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Filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3)
Registration No. 333-169029

PROSPECTUS

LOGO

Geokinetics Holdings USA, Inc.

Offer to exchange its 9.75% Senior Secured Notes due 2014,
which have been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, for
any and all of its outstanding 9.75% Senior Secured Notes due 2014

The exchange offer and withdrawal rights will expire at 5:00 p.m.,
New York City time, on October 12, 2010, unless extended.



        We are offering to exchange up to $300,000,000 in aggregate principal amount of our new 9.75% Senior Secured Notes due 2014, which have been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, referred to in this prospectus as the "new notes," for any and all of our outstanding unregistered 9.75% senior secured notes due 2014 referred to in this prospectus as the "old notes." We issued the old notes on December 23, 2009 in a transaction not requiring registration under the Securities Act of 1933. We are offering you new notes, with terms substantially identical to those of the old notes, in exchange for old notes in order to satisfy our registration obligations from that previous transaction. The new notes and the old notes are collectively referred to in this prospectus as the "notes."

         See "Risk Factors" starting on page 19 of this prospectus for a discussion of risks associated with investing in the new notes and with the exchange of old notes for the new notes offered hereby.

        We will exchange new notes for all old notes that are validly tendered and not withdrawn before expiration of the exchange offer. You may withdraw tenders of old notes at any time prior to the expiration of the exchange offer. The exchange procedure is more fully described in "The Exchange Offer—Procedures for Tendering." If you fail to tender your old notes, you will continue to hold unregistered notes that you will not be able to transfer freely.

        The terms of the new notes are identical in all material respects to those of the old notes, except that the transfer restrictions and registration rights applicable to the old notes do not apply to the new notes. See "Description of New Notes" for more details on the terms of the new notes. We will not receive any proceeds from the exchange offer.

        There is no established trading market for the new notes or the old notes. The exchange of old notes for new notes in the exchange offer will not be a taxable transaction for United States federal income tax purposes. See "Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations." All broker-dealers must comply with the registration and prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act. See "Plan of Distribution."

         Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense. We are not asking you for a proxy and you are requested not to send us a proxy.

The date of this prospectus is September 8, 2010


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        Each broker-dealer that receives new notes for its own account pursuant to the exchange offer must acknowledge that it will deliver a prospectus in connection with any resale of such new notes. The letter of transmittal delivered with this prospectus states that by so acknowledging and by delivering a prospectus, a broker-dealer will not be deemed to admit that it is an "underwriter" within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act. This prospectus, as it may be amended or supplemented from time to time, may be used by a broker-dealer in connection with resales of new notes received in exchange for outstanding old notes where such outstanding notes were acquired by such broker-dealer as a result of market-making activities or other trading activities. We have agreed that, starting on the expiration date of the exchange offer and ending on the close of business one year after such expiration date, we will make this prospectus available to any broker-dealer for use in connection with any such resale. See "Plan of Distribution."

         We have not authorized any dealer, salesman or other person to give any information or to make any representation other than those contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus. You must not rely upon any information or representation not contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus as if we had authorized it. This prospectus does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities other than the registered securities to which it relates, nor does this prospectus constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction to any person to whom it is unlawful to make such offer or solicitation in such jurisdiction.


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ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

        This prospectus is part of a registration statement that we filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC. We may add, update or change in a prospectus supplement any information contained in this prospectus. You should read this prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplement, as well as any post-effective amendments to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, together with the additional information described under "Where You Can Find More Information" and "Incorporation of Certain Documents by Reference" before you make any investment decision.

        You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with information different from that contained in this prospectus. We are offering to exchange old notes for new notes only in jurisdictions where such offers and sales are permitted. The information contained in this prospectus is accurate only as of the date of this prospectus, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or any actual exchange of old notes for new notes.


INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

        We "incorporate by reference" information into this prospectus. This means that we disclose important information to you by referring you to another document filed separately with the SEC. The information incorporated by reference is considered to be part of this prospectus. We incorporate by reference the documents listed below, other than any portions of the respective filings that were furnished (pursuant to Item 2.02 or Item 7.01 of current reports on Form 8-K or other applicable SEC rules) rather than filed:

    our annual report as amended on Amendment No. 1 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009 (the "Form 10-K/A") as filed with the SEC on August 9, 2010 (including information specifically incorporated by reference into our Form 10-K ("the Original Filing") and together with the Form 10-K/A, the "Form 10-K") from our Proxy Statement for our 2010 Annual Meeting of Stockholders), as filed with the SEC on March 15, 2010;

    our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and Form 10-Q/A for the quarters ended on March 31, 2010 and June 30, 2010, as filed with the SEC on August 9, 2010;

    our current reports on Form 8-K, as filed with the SEC on February 16, 2010, February 22, 2010, March 26, 2010, April 28, 2010, May 7, 2010, May 26, 2010, June 7, 2010, July 2, 2010, July 19, 2010, August 4, 2010, August 5, 2010, August 10, 2010 and August 24, 2010 and our current reports on Form 8-K/A, as filed with the SEC on January 6, 2010, February 23, 2010, April 14, 2010, April 28, 2010 and April 29, 2010; and

    our registration statement on Form S-8, as filed with the SEC on May 14, 2010 which registers 1,600,000 shares of common stock of the Company, issuable pursuant that certain Geokinetics Inc. 2010 Stock Awards Plan (the "Plan" .)

        All documents that we file pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act after the date of this prospectus and until our offering hereunder is completed will be deemed to be incorporated by reference into this prospectus and will be a part of this prospectus from the date of the filing of the document. Any statement contained in a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference in this prospectus will be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this prospectus to the extent that a statement contained in this prospectus or in any other subsequently filed document that also is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference in this prospectus modifies or supersedes that statement. Any statement that is modified or superseded will not constitute a part of this prospectus, except as modified or superseded.

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        We will provide to each person, including any beneficial owner to whom an prospectus is delivered, a copy of these filings, other than an exhibit to these filings unless we have specifically incorporated that exhibit by reference into the filing, upon written or oral request and at no cost. Requests should be made by writing or telephoning us at the following address:

Geokinetics Inc.
Office of the Corporate Secretary
1500 CityWest Blvd, Suite 800
Houston, Texas 77042
(281) 848-6986
corporate.secretary@geokinetics.com

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WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

        We have filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-4 under the Securities Act with respect to the new notes offered hereby. This prospectus, which is a part of the registration statement, does not contain all of the information set forth in the registration statement, as amended, or the exhibits and schedules filed therewith. For further information with respect to us and the new notes offered hereby, please see the registration statement, as amended, and the exhibits and schedules filed with the registration statement. Statements contained in this prospectus regarding the contents of any contract or any other document that is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement are not necessarily complete, and each such statement is qualified in all respects by reference to the full text of such contract or other document filed as an exhibit to the registration statement. A copy of the registration statement, as amended, and the exhibits and schedules filed with the registration statement may be inspected without charge at the public reference room maintained by the SEC, located at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20549, and copies of all or any part of the registration statement may be obtained from such offices upon the payment of the fees prescribed by the SEC. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information about the public reference room. The SEC also maintains an internet website that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding registrants that file electronically with the SEC. The address of the website is www.sec.gov .

        We file annual, quarterly, and other reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC under the Exchange Act of 1934. You may read and copy any materials we file with the SEC at the SEC's public reference room referred to above. General information about us, including our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K, as well as any amendments and exhibits to those reports, are available free of charge through our website at www.geokinetics.com as soon as reasonably practicable after we file them with, or furnish them to, the SEC. Information on our website is not incorporated into this prospectus or our other securities filings and is not a part of this prospectus.

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

        This prospectus and the documents incorporated by reference herein contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements are often accompanied by words such as "believe," "should," "anticipate," "plan," "expect," "potential," "scheduled," "estimate," "intend," "seek," "goal," "may" and similar expressions. These statements include, without limitation, statements about our acquisition of PGS Onshore, our market opportunity, our growth strategy, competition, expected activities and future acquisitions and investments and the adequacy of our available cash resources. Investors are urged to read these statements carefully, and are cautioned that matters subject to forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including economic, regulatory, competitive and other factors that may affect our business. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements. Moreover, we do not assume any responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of such statements in the future.

        Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results in future periods to differ materially from those projected or contemplated in the forward-looking statements as a result of, but not limited to, the following factors:

    our ability to successfully integrate PGS Onshore into our existing operations;

    a decline in capital expenditures by oil and gas exploration and production companies;

    market developments affecting, and other changes in, the demand for seismic data and related services;

    the timing and extent of changes in the price of oil and gas;

    our future capital requirements and availability of financing on satisfactory terms;

    availability or increases in the price of seismic equipment;

    availability of crew personnel and technical personnel;

    competition;

    technological obsolescence of our seismic data acquisition equipment;

    the condition of the capital markets generally, which will be affected by interest rates, foreign currency fluctuations and general economic conditions;

    the effects of weather or other delays on our operations;

    cost and other effects of legal proceedings, settlements, investigations and claims, including liabilities which may not be covered by indemnity or insurance;

    governmental regulation; and

    the political and economic climate in the foreign or domestic jurisdictions in which we conduct business.

        We have also discussed the risks to our business under the caption "Risk Factors" beginning on page 15. Given these risks and uncertainties, we can give no assurances that results projected in any forward-looking statements will in fact occur and therefore caution investors not to place undue reliance on them. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed in this prospectus and the documents incorporated by reference herein might not occur.

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PROSPECTUS SUMMARY

         You should rely only on the information provided or incorporated by reference in this prospectus. We have not authorized anyone else to provide you with different information. Unless the context indicates otherwise, all references to "Geokinetics" refer to Geokinetics Inc. and all references to "we," "our," "ours" and "us" refer to Geokinetics Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries including Geokinetics Holdings USA, Inc. The following summary highlights significant aspects of our business and this exchange offering, but it does not include all the information you should consider before exchanging your notes. This prospectus contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. You should read this entire prospectus, including the information set forth under "Risk Factors" and the financial statements and related notes included or incorporated by reference in this prospectus before making an investment decision.

         References in this prospectus to PGS Onshore refer to the on-shore seismic and multi-client seismic library business of Petroleum Geo-Services ASA, a Norwegian corporation, which we acquired on February 12, 2010. When we refer to the PGS Onshore acquisition, we refer to the acquisition of PGS Onshore and related financing, including the issuance of common stock to Petroleum Geo-Services, our common stock offering and the old note offering. Pro forma financial and operating information incorporated by reference herein includes the results of operations of PGS Onshore and the related financing.

Our Business

        We are a full-service, global provider of seismic data acquisition, multi-client data library and seismic data processing and interpretation services to the oil and natural gas industry. As an acknowledged industry leader in land, marsh, swamp, transition zone and shallow water (up to 500 feet water depths) ocean bottom cable or "OBC" environments, we have the capacity to operate up to 38 seismic crews with approximately 201,100 recording channels worldwide and the ability to process seismic data collected throughout the world. Crew count, configuration and location can change depending upon industry demand and requirements.

        We provide a suite of geophysical services including acquisition of two-dimensional ("2D"), three dimensional ("3D"), and multi-component seismic data surveys, data processing and interpretation services and other geophysical services for customers in the oil and natural gas industry, which include many national oil companies, major international oil companies and smaller independent E&P companies in the Gulf Coast, Mid-Continent, California, Appalachian and Rocky Mountain regions of the United States, Western Canada, Canadian Arctic, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Australia/New Zealand and the Far East. Seismic data is used by E&P companies to identify and analyze drilling prospects, maximize drilling success, optimize field development and enhance production economics. We also maintain a multi-client data library whereby we maintain full or partial ownership of data acquired for future licensing. Our multi-client data library consists of data covering various areas in the United States and Canada.

        The seismic services industry is dependent upon the spending levels of oil and natural gas companies for exploration, development, exploitation and production of oil and natural gas. These spending levels have traditionally been heavily influenced by the prices of oil and natural gas. Since the third quarter of 2008, oil and natural gas prices have shown significant volatility, and E&P spending has been reduced significantly. To the extent that exploration spending does not increase, our cash flows from operations could be directly affected. While there are signs of recovery, if the global recession continues for a long period of time, commodity prices may be depressed for an extended period of time, which could alter our acquisition and exploration plans, and adversely affect our growth strategy. For the year ended December 31, 2009, we would have generated pro forma revenue of $711.0 million and EBITDA of $94.1 million, compared to actual revenue of $511.0 million and EBITDA of $87.0 million for the same period.

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Recent Developments

        On February 12, 2010, we acquired PGS Onshore. This business has the ability to deploy 13 seismic crews, nine of which are currently active, with over 84,000 recording channels. The PGS Onshore acquisition provides us a significant business expansion into Mexico, where PGS Onshore has three active crews. This acquisition also expands our business into Alaska, where PGS Onshore employs a crew using specialized seismic vehicles designed for the environmentally sensitive arctic region. The PGS Onshore acquisition substantially increased our multi-client seismic library. We currently have a library that, upon completion of current surveys in progress, will cover 742 square miles and, as a result of the acquisition, we acquired a seismic library covering an additional 5,500 square miles located primarily in Texas, Oklahoma, Wyoming and Alaska.

        Additional developments related to our business during 2010 include the following:

    We have seen our backlog increase from $378 million at December 31, 2009 (pro-forma combined with PGS Onshore) to $519 million at June 30, 2010. New projects will take place in South America, Central and West Africa, Australia and the United States.

    We launched our new Geotiger Series II highly transportable 4 component (4C) OBC crew to the Canadian Arctic and commenced operations in the second quarter.

    We have seen an increase in bid activity which we expect to have positive results in the 3rd and 4th quarter of 2010 and possibly into our fiscal year 2011.

    On June 30, 2010, we amended our revolving credit facility with Royal Bank of Canada to, among other things, provide greater flexibility in meeting financial covenants. This amendment provides greater flexibility on our maximum total leverage ratio, fixed charge ratio and minimum interest coverage ratio for the quarters ending June 30, 2010 and September 30, 2010.

    Change in Executive Officer

        On August 19, 2010, we announced that Ronald D. Cayon has been appointed as our interim Chief Financial Office, pending completion of a search for a permanent replacement. Mr. Cayon has been providing accounting services as a consultant since March 2010. Scott A. McCurdy, our former Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer resigned from his position effective August 18, 2010.

    New Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility

        On February 12, 2010, we completed the closing of a revolving credit facility and letters of credit for the account of Geokinetics Holdings under the terms of a Credit Agreement with (the "RBC Facility" or the "revolving credit facility"), which matures on February 12, 2013. Effective June 30, 2010, we amended the RBC Facility to, among other things, provide greater flexibility in meeting financial covenants for the quarters ending June 30, 2010 and September 30, 2010. In addition, the permitted outstanding borrowing under the revolver was reduced from $50 million to $40 million. As of June 30, 2010, we were in compliance with these covenants. The outstanding balance of this revolving credit facility was $9.0 million as of June 30, 2010 and $21.0 million as of August 6, 2010.

        Borrowings under the revolving credit facility are unconditionally guaranteed by Geokinetics and each of its existing and each subsequently acquired or organized wholly-owned U.S. direct or indirect subsidiary of Geokinetics, other than U.S. subsidiaries of non-U.S. subsidiaries. Each of the entities guaranteeing the revolving credit facility will secure the guarantees on a first priority basis with a lien on substantially all of the assets of such guarantor. Borrowings under the revolving credit facility will generally be deemed Priority Bank Debt, and so the new notes will be effectively subordinated to borrowings under the revolving credit facility pursuant to an intercreditor agreement. See "Description

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of Other Indebtedness—New Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility" which further describes the permitted outstanding borrowings, interest rate, and financial covenants.

