Advising oil rig firm Seadrill Limited on the company’s reorganization under Chapter 11

Oil rig firm Seadrill Limited entered a company reorganization under the United States Code, Title 11, Chapter 11. Under this reorganization, ARIFA acted as Panamanian counsel to Seadrill Limited; DNB Bank ASA; Nordea Bank AB, London Branch; ING Bank; Danske Bank A/S; Citibank N.A., London Branch; Nordea Bank AB, filial i Norge; and ABN AMRO Bank in connection with the restructuring of the shipping debt on the large, modern fleet of drilling units. The ARIFA team participated in the restructuring of the initial Panamanian collaterals and drafted the documents as new collateral guarantees were released.

The complex reorganization starting in 2017 was followed by the extension of the maturity of more than US$5 billion bank secured debt contained in of twelve facilities agreement, which were amended pursuant to the terms of the Amendment and Restatement Agreement dated 15 June 2018. In this multi-jurisdictional project (up to 19 jurisdictions), the bank secured debt was covered with mortgages over twenty eight Panamanian vessels. These mortgages which originally guaranteed in aggregate loans for more than US$10 billion were originally drafted and registered by ARIFA shipping team. The mortgages were amended in order to reflect the relevant changes as provided in the Amendment and Restatement Agreement.

ARIFA shipping legal team also advised on the recently enacted Panamanian law in respect to insolvency and reorganization of companies.