paid in full.

    material agreement

    30.0m shUS$750k
  2. 6 Apr

    On April 2, 2015 the company and Melody Business Finance signed a Ninth Amendment to the loan and forbearance agreement. It raises the note principal to $16,729,200.78 and extends forbearance on existing and certain anticipated defaults to June 1, 2015. The filing says nothing about progress on the reorganization plan that was due by April 6; the higher principal is consistent with the 15% paid-in-kind interest, which is an inference.

    material agreement

    29.3m shUS$5.9m
  3. 24 Feb

    On February 20, 2015 the company signed a forbearance agreement with Melody Business Finance, which took over the May 2011 Green Bank loan of $15,750,000 maturing June 1, 2015. Melody agrees not to act on existing and certain anticipated defaults. Interest becomes 15% paid in kind (21% on default), New York law replaces Texas law, and the company must pursue a plan of reorganization by April 6, 2015, to be implemented within 90 days. If no reorganization happens through its own failure or inconsistent action, it owes a $2,000,000 closing fee plus lender costs; no terms have been agreed. This continues the covenant default problem from June 2014 and points to a possible restructuring of the company, with the effect on shareholders undetermined.

    material agreement

    29.3m sh

201423.3m shares · US$7.0m market cap

  1. 1 Aug

    On July 30, 2014 the company signed a joint venture with Core Resource Management to drill up to ten wells at its Pampa, Texas core area. Core pays 100% of drilling and completion costs up to $475,000 per well, with costs above that split 60% TransCoastal and 40% Core. Each party gets a 50% working interest; net revenue interest is 42.6% Core and 28.4% TransCoastal until costs are paid back, then 35.5% each. CoreTerra Operating is operator. This is partner-funded drilling on the proved undeveloped locations the company has described.

    material agreement

    23.3m shUS$7.0m
  2. 10 July

    Effective June 30, 2014 the company borrowed $1,500,000 from Dalton Lott, father-in-law of CEO Stuart Hagler, at 5.5% simple interest for six years. No payments are due until January 1, 2015; interest-only payments of $6,875 a month follow until September 30, 2015, then 60 monthly payments of $28,651.74. Hagler, David May and Wilbur Westmoreland personally guarantee the note, and it can be prepaid without penalty. It is a related-party loan.

    material agreement

    23.3m shUS$7.0m
  3. 19 June

    Rothstein Kass told the company it must resign as auditor, and the board approved Whitley Penn, the auditor dropped in July 2013, as the new auditor for 2014. Rothstein Kass's reports for 2013 and 2012 included a going concern paragraph, and the filing states no disagreements. The resignation comes days after the second restatement notice; the filing does not give a reason for it.

    auditor change

    22.7m shUS$11.4m
  4. 11 June

    On June 9, 2014 the company said its 2013 annual statements and first-quarter 2014 statements should no longer be relied on, because its notes payable were wrongly shown as long-term. The majority of the lending group had signalled it would waive covenant failures at December 31, 2013 and March 31, 2014, but in June some non-majority lenders did not waive their right to call the loan. About $17.1 million (December 2013) and $16.8 million (March 2014) of notes payable move to current liabilities, with no cash effect. For a shareholder this means the main loan could be called due.

    financial restatement

    22.7m shUS$11.4m
  5. 7 May

    The company said its 2013 and 2012 financial statements should no longer be relied on, because of an error in reserve estimates and the related depletion expense. Restated 2013 net loss goes from $3,921K to $4,053K, and restated 2012 net income from $1,154K to $1,036K. Total shareholders' equity falls to $3,044K at end 2013 (from $3,415K) and $5,393K at end 2012 (from $5,632K), with no change to cash flows. This also trims the 2012 profit the company had cited, though 2012 stays profitable; proved natural gas reserves at the end of 2013 are restated from 28,702,340 to 10,502,930.

    financial restatement

    22.7m shUS$26.1m

201322.2m shares · US$33.4m market cap

  1. 6 Nov

    On November 5, 2013 the company signed an agreement with Kodiak Capital Group under which it may sell Kodiak up to $5,000,000 of common stock, at 75% of the lowest closing bid in the five trading days after each put notice. Kodiak must buy only once the shares are registered with the SEC, and it cannot go above 9.99% ownership. The company gave Kodiak 256,410 restricted shares and paid a $15,000 document fee. This is a possible answer to the open funding question, but no money is committed until registration, and sales at a discount to market would dilute shareholders.

    material agreement

    22.2m shUS$33.4m
  2. 2 Aug

    On July 30, 2013 the board approved converting all 3,721,036 Series F preferred shares into 21,154,478 common shares, issued as restricted stock. This resolves the open thread about Series F conversion: the former TransCoastal holders' preferred stake becomes common stock, and existing holders are diluted accordingly. The filing does not state the resulting total shares outstanding.

    capital raising announcement

    178k shUS$2k
  3. 3 July

    On June 27, 2013 the company sold its old claims-processing subsidiary, ANC Holdings, to its debt holders in exchange for all the debt owed to them; the 8-K leaves the debt amount blank, while the press release says about $1.5 million of debt was eliminated and no cash changed hands. The 200-to-1 reverse split and the name change to TransCoastal Corporation took effect July 1, 2013, and authorized shares rose to 250,000,000 common and 25,000,000 preferred. This completes the plan set out in March: the healthcare business is gone and the company is now only the oil and gas business.

