COMPANY AND NOTEHOLDERS IN THE PROCESS OF NEGOTIATING
DEFINITIVE DOCUMENTATION AS SUPPORT BUILDS
BAAR, Switzerland, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Weatherford
International plc (NYSE: WFT) ("Weatherford" or the "Company")
announced today that additional holders of its senior notes have
signed the restructuring support agreement (the "Restructuring
Agreement") previously announced by the Company on May 10, 2019. With the new signatories,
over 74% of the Company's senior unsecured note holders are now
parties to the Restructuring Agreement, an increase of
approximately 12% following the Company's initial disclosure of the
Restructuring Agreement last week.
The proposed comprehensive financial restructuring contemplated
by the Restructuring Agreement would significantly reduce the
Company's long-term debt and related interest costs, provide access
to additional financing, and establish a more sustainable capital
structure. The Company and noteholder parties to the
Restructuring Agreement are in the process of negotiating
definitive documentation relating to the transactions contemplated
by the Restructuring Agreement, including commitments for
debtor-in-possession financing facilities.
ABOUT WEATHERFORD
Weatherford is one of the largest multinational oilfield service
companies providing innovative solutions, technology and services
to the oil and gas industry. The Company operates in over 80
countries and has a network of approximately 650 locations,
including manufacturing, service, research and development and
training facilities and employs approximately 26,000 people. For
more information, visit http://www.weatherford.com and connect
with Weatherford on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking
statements. In addition, our management may from time to time make
oral forward-looking statements. All statements, other than
statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements may be identified by the words
"believe," "expect," "anticipate," "project," "plan," "estimate,"
"may," "will," "could," "should," "seek" or "intend" and similar
expressions. Forward-looking statements reflect our current
expectations and assumptions regarding our business, the economy
and other future events and conditions and are based on currently
available financial, economic and competitive data and our current
business plans. Actual results could vary materially depending on
risks and uncertainties that may affect our operations, markets,
services, prices and other factors as discussed in the Risk Factors
section of our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(the "SEC"). While we believe our assumptions are reasonable, we
caution you against relying on any forward-looking statements as it
is very difficult to predict the impact of known factors, and it is
impossible for us to anticipate all factors that could affect our
actual results. Important factors that could cause actual results
to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to, the ability to confirm and
consummate a plan of reorganization in accordance with the terms of
the Restructuring Agreement; risks attendant to the bankruptcy
process, including our ability to obtain the approval of the
bankruptcy court with respect to motions filed in the chapter 11
cases and the related Irish examinership proceedings (the "Cases"),
the outcomes of court rulings and the Cases in general and the
length of time that we may be required to operate in bankruptcy;
the effectiveness of the overall restructuring activities pursuant
to the Cases and any additional strategies that we may employ to
address our liquidity and capital resources; the actions and
decisions of creditors, regulators and other third parties that
have an interest in the Cases, which may interfere with the ability
to confirm and consummate a plan of reorganization; restrictions on
us due to the terms of any debtor-in-possession credit facility
that we will enter into in connection with the Cases and
restrictions imposed by the bankruptcy court; our ability to
achieve our forecasted revenue and pro forma leverage ratio and
generate free cash flow to further reduce our indebtedness; a
weakening of global economic and financial conditions, changes in
governmental regulations and related compliance and litigation
costs and the other factors listed in our SEC filings. For a more
detailed discussion of these and other risk factors, see the Risk
Factors section in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and our other filings made with the
SEC. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in
their entirety by this cautionary notice. The forward-looking
statements made by us speak only as of the date on which they are
made. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to
differ may emerge from time to time. We undertake no obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result
of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise
required by law.
NO SOLICITATION OR OFFER
Any new securities to be issued pursuant to the restructuring
transactions may not be registered under the Securities Act of
1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or any state securities
laws but may be issued pursuant to an exemption from such
registration provided in the U.S. bankruptcy code. Such new
securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an
applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the
Securities Act and any applicable state securities laws. This press
release does not constitute an offer to sell or buy, nor the
solicitation of an offer to sell or buy, any securities referred to
herein, nor is this press release a solicitation of consents to or
votes to accept any chapter 11 plan. Any solicitation or offer will
only be made pursuant to a confidential offering memorandum and
disclosure statement and only to such persons and in such
jurisdictions as is permitted under applicable law.
CONTACTS
Christoph Bausch
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
+1.713.836.4615
Karen David-Green
Senior Vice President, Stakeholder Engagement and Chief Marketing
Officer
+1.713.836.7430
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