        Based on our current forecast, we believe that it is likely that we will not be able to maintain the covenants required at the September 30, 2010 measurement date, and possibly beyond. We expect to need to use the RBC Facility to fund capital expenditures and crew mobilizations. If we are unable to remedy this situation, we may be forced to delay capital expenditures and/or decline opportunities for new work that requires significant working capital. As such, we are currently in discussions to amend the facility or receive a waiver to address this situation. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in doing so on commercially reasonable terms, if at all.

    Common Stock Offering

        We completed the offering of 4,000,000 shares of our common stock at $9.25 per share on December 18, 2009. Total proceeds from this offering were approximately $34.8 million. In addition, on January 14, 2010, the underwriters of the stock purchased 207,200 shares pursuant to an overallotment option for approximately $1.8 million.

        On December 18, 2009, we issued 750,000 shares of common stock to Avista in connection with the preferred stock restructuring described below. Also as a result of the equity offering the purchase price of warrants owned by Avista to purchase 240,000 shares of Geokinetics common stock at $20.00 per share issued on July 28, 2008 was adjusted to $9.25 per share pursuant to certain existing provisions of the warrants, whereby subsequent equity issuances at a price below the existing exercise price will result in a downward adjustment to the exercise price and may extend the expiration date of the warrants.

        On February 12, 2010, we issued 2,153,616 shares of our common stock to PGS in connection with the Acquisition of PGS Onshore.

    Preferred Stock Restructuring

        At the closing of the common stock offering, the conversion price of the series B-1 preferred stock was reduced from $25 to $17.436, the dividend rate was increased from 8% to 9.75%, we canceled the series B-2 preferred stock and issued new series C preferred stock and 750,000 shares of common stock to the holders. In addition, we agreed to pay Avista Capital Holdings, L.P. and Levant America S.A. a cash fee of 2% of the liquidation amount, plus accrued and unpaid dividends of the series B preferred stock which totaled $2.1 million.

Our Strengths

        Leading provider with a balanced global market presence.     Our global diversity and exposure to both oil and natural gas reserve opportunities provide us with a balanced market presence, which increases new contract opportunities while reducing our sensitivity to individual markets and commodity price volatility. We have the equipment and trained personnel to deploy up to 38 seismic crews throughout the world. Our size and operating capability allow for improved crew and equipment utilization and the ability to service our customers across the globe. Our long operating history and reputation for quality service encourages customers to continue to select us as their provider of seismic data acquisition services.

        Specialized expertise in difficult environments and key high-growth markets.     We specialize in seismic data acquisition services in transition zones and other difficult land environments, which we believe to be underserved and one of the fastest growing segments of the overall seismic services industry. Additionally, we recently entered the Ocean Bottom Cable, or "OBC," market with one active crew and were the first operators of Sercel's SeaRay system. The Company's extensive experience operating

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in such complex and challenging areas, including its expertise in designing and utilizing special equipment customized for these environments, provides us a significant competitive advantage. We also have experience operating in local markets within key high growth regions around the world, such as Latin America, the Middle East and the Far East. We have been operating in the Far East longer than many of our major competitors. In addition, the expertise required to operate in these areas and the difficult nature of the work positions us to potentially realize higher operating margins than we realize on more traditional land seismic projects.

        Strong relationships with a globally diversified customer base.     We have strong, long-standing relationships with a diverse customer base consisting of national oil companies, super majors, majors and E&P Companies in over 30 countries. We have been providing seismic data acquisition services to many of our largest customers for over five years. Our global operating capability and sizable crew count allow us to leverage relationships with our customers and increase revenues by providing them services throughout the world and tailoring crew sizes to meet their requirements. Our customer base is diversified and it is not dependent on any one customer. On a pro forma basis, our top ten customers collectively would have represented approximately 57% and 66% of total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2009 and the six months ended June 30, 2010, respectively, with no single customer accounting for more than 15% of our total revenues during those periods.

        Strong backlog that provides significant revenue visibility.     Even though the oil and gas business has continued to experience a period of reduced spending on exploration and development in certain markets, our backlog has increased since the first quarter of 2010. At June 30, 2010, our estimated total backlog of commitments for services was approximately $519 million compared to $428 million at March 31, 2010 and $318 million at June 30, 2009. Backlog at June 30, 2010 included $412 million or 79% from international projects, and $107 million or 21% from North American (excluding Mexico) projects. It is anticipated that at least half of the backlog at June 30, 2010, will be completed in 2010 with the remaining amount to be completed in 2011 and 2012. Contracts for services are occasionally varied or modified by mutual consent and in many instances may be cancelled by the customer on short notice without penalty. As a result, our backlog as of any particular date may not be indicative of our actual operating results for any succeeding fiscal period.

        Increasing multi-client library portfolio.     The acquisition of PGS Onshore significantly increased our multi-client library portfolio. PGS Onshore invested $133.1 million during 2008 and 2007 developing a 5,500 square mile multi-client library focused on high impact drilling areas or areas of high lease turnover in Texas, Oklahoma, Alaska and Wyoming. We believe this library is of high quality. This portfolio together with our recent entry into the multi-client library business provides opportunities for growth as drilling activity begins to pick up and as E&P companies look to drill wells in advance of lease expiration. We believe there are significant opportunities in North America, including the shale plays, for the continued expansion of our multi-client library business. As we grow our multi-client portfolio, we plan to secure a significant portion of prefunded sales prior to commencing any multi-client project.

        Highly experienced management team and strategic equity investors.     We draw on the global experience of our management team to maintain our leading market position and strong customer relationships. Our senior executive management team has an average of over 20 years of relevant industry experience in the seismic services sector as well as in oil and gas exploration, with a demonstrated track record. Our largest shareholder is Avista Capital Partners, L.P. ("Avista") and its respective affiliates, which invested in us at the time of our merger with Grant Geophysical in 2006. Avista brings significant experience as an investor in the oilfield service sector. Our second largest shareholder after the acquisition is Petroleum Geo-Services.

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Our Strategy

        Maintain focus and specialization in profitable, high-potential markets.     To maximize profitability, we will continue to target our growth in areas in which we believe we have a competitive advantage, such as difficult land environments, transition zones and our OBC operations. We believe these areas continue to be underserved and represent the fastest growing segments of the overall seismic services market. We also plan to further expand our presence, both geographically and in the types of services offered, in existing and new high-potential markets throughout the world to diversify our customer base and capitalize on opportunities in our areas of operations.

        Prudently invest in new and technologically-advanced equipment.     We believe growth in demand for seismic services will continue to be enhanced by the development and application of new technologies, particularly for use in difficult land environments and transition zones. We will continue to acquire and develop expertise in using technologically-advanced equipment to perform our services. In addition, we have upgraded and will continue to upgrade our existing equipment, primarily for our transition zone and OBC operations, to improve operating efficiency and to equip us for larger crew sizes, which we expect to lead to increased operating margins.

        Make strategic investments in our multi-client data library.     We believe that opportunities exist for us to continue to build and expand our multi-client data library in areas that will provide a high likelihood for future revenues. We will continue to acquire data for our own account with a particular near-term focus on the shale plays in the United States.

        Provide a broad range of services.     We believe there are significant global opportunities in providing customers a broad range of seismic data services, from acquisition and processing to interpretation and management and partnering with E&P companies for multi-client library projects. Customers are increasingly seeking integrated solutions to better evaluate known oil and gas deposits and improve the amount of recoverable hydrocarbons. Given our size and technological capabilities, we believe we have the infrastructure to significantly expand these multiple service offerings that add value and efficiency for our customers.

        Enhance asset utilization and operating efficiency.     Through greater customer and geographic diversification, upgraded equipment and improved crew capabilities, we seek to ensure the utilization and continuity of our seismic crews, the utilization of our equipment and our operating efficiency, which we expect will generate increased revenues and higher margins. Expanding our customer base and presence internationally will allow us to better manage our resources and minimize the reliance on certain customers, downtime between projects and the effects of seasonality and cyclicality in our business. In addition, we believe that the PGS Onshore acquisition will result in annual synergies through rationalizing office locations, the elimination of duplicate corporate functions, and improved purchasing power. We also believe there will be additional cross-selling opportunities to enhance revenue.

Industry Overview

        Seismic surveys enable oil and gas companies to determine whether subsurface conditions are favorable for finding oil and gas accumulations and to determine the size and structure of previously identified oil and natural gas deposits. Seismic surveys consist of the acquisition and processing of 2D and 3D seismic data, which is used to produce computer-generated, graphic cross-sections, maps and 3D images of the subsurface. These resulting images are then analyzed and interpreted by geophysicists and are used by oil and gas companies to acquire prospective oil and natural gas drilling rights, select drilling locations on exploratory prospects and manage and develop producing reservoirs.

        Seismic data is acquired by crews operating in land, transition zone and marine environments. Seismic data is generated by the propagation of sound waves near the earth's surface by controlled

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sources, such as dynamite or vibration equipment. The waves radiate into the earth and are reflected back to the surface and collected by data collection devices known in the industry as "geophones." Multiple geophones are strategically positioned, according to client requirements, and connected as a single recording channel to acquire data. This data is then input into a specialized data processing system that enhances the recorded signal by reducing noise and distortion, improving resolution and arranging the input data to produce an image of the subsurface. Three-dimensional seismic surveys collect far more information and generate significantly greater detail of the underlying reservoirs than 2D surveys.

        The overall demand for seismic data and related seismic services is dependent upon spending by oil and natural gas companies for exploration, production, development and field management activities, which, in turn, is driven largely by present and expected future prices for crude oil and natural gas and the need to replenish drilling prospects and reserves. This is impacted by supply and demand, global and local events, as well as political, economic and environmental considerations.

        For OBC operations, an assembly of vertically oriented geophones and hydrophones connected by electrical wires typically is deployed on the seafloor to record and relay data to a seismic recording vessel. Such systems were originally introduced to enable surveying in areas of obstructions (such as production platforms) or shallow water inaccessible to ships towing seismic streamers (floating cables).

        Global energy demand growth.     Although demand for energy has recently declined, we believe that long-term, global demand for energy will increase and as that demand rebounds, demand from E&P companies for seismic services will also increase.

        E&P capital spending.     The need to replace depleting reserves should encourage capital expenditures by E&P companies, which we expect will benefit the seismic services industry. We believe that E&P companies, including many national oil and gas companies, remain under pressure to increase or replenish reserves and are looking to unconventional resource plays, transition zones, international locations and the optimization of current reserves with new technology to achieve these results. Seismic data acquisition services are a key component of E&P companies' capital expenditure programs.

        Technological development.     The application and utilization of seismic services have considerably increased over the last several years as a result of significant technological advancements, such as the move from 2D to 3D and single-component to multi-component seismic data recording and processing. Seismic services can now be applied to the entire sequence of exploration, development and production, as opposed to exploration only, allowing for a greater range of use for our services. In addition, surveys previously shot 2D or single-component are often being reshot with newer techniques to give greater clarity to the subsurface.

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Organizational Structure

        The following chart represents our corporate organizational structure following the PGS Onshore acquisition. The restricted group includes our parent, Geokinetics, and all of its domestic and foreign subsidiaries, including Geokinetics Holdings USA, Inc., the issuer of the notes and the borrower under the new senior secured revolving credit facility, and all of the entities we acquire from Petroleum Geo-Services. Upon the consummation of the PGS Onshore acquisition, Geokinetics transferred all of the shares of capital stock of its subsidiaries to Geokinetics Holdings USA, Inc. The notes are guaranteed by our domestic subsidiaries including those we acquire from Petroleum Geo-Services, but not foreign subsidiaries.

GRAPHIC


(1)
Our domestic subsidiaries, on a pro forma basis, were responsible for 37% of our revenue for the six months ended June 30, 2010 and hold 55% of our assets as of June 30, 2010 and represented 28% of our revenue and 56% of our EBITDA for the year ended December 31, 2009.

Corporate Information

        We are a Delaware corporation. Our principal executive offices are located at 1500 Citywest Blvd., Suite 800, Houston, Texas 77042. Our telephone number is 713-850-7600. Our web site address is www.geokinetics.com . The information on our website is not part of this prospectus.

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THE EXCHANGE OFFER

         On December 23, 2009, we completed the private offering of $300 million aggregate principal amount of 9.75% Senior Secured Notes due 2014. As part of that offering, we entered into a registration rights agreement with the initial purchasers of the old notes in which we agreed, among other things, to deliver this prospectus to you and to complete an exchange offer for the old notes. Below is a summary of the exchange offer.

Old Notes

  9.75% Senior Secured Notes due 2014

New Notes

 

Notes of the same series, the issuance of which has been registered under the Securities Act. The terms of the new notes are identical in all material respects to those of the old notes, except that the transfer restrictions, registration rights and additional interest provisions relating to the old notes do not apply to the new notes.

Terms of the Offer

 

We are offering to exchange a like amount of new notes for our old notes in denominations of $2,000 and integral multiples of $1,000 in excess thereof. In order to be exchanged, an old note must be properly tendered and accepted. All old notes that are validly tendered and not withdrawn will be exchanged. As of the date of this prospectus, there is $300 million aggregate principal amount of 9.75% Senior Secured Notes due 2014 outstanding. We will issue new notes promptly after the expiration of the exchange offer.

Expiration Time

 

The exchange offer will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on October 12, 2010, unless extended.

Procedures for Tendering

 

To tender old notes, you must complete and sign a letter of transmittal in accordance with the instructions contained in the letter and forward it by mail, facsimile or hand delivery, together with any other documents required by the letter of transmittal, to the exchange agent, either with the old notes to be tendered or in compliance with the specified procedures for guaranteed delivery of old notes. Certain brokers, dealers, commercial banks, trust companies and other nominees may also effect tenders by book-entry transfer. Holders of old notes registered in the name of a broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other nominee are urged to contact such person promptly if they wish to tender old notes pursuant to the exchange offer. See "The Exchange Offer—Procedures for Tendering."

 

Letters of transmittal and certificates representing old notes should not be sent to us. Such documents should only be sent to the exchange agent. Questions regarding how to tender old notes and requests for information should be directed to the exchange agent. See "The Exchange Offer—Exchange Agent."

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Acceptance of Old Notes for Exchange; Issuance of New Notes

 

Subject to the conditions stated in "The Exchange Offer—Conditions to the Exchange Offer," we will accept for exchange any and all old notes which are properly tendered in the exchange offer before the expiration time. The new notes will be delivered promptly after the expiration time.

Interest Payments on the New Notes

 

The new notes will bear interest from the date of original issuance of the old notes or, if interest has already been paid on the old notes, from the date interest was most recently paid. If your old notes are accepted for exchange, then you will receive interest on the new notes (including any accrued but unpaid additional interest on the old notes) and not on the old notes.

Withdrawal Rights

 

You may withdraw your tender of old notes at any time before the expiration time.

Conditions to the Exchange Offer

 

The exchange offer is subject to customary conditions. We may assert or waive these conditions in our sole discretion. If we materially change the terms of the exchange offer, we will resolicit tenders of the old notes. See "The Exchange Offer—Conditions to the Exchange Offer" for more information.

