Item 1.02 | Termination of a Material Definitive Agreement. |
In connection with the closing of the Transactions (as defined below), on December 7, 2021, Contango Oil & Gas Company (the “Company” or “Contango”) terminated that certain Credit Agreement, dated September 17, 2019, by and among the Company, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as Administrative Agent, and each of JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Royal Bank of Canada and Cadence Bank, N.A. (as amended from time to time, the “Credit Agreement”). In connection with the termination of the Credit Agreement, all outstanding obligations for principal, interest and fees under the Credit Agreement were paid off in full, and all liens securing such obligations and guarantees of such obligations and securing any letter of credit or hedging obligations permitted by the Credit Agreement to be secured by such liens were released and in connection therewith, all of Contango’s existing commodity hedging agreements were novated to Crescent (as defined below).
Item 2.01. | Completion of Acquisition or Disposition of Assets. |
On December 7, 2021 (the “Closing Date”), the Company consummated the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Agreement, dated as of June 7, 2021 (the “Transaction Agreement”), among the Company, Independence Energy LLC (“Independence”), Crescent Energy Company (f/k/a IE PubCo Inc.) (“Crescent”), IE OpCo LLC (“OpCo”), IE L Merger Sub LLC (“L Merger Sub”) and IE C Merger Sub Inc. (“C Merger Sub”), pursuant to which each of the Company and Independence became wholly owned subsidiaries of Crescent. Prior to the consummation of the Transactions, the name of Crescent was changed from “IE PubCo Inc.” to “Crescent Energy Company.”
Pursuant to the Transaction Agreement, (i) Independence merged with and into OpCo, with OpCo surviving (the “Isla Merger”), (ii) immediately following the Isla Merger, C Merger Sub merged with and into the Company, with the Company surviving as a direct wholly owned subsidiary of Crescent (the “Merger”), (iii) immediately following the Merger, the Company merged with and into L Merger Sub, with L Merger Sub surviving as a direct wholly owned subsidiary of Crescent (the “LLC Merger” and such entity surviving the LLC Merger, the “Surviving Entity”), (iv) immediately following the LLC Merger, Crescent contributed (the “Contribution”) 100% of the equity interests in L Merger Sub to OpCo in exchange for 127,536,463 units representing economic limited liability company interests in OpCo and (v) immediately following the Contribution, OpCo contributed L Merger Sub to Independence Energy Finance, LLC (such transactions contemplated by the Transaction Agreement, the “Transactions”).
As of the Merger Effective Time (as defined in the Transaction Agreement), each eligible share of common stock, par value $0.04 per share, of the Company (the “Contango Common Stock”) issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Merger Effective Time was automatically converted into the right to receive 0.2000 shares (the “Exchange Ratio”) of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share of Crescent (the “Crescent Common Stock”), with cash paid in lieu of fractional shares. Additionally, at the Merger Effective Time, each outstanding award of (i) Company restricted stock vested in full and was converted into the right to receive unrestricted shares of Crescent Common Stock (together with any cash to be paid in lieu of fractional shares) equal to the product of (A) the number of shares of Contango Common Stock subject to such award, and (B) the Exchange Ratio, reduced by any applicable tax withholding; and (ii) Company performance stock units, whether vested or unvested, was fully vested and cancelled in exchange for a number of shares of Crescent Common Stock (together with any cash to be paid in lieu of fractional shares) equal to the product of (A) the number of shares of Contango Common Stock subject to such award based on achievement of the performance criteria set forth in the applicable award agreement at maximum performance levels, and (B) the Exchange Ratio, reduced by any applicable tax withholding. Further, immediately prior to the Merger Effective Time, each award of options to purchase Contango Common Stock that was out-of-the-money was cancelled in exchange for no consideration, and each award of options to purchase Contango Common Stock that was in-the-money vested in full and was deemed net-exercised in exchange for a number of shares of Contango Common Stock equal to (x) the number of shares of Contango Common Stock subject to such award, multiplied by (y) the excess of the fair market value of a share of Contango Common Stock minus the exercise price per share of Contango Common Stock subject to such award, and then divided by (z) the fair market value of a share of Contango Common Stock.
As a result of the closing of the Transactions, Independence shareholders collectively hold approximately 75% of outstanding Crescent Common Stock, and the former stockholders of the Company hold approximately 25% of the outstanding Crescent Common Stock as of the Closing Date.
The issuance of Crescent Common Stock pursuant to the terms of the Transaction Agreement was registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, pursuant to the Crescent’s registration statement on Form S-4 (333-258157) initially filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on July 23, 2021 (as amended by Amendment No. 1 and Amendment No. 2 thereto, the “Registration Statement”) and declared effective on November 3, 2021. The definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus, dated November 3, 2021 (the “Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus”), that forms a part of the Registration Statement contains additional information about the Transactions.
The descriptions of the Transaction Agreement and the Transactions is only a summary and does not purport to be complete and is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to (i) the other items of this Current Report, (ii) the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus, and (iii) the full text of the Transaction Agreement, which is filed as Exhibit 2.1 to this Current Report.
Item 3.01 | Notice of Delisting or Failure to Satisfy a Continued Listing Rule or Standard; Transfer of Listing. |
In connection with the consummation of the Transactions, on December 7, 2021, the Company notified the NYSE American that the Transactions had been consummated and requested that the trading of shares of Contango Common Stock on the NYSE American be suspended and that the listing of such shares on the NYSE American be withdrawn. In addition, the Company requested the NYSE American file with the SEC a notification on Form 25 to report the delisting of Contango Common Stock from the NYSE American and to deregister shares of Contango Common Stock under Section 12(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). The Company’s Board of Directors approved the delisting on June 7, 2021, and authorized the officers of the Company to take all necessary actions to delist the Contango Common Stock from the NYSE American upon closing of the Transactions, subject to stockholder approval. The Contango Common Stock will cease being traded prior to the opening of the market on December 8, 2021, and will no longer be listed on the NYSE American.