Berry Corporation Announces Successful Completion of Refinancing Transactions, Extending Debt Maturities
December 26 2024 - 7:00AM
Berry Corporation (bry) (NASDAQ: BRY) (“Berry” or the “Company”)
announced the closing of a comprehensive refinancing of its
existing indebtedness on December 24, 2024 (the “Transactions”),
providing the Company with capital and liquidity to continue
progressing Berry’s corporate strategy:
- Ensuring capital and liquidity to
execute on the Company’s development plans including unlocking the
significant upside potential in Utah to drive long-term shareholder
value
- Extending the Company’s debt
maturities enables Berry to execute on strategic growth
opportunities that provide scale and geographic
diversification
- Sustaining production at current
levels while utilizing cash flow for capital expenditures, dividend
payments and debt reduction
“With our refinancing complete, Berry is well positioned with
the financial resources to advance our strategic goals and achieve
long-term growth. Looking to 2025, we are ready to execute on value
enhancing opportunities in both California and the Uinta Basin,
where we believe there is potential to drive substantial long-term
shareholder value,” said Fernando Araujo, Berry’s Chief Executive
Officer.
Mike Helm, Berry’s Chief Financial Officer, commented, “By
successfully addressing our near-term debt maturities, we have the
financial flexibility to focus on our core business and pursue our
key priorities for 2025 and beyond. With liquidity of more than
$100 million at closing, we remain committed to a disciplined
capital allocation strategy and generating free cash flow that will
balance delivering sustainable shareholder returns with pursuing
our highest capital return opportunities.”
Valor Upstream Credit Partners, L.P., which is managed by
Breakwall Capital LP in partnership with Vitol, is the lender on
the Senior Secured Term Loan Credit Agreement, dated as of November
6, 2024 (as amended, supplemented or otherwise modified, the “Term
Loan Credit Agreement”) entered into by, among others, the Company,
as borrower, certain subsidiaries of the Company party thereto, as
guarantors and Breakwall Credit Management LLC, as administrative
agent. TCBI Securities, Inc., doing business as Texas Capital
Securities, served as capital structure advisor to Berry and sole
arranger of the Senior Secured Revolving Credit Agreement, dated as
of December 24, 2024 (as amended, supplemented or otherwise
modified, the “Senior Secured Revolving Credit Agreement”), entered
into by, among others, the Company, as borrower, certain
subsidiaries of the Company party thereto, as guarantors, and Texas
Capital Bank, as lender and administrative agent.
As part of the Transactions, the Company borrowed $450 million
under the Term Loan Credit Agreement. Proceeds therefrom will be
used to fund the full redemption of the outstanding 7.000% Senior
Notes due 2026 (the “2026 Notes”) of Berry Petroleum Company, LLC,
the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary and to pay fees and expenses
relating thereto and with the remaining proceeds to be used to fund
capital expenditures and for other general corporate purposes in
accordance with the terms of our indebtedness. This press release
does not constitute a notice of redemption of the 2026 Notes. The
redemption of the 2026 Notes is expected to occur on December 26,
2024.
The Company has also entered into a three-year reserve-based
revolving loan under the Senior Secured Revolving Credit Agreement
with Texas Capital Bank as administrative agent, and a syndicate of
banks providing for borrowing availability equal to the lesser of
(i) the maximum commitments of $500 million, (ii) the then
effective borrowing base and (iii) the elected commitment amount.
On the closing date, the borrowing base is $95 million and the
elected commitments are $63 million, which would result in a $63
million of borrowing availability under the Senior Secured
Revolving Credit Agreement until the next scheduled redetermination
of the borrowing base, which is scheduled to occur in the Spring of
2025. The Term Loan Credit Agreement will have a delayed draw term
loan commitment that, when aggregated with the available
commitments under the Senior Secured Revolving Credit Agreement,
will provide up to $95 million of borrowing availability for
working capital and other general corporate purposes.
About Berry Corporation (bry)
Berry is a publicly traded (NASDAQ: BRY) western United States
independent upstream energy company with a focus on onshore, low
geologic risk, long-lived oil and gas reserves. We operate in two
business segments: (i) exploration and production (“E&P”) and
(ii) well servicing and abandonment. Our E&P assets are located
in California and Utah, are characterized by high oil content and
are predominantly located in rural areas with low population. Our
California assets are in the San Joaquin basin (100% oil), while
our Utah assets are in the Uinta basin (60% oil and 40% gas). We
operate our well servicing and abandonment segment in
California.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements and information in this press release may
constitute “forward-looking statements.” The statements discussed
in this press release that are not purely historical data are
forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the
statements regarding the Transactions, the full redemption of the
2026 Notes and the borrowing availability under the Senior Secured
Revolving Credit Agreement. These forward-looking statements are
based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future
developments and their potential effect on us. While management
believes that these forward-looking statements are reasonable as
and when made, there can be no assurance that future developments
affecting us will be those that we anticipate. Our forward-looking
statements involve significant risks and uncertainties (some of
which are beyond our control), including general market conditions
and assumptions that could cause our actual results to differ
materially from our historical experience and our present
expectations. For additional information regarding known material
risks, uncertainties and other factors that can affect future
results, please see our filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including our latest Annual Report on Form 10-K and
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. We undertake no obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements after the
date they are made, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise.
Contact: Berry Corporation (bry)
Todd Crabtree – Director, Investor Relations
(661) 616-3811
ir@bry.com
Berry (NASDAQ:BRY)
Historical Stock Chart
From Nov 2024 to Dec 2024
Berry (NASDAQ:BRY)
Historical Stock Chart
From Dec 2023 to Dec 2024