Resales of New Notes

 

Based on interpretations by the staff of the SEC, as detailed in a series of no-action letters issued by the SEC to third parties, we believe that the new notes issued in the exchange offer may be offered for resale, resold or otherwise transferred by you without compliance with the registration and prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act as long as:

 

•        you are acquiring the new notes in the ordinary course of your business;

 

•        you are not participating, do not intend to participate and have no arrangement or understanding with any person to participate in a distribution of the new notes;

 

•        you are not an "affiliate" of ours; and

 

•        you are not a broker-dealer that acquired any of its old notes directly from us.

 

If you fail to satisfy any of the foregoing conditions, you will not be permitted to tender your old notes in the exchange offer and you must comply with the registration and prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act in connection with any sale or other transfer of your old notes unless such sale is made pursuant to an exemption from such requirements.

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Each broker or dealer that receives new notes for its own account in exchange for old notes that were acquired as a result of market-making or other trading activities must acknowledge that it will comply with the registration and prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act in connection with any offer to resell, resale or other transfer of the new notes issued in the exchange offer, including the delivery of a prospectus that contains information with respect to any selling holder required by the Securities Act in connection with any resale of the new notes. See "The Exchange Offer—Resales of New Notes."

Exchange Agent

 

U.S. Bank National Association is serving as the exchange agent in connection with the exchange offer. The address and telephone and facsimile numbers of the exchange agent are listed under the heading "The Exchange Offer—Exchange Agent."

Use of Proceeds

 

We will not receive any proceeds from the issuance of new notes in the exchange offer. We will pay all expenses incident to the exchange offer. See "Use of Proceeds" and "The Exchange Offer—Fees and Expenses."

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THE NEW NOTES

         The summary below describes the principal terms of the new notes. The terms and conditions described below are subject to important limitations and exceptions. The "Description of New Notes" section of this prospectus contains a more detailed description of the terms and conditions of the new notes.

Issuer   Geokinetics Holdings USA, Inc.

Notes Offered

 

$300.0 million aggregate principal amount of 9.75% Senior Secured Notes. The terms of the new notes are identical in all material respects to those of the old notes, except that the transfer restrictions, registration rights and additional interest provisions relating to the old notes do not apply to the new notes.

Maturity Date

 

December 15, 2014.

Interest Rate

 

9.75% per year, payable semi-annually in arrears.

Interest Payment Dates

 

December 15 and June 15, beginning on June 15, 2010. Interest will accrue from the issue date.

Guarantees

 

The payment of new notes will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed, jointly and severally, by our parent, Geokinetics Inc., and by each of Geokinetics' current and future domestic subsidiaries.

Security

 

The new notes and the guarantees will be secured, along with indebtedness under our senior secured revolving credit facility on a first-priority basis by liens, subject to permitted liens, on substantially all of our assets and the assets of the subsidiary guarantors, including mortgages on our and our subsidiary guarantors' seismic equipment and data libraries. See "Description of New Notes—Collateral and Security."

Ranking

 

The new notes will be:

 

•        general obligations of ours, secured by a first priority lien over the collateral;

 

•        equal in right of payment to all of our existing and future indebtedness that is not subordinated in right of payment to the new notes;

 

•        senior in right of payment to all of our existing and future indebtedness that is subordinated in right of payment to the new notes;

 

•        unconditionally guaranteed by the guarantors;

 

•        effectively senior to all of our existing and future indebtedness that is either secured by liens that rank junior to the liens securing the new notes or unsecured, with respect to and to the extent of the value of the collateral;

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•        effectively subordinated to all of our existing and any future secured indebtedness with respect to and to the extent of the assets (other than the collateral) securing such indebtedness, and to all existing and any future liabilities (including trade payables) of Geokinetics' subsidiaries that are not guarantors (other than us), with respect to and to the extent of the assets of such subsidiaries; and

 

•        effectively subordinated pursuant to the intercreditor agreement to all of our Priority Bank Debt (as defined in "Description of New Notes—Certain Definitions"), to the extent secured by the collateral.


 

 

Each guarantee of the new notes will be:

 

•        a general obligation of that guarantor, secured by first priority lien over the collateral;

 

•        equal in right of payment to all of the guarantor's existing and future indebtedness that is not subordinated in right of payment to its guarantee;

 

•        senior in right of payment to all existing and future indebtedness of the guarantor that is subordinated in right of payment to its guarantee;

 

•        effectively senior to all of the guarantor's existing and future indebtedness that is either secured by liens that rank junior to the liens securing the guarantee or unsecured, with respect to and to the extent of the value of the collateral;

 

•        effectively subordinated to all existing and any future secured indebtedness of the guarantor with respect to and to the extent of the assets (other than the collateral) securing such indebtedness, and to all existing and any future liabilities (including trade payables) of Geokinetics' subsidiaries other than us and the subsidiary guarantors, with respect to and to the extent of the assets of such subsidiaries; and

 

•        effectively subordinated pursuant to the Intercreditor Agreement to all of the guarantor's Priority Bank Debt Obligations, to the extent secured by the collateral.

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Optional Redemptions   We may, at our option, redeem all or part of the new notes on or after December 15, 2011 at fixed redemption prices, as described under "Description of New Notes—Optional Redemption" in this prospectus. Also, prior to December 15, 2011, we may, at our option, redeem up to (i) 10% of the original principal amount of the new notes during each 12-month period beginning December 15, 2009 at a redemption price of 103% of the principal amount thereof, and (ii) 35% of the new notes with the proceeds of certain equity offerings. See "Description of New Notes—Optional Redemption."

Change of Control

 

Upon the occurrence of a change of control, the holders of the new notes will have the right to require us to make an offer to repurchase each holder's new notes at a repurchase price equal to 101% of their principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the date of repurchase. See "Description of New Notes—Repurchase at the Option of Holders—Change of Control."

Certain Covenants

 

The indenture governing the new notes contains covenants that, among other things, limit our ability and the ability of our restricted subsidiaries to:

 

•        incur additional debt;

 

•        make certain investments or pay dividends or distributions on our capital stock or purchase or redeem or retire capital stock;

 

•        sell assets, including capital stock of our restricted subsidiaries;

 

•        restrict dividends or other payments by restricted subsidiaries;

 

•        create liens;

 

•        enter into transactions with affiliates; and

 

•        merge or consolidate with another company.


 

 

These covenants are subject to a number of important limitations and exceptions that are described later in this prospectus under the caption "Description of New Notes—Certain Covenants."

Use of Proceeds

 

We will not receive proceeds from the issuance of the new notes offered hereby. In consideration for issuing the new notes in exchange for old notes as described in this prospectus, we will receive old notes of like principal amount. The old notes surrendered in exchange for the new notes will be retired and canceled.

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Original Issue Discount   The new notes will be issued with original issue discount for U.S. federal income tax purposes, consequently, U.S. Holders will be required to include such original issue discount in their income as it accrues for U.S. federal income tax purposes in advance of receipt of any payment on the notes to which the income is attributable. See "Certain United States Federal Income Tax Considerations—Original Issue Discount."

Risk Factors

 

See "Risk Factors" for a discussion of certain factors you should carefully consider before deciding to invest in the new notes.

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RISK FACTORS

Risks Related to our Business

We are subject to certain risks related to acquisitions, including the PGS Onshore acquisition, and these risks may materially adversely affect our revenues, expenses, operating results and financial condition.

        The PGS Onshore acquisition involves the integration of Geokinetics and PGS Onshore, two businesses that have previously operated independently and as competitors. We acquired PGS Onshore with the expectation that, among other things, the PGS Onshore acquisition will enable us to achieve expected cost synergies. Achieving the benefits of the PGS Onshore acquisition will depend in part upon meeting the challenges inherent in the successful combination and integration of global business enterprises of the size and scope of Geokinetics and PGS Onshore and the possible resulting diversion of management attention for an extended period of time. There can be no assurance that we will meet these challenges and that such diversion will not negatively affect our operations. In addition, delays encountered in the transition process could have a material adverse effect on our revenues, expenses, operating results and financial condition. There can be no assurance that we will actually achieve anticipated synergies or other benefits from the PGS Onshore acquisition.

        We plan to continue growing through acquisitions of companies and assets. We must plan and manage our acquisitions effectively to achieve revenue growth and maintain profitability in our evolving market. If we fail to manage current and future acquisitions effectively, our results of operations could be adversely affected. Our growth has placed, and is expected to continue to place, significant demands on our personnel, management and other resources. A lack of continued improvement to our operational, financial, management and legal/compliance information systems to keep pace with the growth of our business could have a material adverse effect on us.

        Any future acquisitions could present a number of risks, including but not limited to:

    incorrect assumptions regarding the future results of acquired operations or assets or expected cost reductions or other synergies expected to be realized as a result of acquiring operations or assets;

    failure to integrate the operations or management of any acquired operations or assets successfully and timely and retain key personnel;

    diversion of management's attention from existing operations or other priorities; and

    our inability to secure, on terms we find acceptable, sufficient financing that may be required for any such acquisition or investment.

        Our failure to successfully integrate our acquisitions in a timely and cost effective manner could have an adverse affect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

The financial information incorporated by reference in this prospectus may not necessarily reflect what the results of operations, financial condition and cash flows of PGS Onshore would have been outside Petroleum Geo-Services or if operated on a combined basis with us.

        The combined financial statements and the other financial information for PGS Onshore we have included in this prospectus have been derived from the consolidated financial statements and accounting records of Petroleum Geo-Services and do not necessarily reflect what the results of operations, financial condition and cash flows of PGS Onshore would have been had PGS Onshore been operated as a stand-alone business under separate ownership.

        In addition, we and PGS Onshore have been operating our respective business operations separately prior to the PGS Onshore acquisition. We have no prior history as a combined entity and our operations have not previously been managed on a combined basis. The combined financial

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statements of PGS Onshore have been prepared for the purpose of presenting, as far as practicable, the financial position, results of operations and cash flows of PGS Onshore as they existed within Petroleum Geo-Services at the relevant time. This required the aggregation of financial information of the entities which make up PGS Onshore, the elimination of intercompany transactions and balances, proportional allocation of central management costs and other adjustments. Therefore, the historical financial statements and pro forma financial data presented in this prospectus may not reflect what our results of operations, financial position and cash flows would have been had we operated on a combined basis and may not be indicative of what our results of operations, financial position and cash flows will be in the future.

PGS Onshore may have liabilities which are not known to us.

        As a result of the PGS Onshore acquisition, we assumed certain liabilities. There may be liabilities that we failed to, or we were unable to discover in the course of performing due diligence investigations on PGS Onshore. We cannot assure you that rights to indemnification by Petroleum Geo-Services to us will be sufficient in amount, scope or duration to fully offset the possible liabilities associated with the business or assets acquired. Any such liabilities, individually or in the aggregate, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. As we integrate PGS Onshore, we may learn additional information about PGS Onshore that adversely affects us, such as unknown or contingent liabilities and issues relating to compliance with applicable laws.

Our business largely depends on levels of exploration and development activity in the oil and natural gas industry.

        Our business is substantially dependent upon the condition of the oil and natural gas industry and, in particular, the willingness of E&P companies to make capital expenditures for exploration, development and production operations. The level of capital expenditures generally depends on the prevailing views of future oil and natural gas prices, which are influenced by numerous factors, including but not limited to:

    changes in United States and international economic conditions, including the length and severity of the recent recession and the effect of such recession on economic activity;

    demand for oil and natural gas;

    worldwide political conditions, particularly in significant oil-producing regions such as the Middle East, West Africa and Latin America;

    actions taken by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC;

    the availability and discovery rate of new oil and natural gas reserves;

    the rate of decline of existing and new oil and gas reserves;

    the cost of exploration for, and production and transportation of, oil and natural gas;

    the ability of E&P companies to generate funds or otherwise obtain external capital for exploration, development, construction and production operations;

    the sale and expiration dates of leases in the United States and overseas;

    technological advances affecting energy exploration, production, transportation and consumption;

    weather conditions;

    environmental or other government regulations both domestic and foreign;

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    domestic and foreign tax policies; and

    the pace adopted by foreign governments for the exploration, development and production of their oil and gas reserves.

        Oil and natural gas prices had been at historically high levels until experiencing a sharp decline during the second half of 2008 and continuing into 2009 and 2010, particularly for natural gas prices. The natural gas market is a key market for our North American seismic data acquisition segment and the multi-client data library we are acquiring from PGS Onshore. A worldwide decrease in hydrocarbon demand and a decline in commodity prices have caused many E&P companies to curtail planned capital spending. Historically, demand for our services has been sensitive to the level of exploration spending by oil and gas companies. A sustained period of low drilling and production activity, low commodity prices or reductions in industry budgets could reduce demand for our services and would likely have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Economic conditions could negatively affect our business.

        Our operations are affected by local, national and worldwide economic conditions and the condition of the oil and gas industry. Recent disruptions in the credit markets and concerns about global recession have had a significant adverse impact on global financial markets.

        Future market deterioration could also jeopardize the performance of counterparty obligations, including those of our insurers, suppliers, customers and financial institutions. Although we monitor the creditworthiness of our counterparties, the future disruptions could lead to sudden changes in a counterparty's liquidity. If one of our counterparties fails to perform, our financial results could be adversely affected and we could incur losses and our liquidity could be negatively impacted.

We operate under hazardous conditions that subject us and our employees to risk of damage to property or personal injury and limitations on our insurance coverage may expose us to potentially significant liability costs.

        Our activities are often conducted in dangerous environments and include hazardous conditions, including the detonation of dynamite. Operating in such environments, and under such conditions carries with it inherent risks, such as loss of human life or equipment, as well as the risk of downtime or reduced productivity resulting from equipment failures caused by an adverse operating environment. For example, in 2009 two employees of our subcontractors and one of our employees suffered fatal injuries. These risks could cause us to experience equipment losses, injuries to our personnel and interruptions in our business. Although we maintain what we believe is prudent insurance protection, we cannot assure that our insurance will be sufficient or adequate to cover all losses or liabilities or that insurance will continue to be available to us or available to us on acceptable terms. A successful claim for which we are not fully insured, or which exceeds the policy limits of our applicable insurance could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition. Moreover, we do not carry business interruption insurance with respect to our operations.

Historically, we have been dependent on a few customers operating in a single industry; the loss of one or more customers could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

        Our customers are engaged in the oil and natural gas drilling business throughout the world. Historically, we have been dependent upon a few customers for a significant portion of our revenue. For the years ended December 31, 2009, 2008 and 2007, our top ten customers collectively represented approximately 70%, 47% and 55% of total revenues, respectively. In addition, on a pro forma basis, our top ten customers would have represented 57% and 66% of our pro forma revenues for the year ended December 31, 2009 and the six months ended June 30, 2010, respectively. Our three largest customers in 2009, 2008 and 2007 accounted for 45%, 19% and 27% of total revenues, respectively, and

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on a pro forma basis, our three largest pro forma customers would have accounted for 32% and 31% of our pro forma revenues for the year ended December 31, 2009, and the six months ended June 30, 2010. This concentration of customers may increase our overall exposure to credit risk, and customers will likely be similarly affected by changes in economic and industry conditions. If any of these significant clients were to terminate their contracts or fail to contract for our services in the future because they are acquired, alter their exploration or development strategy, or for any other reason, our results of operations could be affected.

We have invested, and expect to continue to invest, significant amounts of money in acquiring and processing seismic data for multi-client surveys and for our seismic data library without knowing precisely how much of this seismic data we will be able to sell or when and at what price we will be able to sell such data.

