With Swift Energy's (SFY) last minute filing, the final Chapter 11 roster for 2015 has now been finalized. In North America, 42 companies with $17 billion in debt filed in 2015, the highest level since the financial crisis in 2008. Of these filings, 36 companies with $16.7 billion in debt filed in the U.S., and it is these companies upon which this article will focus.

Why bother at all, you might ask? Why focus on the recently departed and not on the survivors? One of the main reasons is that, like the virus/disease in the TV show 'The Walking Dead,' the likely extent of the damage from excess leverage extends beyond what can be seen currently, and readers should constantly be searching for signs not only of the debt virus in their own portfolio but in potential cures that could help other companies avoid the same fate. Another reason is that, unlike the 'walkers' in the TV show, companies that emerge from Ch. 11 do so without any trace of the virus, albeit usually at great cost to previous stakeholders.

2015 Summary

The table below is a compilation of the Ch. 11 cases filed by E&P companies in 2015. It is compiled from public sources such as news releases, industry publications, articles and a couple of particularly good synopses by two law firms, Haynes and Boone, and Thompson Knight. In addition to the basic filing date, case # identification and debt amounts, I have indicated what percentage of each company's debt is secured (vs. unsecured), as that can have a particular outcome apart from situations where most debt is unsecured.

When companies file bankruptcy, they designate an entity to act as the clerk for all filings, most often Prime Clerk (primeclerk.com), and all of those filings are available online for anyone to view. Filings can mount up substantially as any party who has an economic connection to the bankrupt company files motions, schedules, etc., in an attempt to protect their claim. Each filing is assigned a Docket #, and the filings can be downloaded as a PDF from the particular company's case file.

Of course, few want to read through these filings, but one item in particular is usually very valuable to read: the affidavit of a company official summarizing the background, financial condition, actions taken prior to the filing, reason for filings, plans submitted, etc. The Column below entitled 'Docket #' links to the URL for all of the company's Ch. 11 filings, and by locating the specific Docket # readers can download the affidavit for each of the companies who filed in 2015. Alternatively, to read just the affidavit, the Column labeled 'Person' has a link to the Thompson Knight site, where they have downloaded the PDF of the affidavit to their notepad.

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