Banking Recap

ION GEOPHYSICAL CORP Announces Restructuring for $2.5M

ION Geophysical Corporation, a provider of data-driven decision-making technology for offshore energy and maritime operations markets, filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division. The filing came after the company evaluated strategic alternatives and entered into a Restructuring Support Agreement (RSA) with its secured lenders and a majority of its 2025 noteholders.

Apr 12, 2022·SEC EDGAR (8-K)·pending regulatory·Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing / restructuring support agreement

Deal value

The filing is sourced from ION's own 8-K press-release exhibit, dated April 12, 2022, announcing commencement of the Chapter 11 process alongside the RSA and committed debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing.

Perella Weinberg Partners L.P., together with its energy-focused corporate advisory affiliate Tudor Pickering Holt & Co., served as financial advisor to ION Geophysical in the restructuring, per the release: "ION is advised in this matter by Winston & Strawn, LLP, Perella Weinberg Partners L.P. (together with its corporate advisory affiliates including Tudor Pickering Holt & Co.), and FTI Consulting, Inc." No separate creditor-side financial advisor is named in the excerpt reviewed.

Winston & Strawn, LLP served as legal advisor to ION. FTI Consulting, Inc. was also retained, functioning as a restructuring/financial consulting advisor to the company, distinct from Perella Weinberg's investment-banking role.

The plan contemplated by the RSA involved either a debt-for-equity exchange paired with a potential sale of certain assets, or a sale of substantially all of ION's assets, with the company securing $2.5 million in DIP financing to fund operations during the Chapter 11 process. The release did not disclose the aggregate size of the pre-petition debt being restructured or the implied recovery percentages for various creditor classes.

Not disclosed in the reviewed excerpt: the total amount of funded debt subject to restructuring, the ultimate sale price or plan outcome, the specific identity of the consenting lenders and 2025 noteholders, and the eventual emergence or sale completion date.