        Multi-client surveys and the resulting seismic data library are an increasingly important part of our business and our future investments. We invest significant amounts of money in acquiring and processing seismic data that we own. By making such investments, we are exposed to the following risks:

    We may not fully recover our costs of acquiring, processing and interpreting seismic data through future sales. The amounts of these data sales are uncertain and depend on a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control.

    The timing of these sales is unpredictable and can vary greatly from period to period. The costs of each survey are capitalized and then amortized over the expected useful life of the data. This amortization will affect our earnings and when combined with the sporadic nature of sales, will result in increased earnings volatility.

    Regulatory changes that affect companies' ability to drill, either generally or in a specific location where we have acquired seismic data, could materially adversely affect the value of the seismic data contained in our library. Technology changes could also make existing data sets obsolete. Additionally, each of our individual surveys has a limited book life based on its location and oil and gas companies' interest in prospecting for reserves in such location, so a particular survey may be subject to a significant decline in value beyond our initial estimates.

    The value of our multi-client data could be significantly adversely affected if any material adverse change occurs in the general prospects for oil and gas exploration, development and production activities.

    The cost estimates upon which we base our pre-commitments of funding could be wrong. The result could be losses that have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. These pre-commitments of funding are subject to the creditworthiness of our clients. In the event that a client refuses or is unable to pay its commitment, we could lose a material amount of money.

        Any reduction in the market value of such data will require us to write down its recorded value, which could have a significant material adverse effect on our results of operations.

The seismic data acquisition services industry is capital intensive and sources of cash to finance our capital expenditures may not always be available. If financing is not available, our results of operations will be negatively affected.

        Seismic data acquisition equipment is continually being improved with new technology. In order to remain competitive, we must continue to invest additional capital to maintain, upgrade and expand our seismic data acquisition capabilities. Seismic data acquisition equipment is expensive and our ability to operate and expand our business operations is dependent upon the availability of internally generated cash flow and financing alternatives. Such financing may consist of bank or commercial debt, equity or

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debt securities or any combination thereof. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in obtaining sufficient capital to upgrade and expand our current operations through cash from operations or additional financing or other transactions if and when required on terms acceptable to us. Due to the uncertainties surrounding the changing market for seismic services, increases in capital and technological requirements, and other matters associated with our operations, we are unable to estimate the amount or terms of any financing that we may need to acquire, upgrade and maintain seismic equipment. If we are unable to obtain such financing, if and when needed, we may be forced to curtail our business objectives, and to finance our business activities with only such internally generated funds as may then be available.

Our high level of fixed costs can leave us vulnerable to downturns in revenues, which can result in losses.

        We are subject to high fixed costs which primarily consist of depreciation, maintenance expenses associated with our seismic data acquisition, processing and interpretation equipment and certain crew costs. Extended periods of significant downtime or low productivity caused by reduced demand, weather interruptions, equipment failures, permit delays or other causes could reduce our profitability and have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations because we will not be able to reduce our fixed costs as fast as revenues decline.

We face intense competition in our business that could result in downward pricing pressure and the loss of market share.

        Competition among seismic contractors historically has been, and likely will continue to be, intense. Competitive factors have in recent years included price, crew experience, equipment availability, technological expertise and reputation for quality and dependability. We also face increasing competition from nationally-owned companies in various international jurisdictions that operate under less significant financial constraints than those we experience. Many of our competitors have greater financial and other resources, more clients, greater market recognition and more established relationships and alliances in the industry than we do. Additionally, the seismic data acquisition services business is extremely price competitive and has a history of protracted periods of months or years where seismic contractors under financial duress bid jobs below cost and therefore adversely impact industry pricing. Competition from these and other competitors could result in downward pricing pressure and the loss of market share.

We rely on a limited number of key suppliers for specific seismic services and equipment.

        We depend on a limited number of third parties to supply us with specific seismic services and equipment. From time to time, increased demand for seismic data acquisition services has decreased the available supply of new seismic equipment, resulting in extended delivery dates on orders. Any delay in obtaining equipment could delay our implementation of additional crews and restrict the productivity of our existing crews, adversely affecting our business and results of operations. In addition, any adverse change in the terms of our supplier arrangements could affect our results of operations.

Revenue derived from our projects may not be sufficient to cover our costs of completing those projects. As a result, our results of operations may be adversely affected.

        Our revenue is determined, in part, by the price we receive for our services, the productivity of our crew and the accuracy of our cost estimates. Our crew's productivity is partly a function of external factors, such as weather and third party delays, over which we have no control. In addition, cost estimates for our projects may be inadequate due to unknown factors associated with the work to be performed and market conditions, resulting in cost over-runs. If our crew encounters operational difficulties or delays, or if we have not correctly priced our services, our results of operation may vary, and in some cases, may be adversely affected.

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        Many of our projects are performed on a turnkey basis where a defined amount and scope of work is provided by us for a fixed price and extra work, which is subject to client approval, is billed separately. The revenue, cost and gross profit realized on a turnkey contract can vary from our estimated amount because of changes in job conditions, variations in labor and equipment productivity from the original estimates, and the performance of subcontractors. Turnkey contracts may also cause us to bear substantially all of the risks of business interruption caused by weather delays and other hazards. These variations, delays and risks inherent in billing clients at a fixed price may result in us experiencing reduced profitability or losses on projects.

Our clients could delay, reduce or cancel their commitments or service contracts with us on short notice, which may lead to lower than expected demand and revenues.

        Our backlog consists of written orders or commitments for our services that we believe to be firm. We estimate our total seismic data acquisition and seismic data processing and interpretation services revenue backlog to be $519 million at June 30, 2010 compared to $428 million at March 31, 2010 and $318 million at June 30, 2009. Backlog at June 30, 2010 included $412 million or 79% from international projects, and $107 million or 21% from North American (excluding Mexico) projects. It is anticipated that at least half of the backlog at June 30, 2010, will be completed in 2010 with the remaining amount to be completed in 2011 and 2012. Backlog levels vary during the year depending on the timing of the completion of certain projects and when new projects are awarded and contracts are signed. Because of potential changes in the scope or schedule of our clients' projects, we cannot predict with certainty when or if our backlog will be realized. Even where a project proceeds as scheduled, it is possible that the client may default and fail to pay amounts owed to us. In addition, the contracts in our backlog are cancelable by the client. Material delays, payment defaults or cancellations could reduce the amount of backlog currently reported, and, consequently, could inhibit the conversion of that backlog into revenue which may materially affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Our agreements with our clients may not adequately protect us from unforeseen events or address all issues that could arise with our clients. The occurrence of unforeseen events, or disputes with clients not adequately addressed in the contracts could result in increased liability, costs and expenses associated with any given project.

        We enter into master service agreements with many of our clients which allocate certain operational risks. For example, we seek to minimize the risk of delays through the inclusion of "standby rate" provisions which provide for payment to us of a reduced rate for a limited amount of time if weather conditions or certain other factors outside our control prevent us from recording data. Despite the inclusion of risk allocation provisions in our agreements, our operations may be affected by a number of events that are unforeseen or not within our control. We cannot assure you that our agreements will adequately protect us from each possible event. If an event occurs which we have not contemplated or otherwise addressed in our agreement, we, and not our client, will likely bear the increased cost or liability. To the extent our agreements do not adequately address these and other issues, or we are not able to successfully resolve resulting disputes, we may incur increased liability, costs and expenses.

We may be held liable for the actions of our subcontractors.

        We often work as the general contractor on seismic data acquisition surveys and consequently engage a number of subcontractors to perform services and provide products. While we obtain contractual indemnification and insurance covering the acts of these subcontractors, and require the subcontractors to obtain insurance for our benefit, there can be no assurance we will not be held liable

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for the actions of these subcontractors. In addition, subcontractors may cause damage or injury to our personnel and property that is not fully covered by insurance.

Our results of operations can be significantly affected by currency fluctuations.

        Because we derive a substantial amount of our revenue from sales internationally, we are subject to risks relating to fluctuations in currency exchange rates. Fluctuations in the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar against such other currencies may, in future periods, have a significant effect upon our results of operations. While we attempt to reduce the risks associated with such exchange rate fluctuations, we cannot assure you that it will be effective in doing so or that fluctuations in the value of the currencies in which we operate will not materially affect our results of operations in the future.

Our operations outside of the United States are subject to additional political, economic, and other uncertainties that could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations, and our exposure to such risks will increase as we expand our international operations.

        Over the past several years, our operations have become increasingly international. For the year ended December 31, 2009 and the six months ended June 30, 2010, 83% and 64%, respectively, of our actual revenues from our seismic data acquisition services segment were derived outside of the U.S. and Canada. The PGS Onshore acquisition may further increase our international operations. On a pro forma basis, for the year ended December 31, 2009 and the six months ended June 30, 2010, 72% and 63%, respectively, of revenues from our seismic data acquisition services segment would have been derived outside of the U.S. and Canada. Our operations outside of the United States are subject to risks inherent in foreign operations, including but not limited to:

    government instability, which can cause investment in capital projects by our potential clients to be withdrawn or delayed, reducing or eliminating the viability of some markets for our services;

    potential expropriation, seizure, nationalization or detention of assets;

    difficulty in repatriating foreign currency received in excess of local currency requirements;

    civil uprisings, riots and war, which can make it unsafe to continue operations, adversely affect both budgets and schedules and expose us to losses;

    availability of suitable personnel and equipment, which can be affected by government policy, or changes in policy, which limit the importation of qualified crewmembers or specialized equipment in areas where local resources are insufficient;

    decrees, laws, regulations, interpretation and court decisions under legal systems, which are not always fully developed and which may be retroactively applied and cause us to incur unanticipated and/or unrecoverable costs as well as delays which may result in real or opportunity costs; and

    terrorist attacks, including kidnappings and assassinations of our personnel.

        In addition, laws and policies of the United States affecting foreign trade and taxation may also adversely affect our international operations.

As a company subject to compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the "FCPA"), our business may suffer because our efforts to comply with U.S. laws could restrict our ability to do business in foreign markets relative to our competitors who are not subject to U.S. law. Any determination that we or our foreign agents or joint venture partners have violated the FCPA, may adversely affect our business and operations.

        We and our local partners operate in many parts of the world that have experienced governmental corruption to some degree and, in certain circumstances, strict compliance with anti-bribery laws may

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conflict with local customs and practices. We may be subject to competitive disadvantages to the extent that our competitors are able to secure business, licenses or other preferential treatment by making payments to government officials and others in positions of influence or using other methods that U.S. law and regulations prohibit us from using.

        As a U.S. corporation, we are subject to the regulations imposed by the FCPA, which generally prohibits U.S. companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to foreign officials for the purpose of obtaining or keeping business. In particular, we may be held liable for actions taken by our strategic or local partners even though our partners are not subject to the FCPA. Any such violations could result in substantial civil and/or criminal penalties and might adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition. In addition, our ability to continue to work in such foreign markets could be adversely affected if we were found to have violated certain U.S. laws, including the FCPA.

We are subject to compliance with stringent environmental laws and regulations that may expose us to significant costs and liabilities.

        Our operations are subject to stringent federal, provincial, state and local environmental laws and regulations in the United States and foreign jurisdictions relating to environmental protection. These laws and regulations may impose numerous obligations that are applicable to our operations including:

    the acquisition of permits before commencing regulated activities; and

    the limitation or prohibition of seismic activities in environmentally sensitive or protected areas such as wetlands or wilderness areas.

    Numerous governmental authorities, such as the Federal Environmental Protection Agency and analogous state agencies in the United States and governmental bodies with control over environmental matters in foreign jurisdictions, have the power to enforce compliance with these laws and regulations and any permits issued under them, oftentimes requiring difficult and costly actions. Failure to comply with these laws, regulations and permits may result in the assessment of administrative, civil and criminal penalties, the imposition of remedial obligations and the issuance of injunctions limiting or preventing some or all of our operations.

    There is inherent risk of incurring significant environmental costs and liabilities in our operations due to our controlled storage, use and disposal of explosives. Although we believe that our safety procedures for handling and disposing of explosives comply with the standards prescribed by applicable laws and regulations, the risk of accidental injury from these materials cannot be completely eliminated. In the event of an accident, we could be held liable for any damages that result or we could be penalized with fines, and any liability could exceed the limits of or fall outside our insurance coverage.

Current or future distressed financial conditions of customers could have an adverse impact on us in the event these customers are unable to pay us for the services we provide.

        Some of our customers are experiencing, or may experience in the future, severe financial problems that have had or may have a significant impact on their creditworthiness. Although we perform ongoing credit evaluations of our customers' financial condition, we generally require no collateral from our customers. We cannot provide assurance that one or more of our financially distressed customers will not default on their obligations to us or that such defaults will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, results of operations or cash flows. Furthermore, the bankruptcy of one or more of our customers, or some other similar proceeding or liquidity constraint, might make it unlikely that we would be able to collect all or a significant portion of amounts owed. In addition, such events might force customers to reduce or curtail their future use

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of our products and services, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

Our seismic data acquisition services revenues are subject to seasonal conditions and customers' budgeting cycles.

        Our seismic data acquisition services are performed outdoors and are therefore subject to seasonality. Shorter winter days and adverse weather negatively impact our ability to provide services in certain regions. Additionally, we have limited control over the timing of our international operations due to the extensive planning and preparation required to perform a seismic survey. Our international operations have also been affected historically by the budgeting cycle of our customers, at times resulting in higher activity levels early in the year when available exploration budgets are high, and late in the year when our customers are trying to utilize their remaining budgets.

We may be unable to retain and attract management and skilled and technically knowledgeable employees.

        Our continued success depends upon retaining and attracting highly skilled employees. A number of our employees possess many years of industry experience and are highly skilled and our inability to retain such individuals could adversely affect our ability to compete in the seismic service industry. We may face significant competition for such skilled personnel, particularly during periods of increased demand for seismic services. Although we utilize employment agreements, stock-based compensation and other incentives to retain certain of our key employees, there is no guarantee that we will be able to retain these personnel.

Our operating results from seismic data acquisition services can be significantly impacted from quarter to quarter due to a change in the timing of a few large jobs occurring at any one time.

        On a pro forma basis, we have the capacity to field up to 38 seismic data acquisition crews. However, in any given period, we could have idle crews which result in a significant portion of our revenues, cash flows and earnings coming from a relatively small number of crews. Additionally, due to location, service line or particular job, some of our individual crews may achieve results that are a significant percentage of consolidated operating results. Should one or more of these crews experience significant changes in timing, our financial results are subject to significant variations from period to period. Factors that may result in these changes in timing include, but are not limited to, weather, permits, customer requirements and political unrest.

Our results of operations could be adversely affected by asset impairments.

        We periodically review our portfolio of equipment and intangible assets, including our multi-client data library, for impairment. If we expect significant sustained decreases in oil and natural gas prices in the future, we may be required to write down the value of our assets if the future cash flows anticipated to be generated from the related assets falls below net book value. The recent decline in oil and natural gas prices, if sustained, could result in future impairments. If we are forced to write down the value of our goodwill, other intangible assets or equipment, these non-cash asset impairments could negatively affect our results of operations in the period in which they are recorded.

The cyclical nature of, or a prolonged downturn in, our industry, could affect the carrying value of our goodwill or other long-lived assets and negatively impact our earnings.

