Finance & Investing | Debt | Capital Markets

ZaZa Energy Tackles $50.1 Million in Debt

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ZaZa Energy Corporation announced that the holders of all of the 8.00% Subordinated Notes due 2017, totaling ~$50.1 million in principal plus accumulated interest, have completed the exchange of their Notes for an overriding royalty interest in the Company's future lease acquisitions.

All of these Notes were held directly or indirectly by the three Founders of ZaZa Energy Corporation, one of which is the current President and CEO and all of which are Directors. Each of the three holders will receive a 0.8% ORRI on the Company's future lease acquisitions, or a total ORRI of 2.4%.

President and CEO Todd A. Brooks stated, "Though the founders received shareholder approval during the summer to convert the Subordinated Notes to common equity, we felt we could add far more value to existing common equity holders by extinguishing the Subordinated Notes without any form of equity dilution. By taking this step, we are eliminating nearly half of our debt, moving from ~$105 million to ~$55 million, again, with no dilution to current shareholders. Exchanging a substantial debt holding for a potential royalty in future leases with no dilutive issuance of shares, further aligns management and our founders with our shareholders. This also reflects our expectation that the Company has the ability to grow, not just through lower risk conventional development of its current assets, but also through accretive acquisitions given the state of the industry today.

"We remain in discussions with our lenders, including the holders of our approximately $15 million Senior Secured Notes, with whom I am diligently working to have them approve extending their maturity to mid 2016, 2017, or beyond -- the further out the better. I can make no promises on this front, but I am working very hard on this. Our goal is to become an almost debt free company sooner rather than later, and we are laser focused on that front. As our balance sheet continues to improve, we are also looking to add additional resources, whether in the form of cash or other financing instruments. Our industry has been drastically impacted by falling commodity prices, and this has hindered our results and drilling programs. However, this has also presented us with an opportunity to create value by acquiring distressed assets with high-growth potential as the industry rebounds. As the largest shareholder of ZaZa, I remain a firm believer in our potential over the long-term and look forward to providing all parties with updates on our progress."