Ocean Rig schemes sanctioned in Cayman Islands; U.S. hearing Sept. 20

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, Sept. 19 – Ocean Rig UDW Inc. said the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands sanctioned the schemes of arrangements of the company and its subsidiaries, Drill Rigs Holdings Inc., Drillships Financing Holding Inc. and Drillships Ocean Ventures Inc.

According to a company news release, the scheme companies filed the sanction orders with the registrar, meaning the scheme lodgment date has now occurred.

“We have reached a key milestone in the road to completing the restructuring,” Simon Appell said in the release on behalf of the scheme companies’ joint provisional liquidators.

“We thank all stakeholders who are working hard to fulfill the final conditions of the schemes and are really pleased that the restructuring is progressing on schedule.”

A hearing on enforcement of the schemes in the United States is scheduled for Sept. 20 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Ocean Rig said no objections to the enforcement motion were pending following the Sept. 8 objection deadline.

As previously reported, the schemes affect only financial debt. The company said its operations will continue unaffected, and trade creditors and vendors will continue to be paid in the ordinary course of business and will not be affected by any of the schemes.

Once the restructuring effective date has occurred, Ocean Rig said the scheme companies will be substantially deleveraged through an exchange of a$3.7 billion principal amount of debt for new equity of the company, about $288 million in cash and $450 million of new secured debt.

Ocean Rig is a deepwater driller based in Nicosia, Cyprus. The company filed for bankruptcy on March 27 under Chapter 15 case number 17-10736.

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