        As of June 30, 2010, we had $127.0 million of goodwill, or 17.8% of total assets, which has increased from $73.4 million at December 31, 2009 or $53.6 million attributed to the acquisition of PGS Onshore. We have recorded goodwill because we paid more for some of our businesses than the fair market value of the tangible and measurable intangible net assets of those businesses at the time of

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acquisition. We are required to annually assess whether the carrying value of our goodwill has been impaired. This assessment includes many management assumptions including, but not limited to, business forecasts, risk premiums, cost of capital and market factors. Should any one or combination of these factors change, it could negatively impact our future assessments of the carrying values of these assets. If management determines that the carrying value of our long-lived assets may not be recoverable, our goodwill will be reduced which will adversely affect our earnings.

There are inherent limitations in all control systems and failure of our controls and procedures to detect error or fraud could seriously harm our business and results of operations.

        Our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, does not expect that our internal controls and disclosure controls will prevent all possible error and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. In addition, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints and the benefit of controls must be relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of our controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, will be detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty and that breakdowns can occur because of simple error or mistake. Further, controls can be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons or by collusion of two or more persons. The design of any system of controls is based in part upon the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving our intended goals under all potential future conditions. Over time, a control may become inadequate because of changes in conditions or the degree of compliance with our policies or procedures may deteriorate. Because of inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur without detection.

We have identified material weaknesses in our internal controls, which could affect our ability to ensure timely and reliable financial reports and the ability of our auditors to attest to the effectiveness of our internal controls.

        During management's review of our internal controls as of December 31, 2009, control deficiencies that constituted material weaknesses an additional material weakness was identified and disclosed on August 9, 2010 as described in our 10-K/A filing. The following items were identified:

        Financial Statement Close Process:     During 2009, the Company dedicated significant resources implementing a new management information system and new business processes and controls around domestic and international operations. Due to the demands created by this implementation, the increasing complexity of the Company's international operations and the acquisition and related financing transactions at the end of the year, a material weakness was identified in the Company's financial statement close process, including insufficient controls over analyzing and reconciling accounts, maintaining appropriate support and analyses of certain non-routine accruals, and properly assessing the accounting and reporting implications related to new contractual agreements and certain other accounting matters.

        Taxes Related to International Operations:     Another material weakness was identified by management related to accounting for income taxes associated with the Company's international operations, including insufficient controls and training over the proper identification and application of the relevant tax rules, which affected the Company's calculation of the tax provision of the Company's international operations.

        Accounting for Derivative Financial Instruments:     We identified a material weakness related to accounting for derivatives. The Company's procedures to assess and identify the impact of Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements were not sufficient, as evidenced by our failure to identify the

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impact of ASC 815-40-15 "Derivatives and Hedging-Contracts in Entity's Own Equity-Scope and Scope Exceptions," which became effective January 1, 2009 and require us to account for derivative liabilities related to the conversion feature of our preferred stock and warrants at fair value and to mark to market each instrument at the end of each reporting period.

        The Company's lack of resources, in terms of size, technical expertise and institutional knowledge to address certain financial and tax aspects of its multi-national operations, was identified as the underlying cause of these material weaknesses.

        These material weaknesses resulted in the Company recording a number of post-closing adjustments to the Company's 2009 consolidated financial statements and 2010 quarterly consolidated financial statements for the quarter ended March 31, 2010. The adjustments primarily affected non-routine accruals, deferred cost accounts, derivative liabilities, deferred taxes and the tax provision related to the Company's international operations, including, as applicable, the corresponding income statement accounts.

        Based on management's evaluation, because of the material weaknesses described above, management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2009 and as of June 30, 2010.

        While we have taken certain actions to address the deficiencies identified, additional measures will be necessary and these measures, along with other measures we expect to take to improve our internal controls over financial reporting, may not be sufficient to address the deficiencies identified or ensure that our internal control over financial reporting is effective. If we are unable to provide reliable and timely financial external reports, our business and prospects could suffer material adverse effects. In addition, we may in the future identify further material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting.

Climate Change Legislation or Regulations could result in increased operating costs and reduced demand for the oil and gas our clients intend to produce.

        More stringent laws relating to climate change and greenhouse gases ("GHGs") may be adopted in the future and could reduce the demand for our services. On June 26, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the "American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009," or "ACESA," which would establish an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane. ACESA would require a 17% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 2020 and just over an 80% reduction of such emissions by 2050. Under this legislation, the EPA would issue a capped and steadily declining number of tradable emissions allowances authorizing emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. These reductions would be expected to cause the cost of allowances to escalate significantly over time. The net effect of ACESA will be to impose increasing costs on the combustion of carbon-based fuels such as oil, refined petroleum products, and natural gas. The U.S. Senate has begun work on its own legislation for restricting domestic greenhouse gas emissions and the Obama Administration has indicated its support for legislation to reduce greenhouse emissions through an emission allowance system.

        On December 15, 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") officially published its findings that emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other "greenhouse gases" present an endangerment to public health and the environment because emissions of such gases are, according to the EPA, contributing to warming of the earth's atmosphere and other climatic changes. These findings allow the EPA to adopt and implement regulations that would restrict emissions of greenhouse gases under existing provisions of the federal Clean Air Act. Accordingly, the EPA has proposed two sets of regulations that would require a reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases from motor vehicles and could trigger permit review for greenhouse gas emissions from certain stationary sources. In addition, on October 30, 2009, the EPA published a final rule requiring the reporting of greenhouse gas

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emissions from specified large greenhouse gas emission sources in the United States beginning in 2011 for emissions occurring in 2010.

        Because of the lack of any comprehensive legislative program addressing GHGs, there is a great deal of uncertainty as to how and when federal regulation of GHGs might take place. In addition to possible federal regulation, a number of states, individually and regionally, also are considering or have implemented GHG regulatory programs. These potential regional and state initiatives may result in so-called cap-and-trade programs, under which overall GHG emissions are limited and GHG emissions are then allocated and sold, and possibly other regulatory requirements, that could result in our incurring material expenses to comply, e.g., by being required to purchase or to surrender allowances for GHGs resulting from our operations. The federal, regional and local regulatory initiatives also could adversely affect the marketability of the oil and natural gas that our clients produce. The impact of such future programs cannot be predicted, but we do not expect our operations to be affected any differently than other similarly situated domestic competitors.

Significant physical effects of climatic change have the potential to damage our facilities, disrupt our production activities and cause us to incur significant costs in preparing for or responding to those effects.

        In an interpretative guidance on climate change disclosures, the SEC indicates that climate change could have an effect on the severity of weather (including hurricanes and floods), sea levels, the arability of farmland, and water availability and quality. If such effects were to occur, our seismic acquisition operations have the potential to be adversely affected. Potential adverse effects could include damages to our facilities from powerful winds or rising waters in low-lying areas, disruption of our production activities either because of climate-related damages to our facilities in our costs of operation potentially arising from such climatic effects, less efficient or non-routine operating practices necessitated by climate effects or increased costs for insurance coverage in the aftermath of such effects. Significant physical effects of climate change could also have an indirect affect on our financing and operations by disrupting the transportation or process-related services provided by midstream companies, service companies or suppliers with whom we have a business relationship. We may not be able to recover through insurance some or any of the damages, losses or costs that may result from potential physical effects of climate change.

Federal legislation and state legislative and regulatory initiatives relating to hydraulic fracturing could result in increased costs and additional operating restrictions or delays.

        The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are currently considering bills entitled, the "Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act," or the "FRAC Act," that would amend the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, or the "SDWA," to repeal an exemption from regulation for hydraulic fracturing. If enacted, the FRAC Act would amend the definition of "underground injection" in the SDWA to encompass hydraulic fracturing activities. If enacted, such a provision could require hydraulic fracturing operations to meet permitting and financial assurance requirements, adhere to certain construction specifications, fulfill monitoring, reporting, and recordkeeping obligations, and meet plugging and abandonment requirements. The FRAC Act also proposes to require the reporting and public disclosure of chemicals used in the fracturing process, which could make it easier for third parties opposing the hydraulic fracturing process to initiate legal proceedings based on allegations that specific chemicals used in the fracturing process could adversely affect groundwater. The adoption of any future federal or state laws or implementing regulations imposing reporting obligations on, or otherwise limiting, the hydraulic fracturing process could make it more difficult to complete natural gas wells. A significant portion of our anticipated future business involves seismic acquisition projects of various shale plays. Shale gas cannot be economically produced without extensive fracing. In the event this legislation is enacted, demand for our seismic acquisition services may be adversely affected.

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Risks Related to our Indebtedness

Our substantial debt could adversely affect our financial health and prevent us from fulfilling our obligations.

        We have a significant amount of debt and may incur substantial additional debt (including secured debt) in the future. As of June 30, 2010, we had total indebtedness of $307.0 million, net of discount (excluding the Series C mandatorily redeemable preferred stock of $32.2 million, net of discount). Permitted outstanding borrowings available under our amended senior secured revolving credit facility is presently $40 million. As of June 30, 2010 and August 6, 2010 outstanding borrowings were $9 million and $21 million, respectively. Undrawn borrowing capacity at August 6, 2020 was $19 million. We cannot assure you that we will be able to generate sufficient cash to service our debt or sufficient earnings to cover fixed charges in future years. If new debt is added to our current debt levels, the related risks for us could intensify.

        Our substantial debt could have important consequences. In particular, it could:

    increase our vulnerability to general adverse economic and industry conditions;

    require us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to payments on our indebtedness, thereby reducing the availability of our cash flow to fund capital expenditures and other general corporate purposes;

    limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our businesses and the industries in which we operate;

    place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors that have less debt; and

    limit, along with the financial and other restrictive covenants of our indebtedness, among other things, our ability to borrow additional funds.

Our debt agreements will contain restrictive covenants that may limit our ability to respond to changes in market conditions or pursue business opportunities.

        Our debt agreements will contain restrictive covenants that limit our ability to, among other things:

    incur or guarantee additional debt;

    pay dividends;

    repay subordinated debt prior to its maturity;

    grant additional liens on our assets;

    enter into transactions with our affiliates;

    repurchase stock;

    make certain investments or acquisitions of substantially all or a portion of another entity's business assets; and

    merge with another entity or dispose of our assets.

        In addition, our debt agreements will require us to maintain certain financial ratios and tests. The requirement that we comply with these provisions may materially adversely affect our ability to react to changes in market conditions, take advantage of business opportunities we believe to be desirable, obtain future financing, fund needed capital expenditures or withstand a continuing or future downturn in our business.

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We may be unable to comply with the maintenance covenants in our senior revolving credit facility on September 30, 2010 or beyond, unless the covenants are modified. If we are unable to comply with the restrictions and covenants in our debt agreements, there could be a default under the terms of such agreements, which could result in an acceleration of repayment.

        Based on our current forecasts, it is likely that we will be unable to comply with the maintenance covenants in our senior revolving credit facility at the September 30, 2010 measurement date or beyond. We are in discussions with the lenders under the credit facility to amend the covenants, but no assurance can be made that we will be successful in such negotiations, or as to the terms or costs of any such amendment or waiver if agreed to. If we are unable to amend the facility or obtain a waiver, we will be required to seek other financing for our working capital needs, and failure to secure such financing could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity and financial position. If we are unable to comply with the restrictions and covenants in our debt agreements, including our senior secured revolving credit facility, there could be a default under the terms of these agreements. Our ability to comply with these restrictions and covenants, including meeting financial ratios and tests, may be affected by events beyond the Company's control. As a result, we cannot assure you that we will be able to comply with these restrictions and covenants or meet such financial ratios and tests. In the event of a default under these agreements, lenders could terminate their commitments to lend or accelerate the loans and declare all amounts borrowed due and payable. Borrowings under other debt instruments that contain cross-acceleration or cross-default provisions may also be accelerated and become due and payable. If any of these events occur, our assets might not be sufficient to repay in full all of our outstanding indebtedness and we may be unable to find alternative financing. Even if we could obtain alternative financing, it might not be on terms that are favorable or acceptable to us. Additionally, we may not be able to amend our debt agreements or obtain needed waivers on satisfactory terms.

To service our indebtedness, we require a significant amount of cash, and our ability to generate cash will depend on many factors beyond our control.

        Our ability to make payments on and to refinance our indebtedness, and to fund planned capital expenditures depends in part on our ability to generate cash in the future. This ability is, to a certain extent, subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory and other factors that are beyond our control.

        We cannot assure that we will generate sufficient cash flow from operations, realize operating improvements on schedule, or otherwise improve operating cash flow. If cash flow is not adequate, we cannot assure that future borrowings will be available to us in an amount sufficient to enable us to service and repay our indebtedness or to fund our other liquidity needs. If we are unable to satisfy our debt obligations, we may have to undertake alternative financing plans, such as refinancing or restructuring our indebtedness, selling assets, reducing or delaying capital investments, delaying bids on new sales or seeking to raise additional capital. We cannot assure that any refinancing or debt restructuring would be possible, that any assets could be sold or that, if sold, the timing of the sales and the amount of proceeds realized from those sales would be favorable to us or that additional financing could be obtained on acceptable terms. Disruptions in the capital and credit markets, as have been experienced during 2008 and 2009, could adversely affect our ability to meet our liquidity needs or to refinance our indebtedness, including our ability to draw on our existing credit facilities or enter into new credit facilities. Banks that are party to our existing credit facilities may not be able to meet their funding commitments to us if they experience shortages of capital and liquidity or if they experience excessive volumes of borrowing requests from us and other borrowers within a short period of time.

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Risks Related to the Exchange Offer

You may have difficulty selling the old notes you do not exchange.

        If you do not exchange your old notes for new notes in the exchange offer, you will continue to be subject to the restrictions on transfer of your old notes as described in the legend on the global notes representing the old notes. There are restrictions on transfer of your old notes because we issued the old notes under an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. In general, you may only offer or sell the old notes if they are registered under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or offered and sold under an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, these requirements. We do not intend to register any old notes not tendered in the exchange offer and, upon consummation of the exchange offer, you will not be entitled to any rights to have your untendered old notes registered under the Securities Act. In addition, the trading market, if any, for the remaining old notes will be adversely affected depending on the extent to which old notes are tendered and accepted in the exchange offer.

Broker-dealers may need to comply with the registration and prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act.

        Any broker-dealer that (1) exchanges its old notes in the exchange offer for the purpose of participating in a distribution of the new notes or (2) resells new notes that were received by it for its own account in the exchange offer may be deemed to have received restricted securities and will be required to comply with the registration and prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act in connection with any resale transaction by that broker- dealer. Any profit on the resale of the new notes and any commission or concessions received by a broker-dealer may be deemed to be underwriting compensation under the Securities Act.

You may not receive new notes in the Exchange Offer if the Exchange Offer procedure is not followed.

        We will issue the new notes in exchange for your old notes only if you tender the old notes and deliver a properly completed and duly executed letter of transmittal and other required documents before expiration of the exchange offer. You should allow sufficient time to ensure timely delivery of the necessary documents. Neither the exchange agent nor we are under any duty to give notification of defects or irregularities with respect to the tenders of old notes for exchange. If you are the beneficial holder of old notes that are registered in the name of your broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other nominee, and you wish to tender old notes in the exchange offer, you should promptly contact the person in whose name your old notes are registered and instruct that person to tender your old notes on your behalf.

Risks Related to the New Notes

Certain indebtedness under our new senior secured revolving credit facility will be effectively senior to the new notes to the extent of the value of the collateral securing such indebtedness.

