Independent oil and gas producer Energy Partners Ltd. said Monday it began a cash tender offer for all its outstanding 8.75 percent senior notes due 2010.
The offer, which also includes a solicitation for consent to amend the company's obligations under the notes, expires April 20, unless extended or terminated earlier by the company. The consent solicitation expiers April 9.
Energy Partners expects to pay total consideration per $1,000 principal amount of the notes calculated based on the notes' $1,043.75 redemption price on Aug. 1, 2007, the earliest redemption date. The company expects to determine the price 10 days before the offer's expiration date.
In October the company, which posted a fourth-quarter loss after taking $77.9 million in non-cash impairment charges, called off a plan to buy Lafayette, La.-based Stone Energy Corp. in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $1.4 billion, along with the assumption of $563 million of Stone debt.
That followed its rejection a few months earlier of a hostile takeover bid by Woodside Petroleum, a major Australian energy company.
The company's founder and chief executive, Richard Bachmann, said Energy Partners approached 63 potential bidders, 14 of which expressed interest and signed confidentiality agreements. But no definitive offers were received, Bachmann said.
More recently, the company said it would buy back about 22 percent of its common stock and sell some properties.
Shares of Energy Partners rose 36 cents, or 2 percent, to $18.36 during morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange. In the last 52 weeks, the stock has ranged in price from $16.37 to $28.85.
AP
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