    asset acquisition disposition

    35.6m shUS$356k
  4. 15 May

    On May 9, 2013 the TransCoastal acquisition closed: the company issued 3,721,036 Series F preferred shares for 21,154,478 TransCoastal shares, which is 93.03% of TransCoastal's common stock. The preferred shares carry about 99.2% of the votes, so TransCoastal's former shareholders now control the company, and existing common holders are heavily diluted in voting terms. The company's stated primary business becomes Texas oil and gas, with Barnett shale and Pampa-area oil properties; the filing says TransCoastal made a profit from operations in 2012 and is seeking more funding. This resolves the main open thread about whether the deal would close before the May 31 deadline.

    business combination

    35.6m shUS$431k
  5. 30 Apr

    On April 24, 2013 Claimsnet and TransCoastal amended their March 18 deal: instead of up to 23,401,590 post-split common shares, TransCoastal's shareholders would get up to 4,000,000 new Series F preferred shares, each convertible into 1,170.076 common shares and voting with the common on an as-converted basis. The preferred class could elect three directors (a board majority) while at least 1,000,000 are outstanding. The amendment drops the name change, and the reverse-split information statement was abandoned because the amended deal needs no shareholder vote. The May 31, 2013 deadline, the plan to sell the claims business to debt holders (expected to be Thomas Michel, National Financial and J.R. Schellenberg) for debt cancellation, and the board changes at closing (Michel and Willems out, May, Hagler and Westmoreland in) remain. The company also borrowed $25,000 from Schellenberg on April 29 on a 1.75% demand note, to pay costs of the TransCoastal deal.

    capital raising announcement

    35.6m shUS$431k
  6. 22 Mar

    On March 18, 2013 Claimsnet.com (the healthcare claims-processing company) agreed to buy all shares of TransCoastal Corporation, a Texas oil and gas exploration and production company, paying with up to 23,401,590 new post-split Claimsnet shares; closing is targeted by May 31, 2013, after which the agreement lapses. A 200-to-1 reverse split would leave existing Claimsnet holders with about 178,000 shares in total (adjusted upward if TransCoastal's fair market value is under $53 million), all directors except Don Crosbie would resign, and the company would be renamed TransCoastal Corporation. The existing claims business is to be moved into a subsidiary and sold to certain debt holders in exchange for cancelling debt owed to them. This turns a long-running borrowing story into a reverse takeover that would sharply dilute current shareholders (the share counts support this).

    capital raising announcement

    35.6m shUS$1.1m

201134.9m shares · US$1.1m market cap

  1. 6 May

    On May 3, 2011 the company borrowed $40,000 from related party National Financial Corporation on an unsecured 1.75% demand note, for working capital. Separately, on May 6, 2011 the board decided the first-quarter 2011 results in the April 29 10-Q should no longer be relied upon: a $138,000 impairment loss was wrongly booked in the income statement and should have been a cumulative adjustment to accumulated deficit on adopting accounting guidance ASU 2010-28. A corrected 10-Q/A will remove that loss from the reported net loss.

    debt financing

    34.9m shUS$1.1m

2010

  1. 14 Sept

    On September 9, 2010 the company borrowed $50,000 from Novinvest Associated S.A., a division of its 5% shareholder Elmira United, on an unsecured 3% note due September 9, 2011. The proceeds paid the $50,000 non-refundable retainer to Blackhawk Partners, which the company engaged the same day to seek debt or equity financing, potentially in connection with a merger or acquisition. Blackhawk is also owed an advisory fee of 6% of equity and 3% of debt it raises from outside sources, plus $12,000 a month for six months starting six months after the effective date; the fee applies for 18 months after termination.

    debt financing

2008

  1. 16 May

    On May 13, 2008 the company borrowed another $200,000 from Elmira United Corp. on a 4% convertible note due March 31, 2013, convertible at 47,500 shares per $10,000 invested. Proceeds are for repaying maturing debt and working capital, continuing the pattern of borrowing from this shareholder.

    debt financing

  2. 24 Mar

    On March 20, 2008 the company changed the December 2007 $100,000 note from National Financial Corporation (a related party), which had been due January 31, 2008: it is now payable on demand and the interest rate is 5%. The same day it borrowed $250,000 from Elmira United Corp. on a 3.5% convertible note due March 31, 2011 (conversion at $0.16 per share) and another $250,000 on a 4% convertible note due March 31, 2013 (conversion at $0.21 per share), with proceeds to repay maturing debt and fund working capital. This continues the company's reliance on related-party and shareholder borrowing; the NFC note due date it had left open is now replaced by a demand term.

    debt financing

  3. 21 Feb

    On February 20, 2008 the company signed and completed the purchase of substantially all the assets of Acceptius, Inc., resolving the December 2007 proposal. It paid $25,000 cash, issued 1,700,000 restricted shares, and owes a further $5,000 within six months. The deal adds paper conversion and claims repricing; the company also reported a director exercising 50,000 warrants at $0.20 for $10,000.

    asset acquisition disposition

2006

  1. 21 Dec

    On December 18, 2006 the company and MedAvant (ProxyMed Transaction Services), a 10% customer, signed a new Gateway and Revenue Sharing Agreement and ended their September 11, 2002 services and license agreement. The new deal covers exchanging healthcare transactions on agreed fees and MedAvant assigning certain contracts, data and systems to the company. The filing does not give financial terms.

    material agreement termination

  2. 21 July

    TransCoastal Corp's exchange filed to remove a class of its securities from listing.

    listing compliance notice