        Our new senior secured credit revolving facility and the new notes offered hereby have a first priority lien on all of the assets of our company and our guarantor subsidiaries, with certain exceptions. However, under the indenture governing the new notes as amended, we will be permitted to incur up to the greater of $40.0 million and 50% of Consolidated Cash Flow (as defined in "Description of New Notes—Certain Definitions") as priority bank debt under the senior secured revolving credit facility, secured by the collateral. Under an intercreditor agreement between the lenders under our senior secured revolving credit facility and the trustee under the new notes, following an event of default any proceeds received upon liquidation of the collateral will be distributed first to the lenders under the senior secured revolving credit facility, until such priority bank debt is paid in full, and then also to the holders of the new notes. Accordingly, holders of the indebtedness representing priority bank debt

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under our new senior secured revolving credit facility will be entitled to receive proceeds from the realization of value of such collateral to repay such indebtedness in full before the holders of the new notes will be entitled to any recovery from such collateral. As a result, holders of the new notes will only be entitled to receive proceeds from the realization of collateral after all indebtedness and other obligations representing priority bank debt under our new senior secured revolving credit facility are repaid in full. The new notes will be effectively junior in right of payment to indebtedness representing priority bank debt under our new senior secured revolving credit facility to the extent of the realizable value of such collateral.

The value of the collateral securing the new notes may not be sufficient to satisfy our obligations under the new notes.

        The new notes and the related guarantees will be secured, subject to permitted liens, by a first-priority lien in the collateral that secures our new senior secured revolving credit facility and will share equally in right of payment to the extent of the value of such collateral exceeds amounts payable under the senior secured revolving credit facility to satisfy the priority bank debt. The new notes and the related guarantees will not be secured by certain excluded assets described in "Description of New Notes—Collateral and Security" and the assets of our non-guarantor subsidiaries, which include, among other things, the assets of all of our non-U.S. subsidiaries. The indenture governing the new notes offered hereby will also permit us to incur additional indebtedness secured by a lien that ranks equally with or prior to the new notes. Any such indebtedness may further limit the recovery from the realization of the value of such collateral available to satisfy holders of the new notes.

        No appraisal of the value of the collateral has been made in connection with this exchange offering, and in the event of a liquidation, the value of the collateral securing our obligations under our new senior secured revolving credit facility and the notes will depend on market and economic conditions, the availability of buyers and other factors. Furthermore, by its nature some or all of the collateral may be illiquid and have no readily ascertainable market value. The book value of the collateral should not be relied on as a measure of realizable value for such assets. We cannot assure you that the collateral can be sold in a short period of time or at all, or that the proceeds from the sale or sales of all of such collateral would be sufficient to satisfy the amounts outstanding under the new notes and all of the obligations under our new senior secured revolving credit facility. If these proceeds are not sufficient to repay amounts outstanding under the new notes, then holders of the new notes, to the extent not repaid from the proceeds of the sale of the collateral, would only have unsecured claims against our remaining assets, which claims would rank equally with all of our general unsecured indebtedness and obligations, including trade payables.

        To the extent that liens securing obligations under our new senior secured revolving credit facility representing priority bank debt, pre-existing liens, liens permitted under the indenture and other rights, including liens on excluded assets, encumber any of the collateral securing the new notes and the guarantees, those parties have or may exercise rights and remedies with respect to the collateral that could adversely affect the value of the collateral and the ability of the collateral agent, the trustee under the indenture or the holders of the new notes to realize or foreclose on the collateral.

        There may not be sufficient collateral to pay off all amounts we may borrow under our new senior secured revolving credit facility, the new notes offered hereby and additional indebtedness that we may incur that would be secured on the same basis as the new notes offered hereby. Liquidating the collateral securing the new notes may not result in proceeds in an amount sufficient to pay any amounts due under the new notes after satisfying the obligations to pay any creditors with prior liens. If the proceeds of any sale of collateral are not sufficient to repay all amounts due on the new notes, the holders of the new notes (to the extent not repaid from the proceeds of the sale of the collateral) would have only a senior unsecured, unsubordinated claim against our and the subsidiary guarantors' remaining assets.

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The new notes are effectively subordinated to the liabilities of our subsidiaries that do not guarantee the new notes and the assets of such non-guarantor subsidiaries will not be available as security for the new notes.

        Certain of our subsidiaries, including all of our non-U.S. branches and subsidiaries, will not guarantee the new notes. In addition, the assets of such non-guarantor branches and subsidiaries will not be available as security for the new notes. To the extent that any of our branches and subsidiaries do not guarantee the new notes, the new notes will be structurally subordinated to all existing and future obligations, including indebtedness, of such non-guarantor subsidiaries. The claims of creditors of the non-guarantor subsidiaries, including trade creditors, will have priority as to the assets of those subsidiaries. As of June 30, 2010, our subsidiaries that will not guarantee the new notes had approximately $3.1 million outstanding indebtedness.

We are a holding company and will depend on the business of our subsidiaries including PGS Onshore to satisfy our obligations under the new notes.

        Our revenue is primarily derived from our subsidiaries that own our assets and execute our seismic contracts. Our subsidiaries will conduct substantially all of the operations necessary to fund payments on the new notes and our other debt. Our ability to make payments on the new notes and other debt will depend on the cash flow of our subsidiaries and the payment by our subsidiaries of funds to us. The ability of our subsidiaries to make payments to us will depend on:

    their earnings;

    covenants contained in other agreements to which our subsidiaries are or may become subject;

    business and tax considerations; and

    applicable law, including local, state and federal laws regulating the payment of dividends and distributions.

        We cannot assure you that the operating results of our subsidiaries at any given time will be sufficient to make distributions or other payments to us or that any distributions and/or payments will be adequate to pay principal and interest, and any other payments, on our new notes and other debt when due.

Geokinetics' guarantee provides little, if any, additional credit support for the new notes.

        Geokinetics' primary source of income and cash flow is currently derived from its ownership of Geokinetics Holdings USA, and its primary asset is our capital stock. As a result, the guarantee by Geokinetics provides little, if any, additional credit support for the new notes.

Bankruptcy laws may significantly impair your rights to repossess and dispose of collateral securing the new notes.

        If a bankruptcy case were commenced by or against us prior to the repossession and disposition of collateral, the right of the collateral agent or the trustee to repossess and dispose of the collateral upon the occurrence of an event of default under the indenture is likely to be significantly impaired by applicable bankruptcy law. A voluntary bankruptcy case may be commenced by us or an involuntary bankruptcy case may be instituted against us by unsecured creditors.

        The "automatic stay" under applicable bankruptcy law prohibits secured creditors, such as the holders of the new notes and the lenders under our new senior secured revolving credit facility, from repossessing their security from a debtor in a bankruptcy case, or from disposing of collateral in their possession, without bankruptcy court approval. Moreover, applicable bankruptcy law permits the debtor to retain and use the collateral even though the debtor is in default under the applicable debt instruments, provided that the secured creditor is given "adequate protection."

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        The meaning of the term "adequate protection" may vary according to circumstances, but it is generally intended to protect the value of the secured creditor's interest in the collateral from diminution as a result of the automatic stay during the pendency of the bankruptcy case. "Adequate protection" may include cash payments or the granting of additional security or replacement liens of such type, at such time and in such amounts as the bankruptcy court may determine. For example, the debtor could be permitted to use the funds in the note proceeds account if the debtor provided adequate protection for such use by granting replacement liens on other collateral, which might not consist of liquid assets.

        In view of the lack of a precise definition of the term "adequate protection," the broad discretionary powers of a bankruptcy court and the possible complexity of valuation issues, it is impossible to predict how long payments under the new notes could be delayed following commencement of a bankruptcy case, whether or when the collateral agent or the trustee could repossess or dispose of the collateral or whether or to what extent, through the requirement of "adequate protection," the holders of the new notes would be compensated for any delay in payment or loss of value of the collateral.

        Further, the holders of the new notes may receive in exchange for their claims a recovery that could be substantially less than the amount of their claims (potentially even nothing) and any such recovery could be in the form of cash, new debt instruments or some other security. Furthermore, in the event the bankruptcy court determines that the value of the collateral is not sufficient to repay all amounts due on the new notes, the holders of the new notes would have "undersecured claims" as to the difference. Applicable federal bankruptcy laws do not permit the payment or accrual of post-petition interest, costs and attorneys' fees for "undersecured claims" during the debtor's bankruptcy case.

        In addition, the collateral agent's or the trustee's ability to foreclose on the collateral on behalf of the holders of the new notes may be subject to lack of perfection, the consent of third parties, other liens, contractual restrictions, priority issues, state law requirements and practical problems associated with the enforcement of the collateral agent's or the trustee's security interest in the collateral securing the new notes.

        Factors that might bear on the recovery by the holders of the new notes in these circumstances, among others, would include:

    a debtor in a bankruptcy case does not have the ability to compel performance of a "financial accommodation";

    lenders with higher priority liens may seek, and perhaps receive, relief from the automatic stay to foreclose their respective liens; and

    the cost and delay of developing a confirmed Chapter 11 plan could reduce the present value of revenues.

Contract rights under agreements serving as collateral for the new notes may be rejected in bankruptcy.

        Among other things, contract rights under certain of our agreements serve as collateral for the new notes. If a bankruptcy case were to be commenced by or against any counterparty to any of these agreements, it is possible that such agreement could be rejected by such counterparty (or a trustee appointed in such counterparty's bankruptcy case) pursuant to section 365 or section 1123 of the United States Bankruptcy Code and thus not be enforceable. Additionally, to the extent any rejected agreement constitutes a lease of real property where we are the lessor, our resulting claim for damages resulting from termination of such lease may be capped pursuant to section 502(b)(6) of the bankruptcy code.

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        In addition, in a bankruptcy proceeding, the court would have broad discretion to order or approve transactions or acts that could disadvantage the holders of the new notes. For example, under certain circumstances, a bankruptcy court could approve, on terms unfavorable to us, third parties' motions for sales of collateral and require you to accept subordinated or other securities in exchange for the new notes. Regardless of the ultimate disposition of any of these or other motions or claims, we cannot assure you that during litigation of these issues our payments on the new notes would be paid in full or on time.

Federal and state statutes allow courts, under specific circumstances, to avoid guarantees and the liens securing such guarantees and to require noteholders to return payments received from us or the guarantors.

        Our creditors or the creditors of our guarantors could challenge the guarantees and the liens securing those guarantees as fraudulent conveyances or on other grounds. Under the federal bankruptcy law and comparable provisions of state fraudulent transfer laws, the delivery of the subsidiary guarantees and the grant of the liens securing the guarantees could be avoided as fraudulent transfers if a court determined that the applicable guarantor, at the time it incurred the indebtedness evidenced by its guarantee or granted its lien:

    delivered the guarantee or granted the lien with the intent to hinder, delay or defraud its existing or future creditors; or

    received less than reasonably equivalent value or did not receive fair consideration for the delivery of the guarantee and the incurrence of the lien, and that such guarantor:

    (1)
    was insolvent or rendered insolvent at the time it delivered the guarantee or granted the lien;

    (2)
    was engaged in a business or transaction for which such guarantor's remaining assets constituted unreasonably small capital; or

    (3)
    intended to incur, or believed that it would incur, debts beyond its ability to pay such debts as they mature.

        If the guarantees were avoided or limited under fraudulent transfer or other laws, any claim you may make against us for amounts payable on the new notes would be effectively subordinated to all of the indebtedness and other obligations of our guarantors, including trade payables and any subordinated indebtedness. If the granting of liens to secure the guarantees were avoided or limited under fraudulent transfer or other laws, the guarantees could become unsecured claims to the extent of the avoidance or limitation, ranking equally with all general unsecured claims of the guarantors, or be voided altogether.

        The measures of insolvency for purposes of these fraudulent transfer laws will vary depending upon the law applied in any proceeding to determine whether a fraudulent transfer has occurred. Generally, however, a guarantor would be considered insolvent if:

    the sum of its debts, including contingent liabilities, was greater than the fair saleable value of all of its assets;

    if the present fair saleable value of its assets was less than the amount that would be required to pay its probable liability on its existing debts, including contingent liabilities, as they became absolute and matured; or

    it could not pay its debts as they became due.

        We cannot be sure what standard a court would apply in making these determinations or, regardless of the standard, that a court would not void the guarantees or that any guarantee would not be subordinated to a guarantor's other indebtedness.

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Any additional guarantees or liens on collateral provided after the new notes are issued could also be voided as preferential transfers.

        The indenture governing the new notes will provide that certain future domestic restricted subsidiaries will guarantee the new notes and secure their guarantees with liens on their assets. The indenture will also require us to grant liens on certain assets that we and the existing guarantors acquire after the new notes are issued. If we or the guarantors provided new collateral for the new notes, and were insolvent at the time the lien was granted or commenced a bankruptcy within 90 days of when the lien was granted, the lien could be voided as a preferential transfer.

We are permitted to create unrestricted subsidiaries, which will not be subject to any of the covenants in the indenture, and we may not be able to rely on the cash flow or assets of those unrestricted subsidiaries to pay our indebtedness.

        Unrestricted subsidiaries will not be subject to the covenants under the indenture governing the new notes, and their assets will not be available as security for the new notes. Unrestricted subsidiaries may enter into financing arrangements that limit their ability to make loans or other payments to fund payments in respect of the new notes. Accordingly, we may not be able to rely on the cash flow or assets of unrestricted subsidiaries to pay any of our indebtedness, including the new notes.

We may not be able to fulfill our repurchase obligations with respect to the new notes upon a change of control.

        If we experience certain specific change of control events, we will be required to offer to repurchase all of our outstanding new notes at 101% of the principal amount of such new notes plus accrued and unpaid interest to the date of repurchase. We cannot assure you that we will have available funds sufficient to pay the change of control purchase price for any or all of the new notes that might be tendered in the change of control offer.

        The definition of change of control in the indenture governing the new notes offered hereby includes a phrase relating to the direct or indirect sale, transfer, conveyance or other disposition of "all or substantially all" of our and our restricted subsidiaries' assets, taken as a whole. Although there is a limited body of case law interpreting the phrase "substantially all," there is no precise established definition of the phrase under applicable law. Accordingly, the ability of a holder of new notes to require us to repurchase such new notes as a result of a sale, transfer, conveyance or other disposition of less than all of our and our restricted subsidiaries" assets taken as a whole to another person or group may be uncertain. In addition, a recent Delaware Chancery Court decision raised questions about the enforceability of provisions, which are similar to those in the indenture governing the new notes offered hereby, related to the triggering of a change of control as a result of a change in the composition of a board of directors. Accordingly, the ability of a holder of new notes to require us to repurchase new notes as a result of a change in the composition of our board of directors may be uncertain.

        In addition, our new senior secured revolving credit facility will contain, and any future credit agreement likely will contain, restrictions or prohibitions on our ability to repurchase the new notes under certain circumstances. If these change of control events occur at a time when we are prohibited from repurchasing the new notes, we may seek the consent of our lenders to purchase the new notes or could attempt to refinance the borrowings that contain these prohibitions or restrictions. If we do not obtain our lenders' consent or refinance these borrowings, we will not be able to repurchase the new notes. Accordingly, the holders of the new notes may not receive the change of control purchase price for their new notes in the event of a sale or other change of control, which will give the trustee and the holders of the new notes the right to declare an event of default and accelerate the repayment of the

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new notes. See "Description of New Notes—Repurchase at the Option of Holders—Change of Control."

There are circumstances other than repayment or discharge of the new notes under which the collateral securing the new notes will be released automatically, without your consent or the consent of the collateral agent or the trustee.

