Economou's Ocean Rig files for bankruptcy

Deepwater drilling company Ocean Rig UDW Inc. (NASDAQ:ORIG) and various subsidiaries have entered into a restructuring support agreement with creditors and have presented winding up petitions in the Cayman Islands. The joint provisional liquidators appointed by the Cayman Islands Grand Court yesterday commenced cases under Chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code for each of the companies seeking, among other things, recognition of the Cayman provisional liquidation proceedings as foreign main pro

George Economou, Ocean Rig's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"Ocean Rig, similar to all rig operators, faces a deep and prolonged industry downturn. Given these conditions, Ocean Rig is taking the appropriate steps to allow us to emerge as a much stronger company that can take advantage of opportunities as they emerge. Our entire team at Ocean Rig is wholly committed to the success of the company and looks forward to our emergence from this financial restructuring that will ultimately enable us to better service our customers in the long term."

You can read the nitty gritty of what the restructuring involves HERE, including that "if the schemes are sanctioned, the existing shareholders of the company will be diluted to an insignificant amount of the post-restructuring equity of the company."

The company's share price had fallen by around 64% as of 10.30 a.m. EDT