Pacific Drilling Announces Appeal of Arbitration Decision
February 11 2020 - 3:56PM
Business Wire
Pacific Drilling S.A. (NYSE: PACD) (the “Company”) announced
today that its subsidiaries, Pacific Drilling VIII Limited
(“PDVIII”) and Pacific Drilling Services, Inc. (“PDSI”), have filed
an application with the High Court in London for leave to appeal
the award that has been issued in the arbitration proceedings
between PDVIII and PDSI and Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd.
(“SHI”) related to the contract for the construction and sale of
the Pacific Zonda. As previously disclosed, on January 15, 2020 an
arbitration tribunal in London, England (the “Tribunal”) awarded
SHI approximately $320 million with respect to its claims against
PDVIII and PDSI.
Under the rules governing the arbitration proceedings, PDVIII
and PDSI have no automatic right to appeal and the grounds on which
the High Court in London may grant permission to appeal are
limited. There can be no assurance that permission to appeal will
be granted, or if granted, that the appeal will be successful.
As previously disclosed, in connection with the Company’s now
concluded Chapter 11 proceedings, PDVIII and PDSI (the “Zonda
Debtors”) filed a separate plan of reorganization (the “Zonda
Plan”) under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the United
States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York,
which was confirmed on January 30, 2019. If the Zonda Debtors are
successful in the appeal, they will emerge from their separate
bankruptcy proceedings. If the Zonda Debtors are unsuccessful in
the appeal, the Company expects the Zonda Debtors, which have
approximately $4.5 million in cash and no other material assets,
will be liquidated in accordance with the terms of the Zonda Plan.
The Company does not expect the Tribunal’s decision to have any
material adverse effect on its operations or to cause any default
under any of its material contracts including under the indentures
for its outstanding notes.
About Pacific Drilling
With its best-in-class drillships and highly experienced team,
Pacific Drilling is committed to exceeding our customers’
expectations by delivering the safest, most efficient and reliable
deepwater drilling services in the industry. Pacific Drilling’s
fleet of seven drillships represents one of the youngest and most
technologically advanced fleets in the world. Pacific Drilling has
principal offices in Luxembourg and Houston. For more information
about Pacific Drilling, including our current Fleet Status, please
visit our website at www.pacificdrilling.com.
Forward-Looking
Statements
Certain statements and information contained in this press
release constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning
of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, and are generally identifiable by their use of
words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,”
“expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “our ability to,” “may,” “plan,”
“potential,” “predict,” “project,” “projected,” “should,” “will,”
“would”, or other similar words which are not generally historical
in nature. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date
hereof, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise
any forward-looking statements after the date they are made,
whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
Our forward-looking statements express our current expectations
or forecasts of possible future results or events, and include
statements regarding potential timing and outcomes related to the
Company’s appeal of, and other legal remedies related to, the
Tribunal’s decision, expectations regarding the Zonda Debtors’
bankruptcy proceedings, and expectations regarding the impact of
the Tribunal’s decision on the Company’s operations, relationships,
financial position, results of operations and liquidity.
Although we believe that the assumptions and expectations
reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable and made
in good faith, these statements are not guarantees, and actual
future results may differ materially due to a variety of factors.
These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties
and are based on a number of judgments and assumptions as of the
date such statements are made about future events, many of which
are beyond our control. Actual events and results may differ
materially from those anticipated, estimated, projected or implied
by us in such statements due to a variety of factors, including if
one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if our
underlying assumptions prove incorrect.
Important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from our expectations include: the risks of litigation
in foreign jurisdictions and delays caused by third parties in
connection with such litigation, the outcome of the Zonda Debtors’
bankruptcy proceedings and any actions that SHI or others may take
in the bankruptcy or other proceedings against the Company and its
subsidiaries, and the other risk factors described in our 2018
Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission on March 12, 2019 and our Reports on Form 6-K. These
documents are available through our website at
www.pacificdrilling.com or through the SEC’s website at
www.sec.gov.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200211006065/en/
Investor Contact: James Harris Pacific Drilling S.A. +713 334
6662 Investor@pacificdrilling.com
Media Contact: Amy L. Roddy Pacific Drilling S.A. +713 334 6662
Media@pacificdrilling.com
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