        Under various circumstances, collateral securing the new notes will be released automatically, including:

    a sale, transfer or other disposal of such collateral in a transaction not prohibited under the indenture and the collateral documents, including the collateral agency agreement and the intercreditor agreement;

    with respect to collateral that is capital stock, upon the dissolution of the issuer of that capital stock in accordance with the indenture;

    with respect to any accounts and related rights of any obligor subject to any monetization or securitization transaction, provided, that such transaction does not violate the terms of any collateral document;

    unless there is a continuing default and the collateral agent shall have received notice to the contrary, upon withdrawal from any accounts by any obligor in accordance with the applicable collateral document

    with respect to amounts distributed by the collateral agent pursuant to, and in accordance with the provisions of the intercreditor agreement, upon such distribution; and

    with respect to collateral held by a guarantor, upon the release of the guarantor from its guarantee in accordance with the indenture or any collateral document.

        In addition, the guarantee of a subsidiary guarantor will be automatically released in connection with a sale of that subsidiary guarantor if the sale is in accordance with the indenture and the obligations of the subsidiary guarantor under our new senior secured revolving credit facility and any of our other indebtedness terminate upon that sale.

        The indenture will also permit us to designate one or more of our restricted subsidiaries that is a guarantor of the new notes as an unrestricted subsidiary. If we designate a subsidiary guarantor as an unrestricted subsidiary for purposes of the indenture, all of the liens on any collateral owned by that subsidiary or any of its subsidiaries and any guarantees of the new notes by that subsidiary or any of its subsidiaries will be released under the indenture.

Rights of holders of new notes in the collateral may be adversely affected by the failure to perfect security interests in collateral.

        Applicable law requires that a security interest in certain tangible and intangible assets can only be properly perfected and its priority retained through certain actions undertaken by the secured party. The liens on the collateral securing the new notes may not be perfected with respect to the claims of the new notes if the collateral agent or the trustee is not able to or does not take the actions necessary to perfect any of such liens. In addition, applicable law requires that certain property and rights acquired after the grant of a general security interest can only be perfected at the time such property and rights are acquired and identified. There can be no assurance that the collateral agent or the trustee will monitor, or that we will inform such collateral agent or the trustee of, the future acquisition of property and rights that constitute collateral, and that the necessary action will be taken to properly perfect the security interest in such after-acquired collateral. The collateral agent and the trustee have no obligation to identify or take actions necessary to perfect liens or to monitor the acquisition of

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additional property or rights that constitute collateral or the perfection of any security interest. Such failure may result in the loss of the security interest in the collateral or the priority of the security interest in favor of the new notes against third parties. To the extent that the security interests created by the security documents with respect to any collateral are not perfected, the collateral agent's rights will be equal to the rights of general unsecured creditors in the event of a bankruptcy.

The collateral is subject to casualty risks.

        We will be obligated to maintain insurance pursuant to the terms of the indenture and the collateral documents. However, there are certain losses that may be either uninsurable or not economically insurable, in whole or in part, or against which we may not obtain adequate insurance. As a result, it is possible that insurance proceeds will not compensate us fully for our losses. If there is a total or partial loss of any of the collateral, we cannot assure you that any insurance proceeds received by us will be sufficient to satisfy all of our secured obligations, including the new notes.

An adverse rating of the new notes may cause their trading price to fall.

        If a rating agency rates the new notes, it may assign a rating that is lower than the rating expected by the noteholders. Ratings agencies also may lower ratings on the new notes or any of our other debt in the future. If rating agencies assign a lower than-expected rating or reduce, or indicate that they may reduce, their ratings of our debt in the future, the trading price of the new notes could significantly decline.

The new notes will be issued with original issue discount for United States federal income tax purposes.

        The new notes will be issued with original issue discount ("OID"). Accordingly, U.S. Holders (as defined under "Certain United States Federal Income Tax Considerations") will be required to include the OID in gross income as it accrues for U.S. federal income tax purposes in advance of the receipt of any payment on the new notes to which the income is attributable, regardless of their method of accounting for U.S. federal income tax purposes. See "Certain United States Federal Income Tax Considerations—Original Issue Discount."

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THE EXCHANGE OFFER

Purpose and Effect of the Exchange Offer

        In connection with the sale of the old notes, we entered into a registration rights agreement with the initial purchasers of the old notes, pursuant to which we agreed to file and to use our reasonable best efforts to cause to be declared effective by the SEC a registration statement with respect to the exchange of the old notes for the new notes. We are making the exchange offer to fulfill our contractual obligations under that agreement. A copy of the registration rights agreement has been filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part.

        Pursuant to the exchange offer, we will issue the new notes in exchange for old notes. The terms of the new notes are identical in all material respects to those of the old notes, except that the new notes (1) have been registered under the Securities Act and therefore will not be subject to certain restrictions on transfer applicable to the old notes and (2) will not have registration rights or provide for any increase in the interest rate related to the obligation to register. See "Description of New Notes" and "Description of Old Notes" for more information on the terms of the respective notes and the differences between them.

        We are not making the exchange offer to, and will not accept tenders for exchange from, holders of old notes in any jurisdiction in which an exchange offer or the acceptance thereof would not be in compliance with the securities or blue sky laws of such jurisdiction. Unless the context requires otherwise, the term "holder" means any person in whose name the old notes are registered on our books or any other person who has obtained a properly completed bond power from the registered holder, or any person whose old notes are held of record by The Depository Trust Company, or DTC, who desires to deliver such old notes by book-entry transfer at DTC.

        We make no recommendation to the holders of old notes as to whether to tender or refrain from tendering all or any portion of their old notes pursuant to the exchange offer. In addition, no one has been authorized to make any such recommendation. Holders of old notes must make their own decision whether to tender pursuant to the exchange offer and, if so, the aggregate amount of old notes to tender after reading this prospectus and the letter of transmittal and consulting with their advisers, if any, based on their own financial position and requirements.

Terms of the Exchange

        Upon the terms and conditions described in this prospectus and in the accompanying letter of transmittal, which together constitute the exchange offer, we will accept for exchange old notes which are properly tendered at or before the expiration time and not withdrawn as permitted below. As of the date of this prospectus, $300 million aggregate principal amount of old notes are outstanding. This prospectus, together with the letter of transmittal, is first being sent on or about the date on the cover page of the prospectus to all holders of old notes known to us. Old notes tendered in the exchange offer must be in denominations of principal amount of $2,000 and any integral multiples of $1,000 in excess thereof.

        Our acceptance of the tender of old notes by a tendering holder will form a binding agreement between the tendering holder and us upon the terms and subject to the conditions provided in this prospectus and in the accompanying letter of transmittal.

Expiration, Extension and Amendment

        The expiration time of the exchange offer is 5:00 p.m, New York City time on October 12, 2010. However, we may, in our sole discretion, extend the period of time for which the exchange offer is open and set a later expiration date. The term "expiration time" as used herein means the latest time and date to which we extend the exchange offer. If we decide to extend the exchange offer period, we

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will then delay acceptance of any old notes by giving written notice of an extension to the holders of old notes as described below. During any extension period, all old notes previously tendered will remain subject to the exchange offer and may be accepted for exchange by us. Any old notes not accepted for exchange will be returned to the tendering holder after the expiration or termination of the exchange offer.

        Our obligation to accept old notes for exchange in the exchange offer is subject to the conditions described below under "—Conditions to the Exchange Offer." We may decide to waive any of the conditions in our discretion. Furthermore, we reserve the right to amend or terminate the exchange offer, and to not accept for exchange any old notes not previously accepted for exchange, upon the occurrence of any of the conditions of the exchange offer specified below under the same heading. We will give written notice of any extension, amendment, non-acceptance or termination to the holders of the old notes as promptly as practicable. If we materially change the terms of the exchange offer, we will resolicit tenders of the old notes, file a post-effective amendment to the prospectus and provide notice to you. If the change is made less than five business days before the expiration of the exchange offer, we will extend the offer so that the holders have at least five business days to tender or withdraw. We will notify you of any extension by means of a press release or other public announcement no later than October 13, 2010, the first business day after the previously scheduled expiration time.

Procedures for Tendering

Valid Tender

        Except as described below, a tendering holder must, prior to the expiration time, transmit to U.S. Bank National Association, the exchange agent, at the address listed under the heading "—Exchange Agent":

    a properly completed and duly executed letter of transmittal, including all other documents required by the letter of transmittal; or

    if old notes are tendered in accordance with the book-entry procedures listed below, an agent's message.

        In addition, a tendering holder must:

    deliver certificates, if any, for the old notes to the exchange agent at or before the expiration time; or

    deliver a timely confirmation of book-entry transfer of the old notes into the exchange agent's account at DTC, the book-entry transfer facility, along with the letter of transmittal or an agent's message; or

    comply with the guaranteed delivery procedures described below.

        The term "agent's message" means a message, transmitted by DTC to and received by the exchange agent and forming a part of a book-entry confirmation, that states that DTC has received an express acknowledgment that the tendering holder agrees to be bound by the letter of transmittal and that we may enforce the letter of transmittal against this holder.

        If the letter of transmittal is signed by a person other than the registered holder of old notes, the letter of transmittal must be accompanied by a written instrument of transfer or exchange in satisfactory form duly executed by the registered holder with the signature guaranteed by an eligible institution. The old notes must be endorsed or accompanied by appropriate powers of attorney. In either case, the old notes or such powers of attorney must be signed exactly as the name of any registered holder appears on the old notes.

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        If the letter of transmittal or any old notes or powers of attorney are signed by trustees, executors, administrators, guardians, attorneys-in-fact, officers of corporations or others acting in a fiduciary or representative capacity, these persons should so indicate when signing. Unless waived by us, proper evidence satisfactory to us of their authority to so act must be submitted.

        By tendering old notes pursuant to the exchange offer, each holder will represent to us that, among other things, the new notes are being acquired in the ordinary course of business of the person receiving the new notes, whether or not that person is the holder, and neither the holder nor the other person has any arrangement or understanding with any person to participate in the distribution of the new notes. In the case of a holder that is not a broker-dealer, that holder, by tendering old notes pursuant to the exchange offer, will also represent to us that the holder is not engaged in and does not intend to engage in a distribution of the new notes.

        The method of delivery of old notes, letters of transmittal and all other required documents is at your election and risk. If the delivery is by mail, we recommend that you use registered mail, properly insured, with return receipt requested. In all cases, you should allow sufficient time to assure timely delivery. You should not send letters of transmittal or old notes to us.

        If you are a beneficial owner whose old notes are registered in the name of a broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other nominee, and wish to tender, you should promptly instruct the registered holder to tender on your behalf. Any registered holder that is a participant in DTC's book-entry transfer facility system may make book-entry delivery of the old notes by causing DTC to transfer the old notes into the exchange agent's account, including by means of DTC's Automated Tender Offer Program.

Signature Guarantees

        Signatures on a letter of transmittal or a notice of withdrawal must be guaranteed, unless the old notes surrendered for exchange are tendered:

    by a registered holder of the old notes who has not completed the box entitled "Special Issuance Instructions" or "Special Delivery Instructions" on the letter of transmittal, or

    for the account of an "eligible institution."

        If signatures on a letter of transmittal or a notice of withdrawal are required to be guaranteed, the guarantees must be by an "eligible institution." An "eligible institution" is an "eligible guarantor institution" meeting the requirements of the registrar for the notes, which requirements include membership or participation in the Security Transfer Agent Medallion Program, or STAMP, or such other "signature guarantee program" as may be determined by the registrar for the notes in addition to, or in substitution for, STAMP, all in accordance with the Exchange Act.

Book-Entry Transfer

        The exchange agent will make a request to establish an account for the old notes at DTC for purposes of the exchange offer within two business days after the date of this prospectus. Any financial institution that is a participant in DTC's systems must make book-entry delivery of old notes by causing DTC to transfer those old notes into the exchange agent's account at DTC in accordance with DTC's procedure for transfer. The participant should transmit its acceptance to DTC at or prior to the expiration time or comply with the guaranteed delivery procedures described below. DTC will verify this acceptance, execute a book-entry transfer of the tendered old notes into the exchange agent's account at DTC and then send to the exchange agent confirmation of this book-entry transfer. The confirmation of this book-entry transfer will include an agent's message confirming that DTC has received an express acknowledgment from this participant that this participant has received and agrees

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to be bound by the letter of transmittal and that we may enforce the letter of transmittal against this participant.

        Delivery of new notes issued in the exchange offer may be effected through book-entry transfer at DTC. However, the letter of transmittal or facsimile of it or an agent's message, with any required signature guarantees and any other required documents, must:

    be transmitted to and received by the exchange agent at the address listed under "—Exchange Agent" at or prior to the expiration time; or

    comply with the guaranteed delivery procedures described below.

        Delivery of documents to DTC in accordance with DTC's procedures does not constitute delivery to the exchange agent.

Guaranteed Delivery

        If a registered holder of old notes desires to tender the old notes, and the old notes are not immediately available, or time will not permit the holder's old notes or other required documents to reach the exchange agent before the expiration time, or the procedure for book-entry transfer described above cannot be completed on a timely basis, a tender may nonetheless be made if:

    the tender is made through an eligible institution;

    prior to the expiration time, the exchange agent received from an eligible institution a properly completed and duly executed notice of guaranteed delivery, substantially in the form provided by us, by facsimile transmission, mail or hand delivery:

    1.
    stating the name and address of the holder of old notes and the amount of old notes tendered;

    2.
    stating that the tender is being made; and

    3.
    guaranteeing that within three New York Stock Exchange trading days after the expiration time, the certificates for all physically tendered old notes, in proper form for transfer, or a book-entry confirmation, as the case may be, and a properly completed and duly executed letter of transmittal, or an agent's message, and any other documents required by the letter of transmittal will be deposited by the eligible institution with the exchange agent; and

    the certificates for all physically tendered old notes, in proper form for transfer, or a book-entry confirmation, as the case may be, and a properly completed and duly executed letter of transmittal, or an agent's message, and all other documents required by the letter of transmittal, are received by the exchange agent within three New York Stock Exchange trading days after the expiration time.

Determination of Validity

        We will determine in our sole discretion all questions as to the validity, form and eligibility of old notes tendered for exchange. This discretion extends to the determination of all questions concerning the timing of receipts and acceptance of tenders. These determinations will be final and binding. We reserve the right to reject any particular old note not properly tendered or of which our acceptance might, in our judgment or our counsel's judgment, be unlawful. We also reserve the right to waive any defects or irregularities or conditions of the exchange offer as to any particular old note either before or after the expiration time, including the right to waive the ineligibility of any tendering holder. Our interpretation of the terms and conditions of the exchange offer as to any particular old note either before or after the expiration time, including the letter of transmittal and the instructions to the letter

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of transmittal, shall be final and binding on all parties. Unless waived, any defects or irregularities in connection with tenders of old notes must be cured within a reasonable period of time.

        Neither we, the exchange agent nor any other person will be under any duty to give notification of any defect or irregularity in any tender of old notes. Moreover, neither we, the exchange agent nor any other person will incur any liability for failing to give notification of any defect or irregularity.

Acceptance of Old Notes for Exchange; Issuance of New Notes

        Upon the terms and subject to the conditions of the exchange offer, we will accept, promptly after the expiration time, all old notes properly tendered. We will issue the new notes promptly after acceptance of the old notes. For purposes of the exchange offer, we will be deemed to have accepted properly tendered old notes for exchange when, as and if we have given written notice to the exchange agent.

