SAN FRANCISCO: PG&E Corp said in court papers it has debt financing commitments of $34.35 billion for a planned Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganisation, countering a group of noteholders that has proposed its own reorganisation plan for the California power producer.
PG&E in a filing in US Bankruptcy Court in San Francisco said the commitments are from leading money centre banks and have terms superior to those in the plan the noteholders want to file.
The commitments will “fully fund” a reorganisation plan so PG&E can have one confirmed by June 30, 2020, the company said.
PG&E has also obtained more than $14 billion in equity commitments from other investors and has struck an $11 billion settlement with an insurers group and a $1 billion settlement with a group of local governments and public entities hit hard by the wildfires that pushed the company to file for bankruptcy.
San Francisco-based PG&E filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January in the aftermath of blazes in 2017 and 2018 blamed on its equipment.
At the time, PG&E anticipated wildfire-related liabilities of more than $30 billion.
A group of PG&E noteholders, including Apollo Capital Management and Elliott Management Corp among others, last week unveiled a revised version of their proposed reorganisation plan. It would put $29.2 billion in new money into PG&E, up from a prior $28.4 billion offer, in exchange for new debt and a controlling equity stake.
The committee representing individual wildfire victims in PG&E’s bankruptcy supports the noteholders’ plan as it would create a $14.5 billion trust to pay their claims. — Reuters
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