        In all cases, issuance of new notes for old notes will be made only after timely receipt by the exchange agent of:

    certificates for the old notes, or a timely book-entry confirmation of the old notes, into the exchange agent's account at the book-entry transfer facility;

    a properly completed and duly executed letter of transmittal or an agent's message; and

    all other required documents.

        Unaccepted or non-exchanged old notes will be returned without expense to the tendering holder of the old notes. In the case of old notes tendered by book-entry transfer in accordance with the book-entry procedures described above, the non-exchanged old notes will be credited to an account maintained with DTC as promptly as practicable after the expiration or termination of the exchange offer. For each old note accepted for exchange, the holder of the old note will receive a new note having a principal amount equal to that of the surrendered old note.

Interest Payments on the New Notes

        The new notes will bear interest from the date of original issuance of the old notes or, if interest has already been paid on the old notes, from the date interest was most recently paid. Accordingly, registered holders of new notes on the relevant record date for the first interest payment date following the completion of the exchange offer will receive interest accruing from the most recent date through which interest has been paid. Old notes accepted for exchange will cease to accrue interest from and after the date of completion of the exchange offer. Holders of old notes whose old notes are accepted for exchange will not receive any payment for accrued interest on the old notes otherwise payable on any interest payment date the record date for which occurs on or after completion of the exchange offer and will be deemed to have waived their rights to receive the accrued interest on the old notes.

Withdrawal Rights

        Tenders of old notes may be withdrawn at any time before the expiration time.

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        For a withdrawal to be effective, the exchange agent must receive a written notice of withdrawal at the address or, in the case of eligible institutions, at the facsimile number, indicated under "—Exchange Agent" before the expiration time. Any notice of withdrawal must:

    specify the name of the person, referred to as the depositor, having tendered the old notes to be withdrawn;

    identify the old notes to be withdrawn, including the certificate number or numbers and principal amount of the old notes;

    contain a statement that the holder is withdrawing its election to have the old notes exchanged;

    be signed by the holder in the same manner as the original signature on the letter of transmittal by which the old notes were tendered, including any required signature guarantees, or be accompanied by documents of transfer to have the trustee with respect to the old notes register the transfer of the old notes in the name of the person withdrawing the tender; and

    specify the name in which the old notes are registered, if different from that of the depositor.

        If certificates for old notes have been delivered or otherwise identified to the exchange agent, then, prior to the release of these certificates the withdrawing holder must also submit the serial numbers of the particular certificates to be withdrawn and signed notice of withdrawal with signatures guaranteed by an eligible institution, unless this holder is an eligible institution. If old notes have been tendered in accordance with the procedure for book-entry transfer described above, any notice of withdrawal must specify the name and number of the account at the book-entry transfer facility to be credited with the withdrawn old notes.

        Any old notes properly withdrawn will be deemed not to have been validly tendered for exchange. New notes will not be issued in exchange unless the old notes so withdrawn are validly re-tendered. Properly withdrawn old notes may be re-tendered by following the procedures described under "—Procedures for Tendering" above at any time at or before the expiration time.

        We will determine all questions as to the validity, form and eligibility, including time of receipt, of notices of withdrawal.

Conditions to the Exchange Offer

        Notwithstanding any other provisions of the exchange offer, or any extension of the exchange offer, we will not be required to accept for exchange, or to exchange, any old notes for any new notes, and, as described below, may terminate the exchange offer, whether or not any old notes have been accepted for exchange, or may waive any conditions to or amend the exchange offer, if any of the following conditions has occurred or exists:

    there shall occur a change in the current interpretation by the staff of the SEC, which now permits the new notes issued pursuant to the exchange offer in exchange for old notes to be offered for resale, resold and otherwise transferred by the holders (other than broker-dealers and any holder which is an affiliate) without compliance with the registration and prospectus delivery provisions of the Securities Act, provided that such new notes are acquired in the ordinary course of such holders' business and such holders have no arrangement or understanding with any person to participate in the distribution of the new notes;

    any action or proceeding shall have been instituted or threatened in any court or by or before any governmental agency or body with respect to the exchange offer which, in our judgment, would reasonably be expected to impair our ability to proceed with the exchange offer;

    any law, statute, rule or regulation shall have been adopted or enacted which, in our judgment, would reasonably be expected to impair our ability to proceed with the exchange offer;

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    a banking moratorium shall have been declared by United States federal or New York State authorities which, in our judgment, would reasonably be expected to impair our ability to proceed with the exchange offer;

    trading on the New York Stock Exchange or generally in the United States over-the-counter market shall have been suspended by order of the SEC or any other governmental authority which, in our judgment, would reasonably be expected to impair our ability to proceed with the exchange offer;

    an attack on the United States, an outbreak or escalation of hostilities or acts of terrorism involving the United States, or any declaration by the United States of a national emergency or war shall have occurred;

    a stop order shall have been issued by the SEC or any state securities authority suspending the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part or proceedings shall have been initiated or, to our knowledge, threatened for that purpose or any governmental approval has not been obtained, which approval we shall, in our sole discretion, deem necessary for the consummation of the exchange offer; or

    any change, or any development involving a prospective change, in our business or financial affairs or any of our subsidiaries has occurred which is or may be adverse to us or we shall have become aware of facts that have or may have an adverse impact on the value of the old notes or the new notes, which in our sole judgment in any case makes it inadvisable to proceed with the exchange offer and/or with the acceptance for exchange or with the exchange.

        If we determine in our sole discretion that any of the foregoing events or conditions has occurred or exists, we may, subject to applicable law, terminate the exchange offer, whether or not any old notes have been accepted for exchange, or may waive any such condition or otherwise amend the terms of the exchange offer in any respect. See "—Expiration, Extension and Amendment" above.

Resales of New Notes

        Based on interpretations by the staff of the SEC, as described in no-action letters issued to third parties, we believe that new notes issued in the exchange offer in exchange for old notes may be offered for resale, resold or otherwise transferred by holders of the old notes without compliance with the registration and prospectus delivery provisions of the Securities Act, if:

    the new notes are acquired in the ordinary course of the holders' business;

    the holders have no arrangement or understanding with any person to participate in the distribution of the new notes; and

    the holders are not "affiliates" of ours within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Securities Act.

        However, the SEC has not considered the exchange offer described in this prospectus in the context of a no-action letter. We cannot assure you that the staff of the SEC would make a similar determination with respect to the exchange offer as in the other circumstances. Each holder who wishes to exchange old notes for new notes will be required to represent that it meets the above three requirements.

        Any holder who is an affiliate of ours or who intends to participate in the exchange offer for the purpose of distributing new notes or any broker-dealer who purchased old notes directly from us to resell pursuant to Rule 144A or any other available exemption under the Securities Act:

    may not rely on the applicable interpretations of the staff of the SEC mentioned above;

    will not be permitted or entitled to tender the old notes in the exchange offer; and

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    must comply with the registration and prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act in connection with any resale transaction.

        Each broker-dealer that receives new notes for its own account in exchange for old notes, where such securities were acquired by such broker-dealer as a result of market making activities or other trading activities, must acknowledge that it will deliver a prospectus that meets the requirements of the Securities Act in connection with any resale of the new notes. The letter of transmittal states that by so acknowledging and by delivering a prospectus, a broker-dealer will not be deemed to admit that it is an "underwriter" within the meaning of the Securities Act. See "Plan of Distribution."

        In addition, to comply with state securities laws, the new notes may not be offered or sold in any state unless they have been registered or qualified for sale in such state or an exemption from registration or qualification, with which there has been compliance, is available. The offer and sale of the new notes to "qualified institutional buyers," as defined under Rule 144A of the Securities Act, is generally exempt from registration or qualification under the state securities laws. We currently do not intend to register or qualify the sale of new notes in any state where an exemption from registration or qualification is required and not available.

Exchange Agent

        U.S. Bank National Association has been appointed as the exchange agent for the exchange offer. All executed letters of transmittal and any other required documents should be directed to the exchange agent at the address or facsimile number set forth below. Questions and requests for assistance, requests for additional copies of this prospectus or of the letter of transmittal and requests for notices of guaranteed delivery should be directed to the exchange agent addressed as follows:

    U.S. Bank Specialized Finance Group
    West Side Flats Operations Center
    60 Livingston Avenue
    St. Paul, Minnesota 55107
    Attention: Lori Buckles
    Facsimile: (651) 495-8158

        Delivery of the letter of transmittal to an address other than as set forth above or transmission of the letter of transmittal via a facsimile transmission to a number other than as set forth above will not constitute a valid delivery of the letter of transmittal. Delivery of documents to The Depository Trust Company does not constitute delivery to the exchange agent.

Regulatory Approval

        Other than the federal securities laws, there are no federal or state regulatory requirements that we must comply with and there are no approvals that we must obtain in connection with the exchange offer.

Fees and Expenses

        We have agreed to pay the exchange agent reasonable and customary fees for its services and will reimburse it for its reasonable out-of-pocket expenses in connection with the exchange offer. We will also pay brokerage houses and other custodians, nominees and fiduciaries the reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them in forwarding copies of this prospectus and related documents to the beneficial owners of old notes, and in handling or tendering for their customers. We will not make any payment to brokers, dealers or others soliciting acceptances of the exchange offer.

        Holders who tender their old notes for exchange will not be obligated to pay any transfer taxes on the exchange. If, however, new notes are to be delivered to, or are to be issued in the name of, any

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person other than the registered holder of the old notes tendered, or if a transfer tax is imposed for any reason other than the exchange of old notes in connection with the exchange offer, then the amount of any such transfer taxes (whether imposed on the registered holder or any other persons) will be payable by the tendering holder. If satisfactory evidence of payment of such taxes or exemption therefrom is not submitted with the letter of transmittal, the amount of such transfer taxes will be billed directly to such tendering holder.

Accounting Treatment

        We will record the new notes at the same carrying value as the old notes, as reflected in our accounting records on the date of the exchange. Accordingly, we will not recognize any gain or loss for accounting purposes. The expenses of the exchange offer will be amortized over the term of the new notes.

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USE OF PROCEEDS

        We will not receive proceeds from the issuance of the new notes offered hereby. In consideration for issuing the new notes in exchange for old notes as described in this prospectus, we will receive old notes of like principal amount. The old notes surrendered in exchange for the new notes will be retired and canceled.

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CAPITALIZATION

        The following table sets forth our cash and cash equivalents and consolidated capitalization as of June 30, 2010. This table should be read in conjunction with "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" as well as our financial statements and the pro forma financial information in our Annual Report on Form 10-K/A for the year ended December 31, 2009 and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q/A and Form 10-Q for the quarterly periods ended March 31, 2010 and June 30, 2010, respectively.

 
  As of June 30,
2010
 
 
  (In Thousands)
 

Cash and cash equivalents

  $ 40,814  
       

Debt:

       
 

New senior secured revolving credit facility

    9,000  
 

Senior secured notes offered hereby (net of discounts)

    294,899  
 

Mandatorily redeemable preferred stock

    32,220  
       

Total debt

    376,933  
 

Capital leases and foreign lines of credit

    3,060  
       

Total debt including capital leases

    379,993  
       

Mezzanine equity, less $5.3 million discount

    70,815  

Shareholders' equity

    97,139  
       
 

Total capitalization

  $ 547,947  
       

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SELECTED HISTORICAL CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA

        The information presented below for the years ended December 31, 2005 through 2009 has been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements. The information for the six month periods ended June 30, 2009 and 2010 has been derived from our unaudited consolidated financial statements and, in the opinion of management, includes all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair presentation. You should read the financial information presented below in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes, as well as management's discussion and analysis of results of operations and financial condition in our Annual Report on Form 10-K/A for the year ended December 31, 2009 and our Quarterly Report on

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Form 10-Q/A and Form 10-Q for the quarterly periods ended March 31, 2010 and June 30, 2010, respectively.

 
  Years ended December 31,   Six months ended
June 30,
 
 
  2005   2006   2007   2008   2009   2009   2010  
 
  ($ in thousands, except per share data)
 

Statement of Operations data:

                                           

Revenue:

                                           
 

Seismic acquisition and related activities

  $ 58,177   $ 217,997   $ 345,903   $ 462,416   $ 490,023   $ 286,459   $ 201,701  
 

Data processing

    3,998     7,186     10,848     12,022     10,683     5,300     4,842  

Multi-client library

            926     160     10,260         18,753  
                               
   

Total revenue

  $ 62,175   $ 225,183   $ 357,677   $ 474,598   $ 510,966   $ 291,759   $ 225,296  
                               

Expenses:

                                           
 

Seismic acquisition and related activities

  $ 51,017   $ 177,009   $ 280,238   $ 361,377   $ 361,525   $ 206,307   $ 181,381  
 

Data processing

    6,335     8,780     10,562     8,861     8,641     4,410     4,870  
 

Depreciation and amortization

    1,481     12,965     32,352     48,990     56,921     25,363     44,202  
 

General and administrative

    3,406     17,525     35,717     39,341     53,791     25,907     41,041  
                               
   

Total expenses

  $ 62,239   $ 216,279   $ 358,869   $ 458,569   $ 480,878   $ 261,987   $ 271,494  
                               

Loss on disposal of property and equipment

        (798 )   (1,556 )   (1,255 )   (3,759 )   (736 )   (1,049 )

Gain on insurance claims

        2,145     2,128     1,125              
                               

Income (loss) from operations

    (64 )   10,251     (620 )   15,899     26,329     29,036     (47,247 )
                               

Other income (expense):

                                           
 

Interest income

    116     479     1,017     815     242     186     952  
 

Interest expense

    (474 )   (11,298 )   (9,265 )   (6,991 )   (6,213 )   (3,280 )   (19,971 )
 

Gain (loss) from change in fair value of derivative liabilities

                    (7,324 )   (4,629 )   4,822  
 

Loss on redemption of floating rate notes

            (6,936 )       (2,910 )       (2,517 )
 

Warrant expense

    (1,386 )   (376 )                    
 

Foreign exchange gain (loss)

   
   
(231

)
 
1,574
   
835
   
680
   
129
   
(819

)
 

Other, net

    (63 )   233     546     (304 )   113     97     546  
                               
   

Total other expenses, net

    (1,807 )   (11,193 )   (13,064 )   (5,645 )   (15,412 )   (7,497 )   (16,987 )
                               

Income (loss) before income taxes

  $ (1,871 ) $ (942 ) $ (13,684 ) $ 10,254   $ 10,917   $ 21,539   $ (64,234 )

Provision for income taxes

    51     3,234     2,252     9,268     23,252     16,799     2,314  
                               

Net income (loss)

  $ (1,922 ) $ (4,176 ) $ (15,936 ) $ 986   $ (12,335 ) $ 4,740   $ (66,548 )
                               

Returns to preferred stockholder:

                                           
 

Beneficial conversion charge

                    (9,059 )        
 

Dividends and accretion costs

    (159 )   (206 )   (4,866 )   (6,325 )   (12,731 )   (4,798 )   (4,208 )
                               

Income (loss) applicable to common stockholders

  $ (2,081 ) $ (4,382 ) $ (20,802 ) $ (5,339 ) $ (34,125 ) $ (58 ) $ (70,756 )
                               

Income (loss) per common share:

                                           
 

Basic and Diluted

  $ (0.09 ) $ (0.81 ) $ (2.44 ) $ (0.51 ) $ (3.14 ) $ (0.01 ) $ (4.12 )

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