Expand Energy (EXE) S-4Registration of securities issued in business combination transactions

the impact of inflation and commodity price volatility resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, COVID-19 and related supply chain constraints, along with the effect on our business, financial condition, employees, contractors, vendors and the global demand for natural gas and oil and U.S. and world financial markets;

Our warrants may be exchanged for shares of Common Stock pursuant to the Offers, which will increase the number of shares eligible for future resale in the public market and result in dilution to our shareholders, although there can be no assurance that such warrant exchanges will be completed or that any of the holders of the warrants will elect to participate in the Offers. These issuances of Common Stock, and any future issuances of Common Stock in connection with incentive plans, acquisitions, capital raises or otherwise, will result in dilution to our shareholders and increase the number of shares eligible for resale in the public market.

None of us, our affiliates, any of the dealer managers, the exchange agent or the information agent makes any recommendation as to whether you should exchange some or all of your warrants. We have not retained, and do not intend to retain, any unaffiliated representative to act on behalf of the warrant holders for purposes of negotiating the Offers or preparing a report concerning the fairness of the Offers. You must make your own independent decision regarding your participation in the Offers.

We can give no assurance as to the market price of our Common Stock in the future. If you do not tender your warrants in the Offers, there can be no assurance that you can sell your warrants (or exercise them for shares of Common Stock) in the future at a higher value than would have been obtained by participating in the Offers. You should consult your own individual tax and/or financial advisor for assistance on how this may affect your individual situation.

If NASDAQ delists our warrants from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, our warrants could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. However, even if this were to occur, holders of warrants could face significant material adverse consequences, including:

Until the applicable Expiration Date, we are offering to the holders of Class A warrants, Class B warrants and Class C warrants whose warrants are exchanged pursuant to the Offers the opportunity to receive the Class A Exchange Consideration, the Class B Exchange Consideration, or the Class C Exchange Consideration, as applicable. Our obligation to complete the Offers is not conditioned on the receipt of a minimum number of tendered warrants. None of the Offers is conditioned on the completion of any other Offer. No fractional shares will be issued pursuant to the Offers. In lieu of issuing fractional shares, any holder of warrants who would otherwise have been entitled to receive fractional shares pursuant to an Offer will receive an amount of Common Stock calculated in accordance with the definitions of Class A Exchange Consideration, Class B Exchange Consideration or Class C Exchange Consideration, as applicable. None of the Offers will require that holders receive a minimum amount of consideration.

Each Offer is subject to the terms and conditions contained in this Prospectus/Offers to Exchange and the Letter of Transmittal.

You may tender some or all of your warrants into the Offers. If you elect to tender warrants in the Offers, please follow the instructions in this Prospectus/Offers to Exchange and the related documents, including the Letter of Transmittal.

If you tender warrants, you may withdraw your tendered warrants at any time before the applicable Expiration Date and retain them on their current terms by following the instructions herein. In addition, warrants that are not accepted by us for exchange by September 16, 2022 may thereafter be withdrawn by you until such time as the warrants are accepted by us for exchange.

“Class B Exchange Consideration” means, with respect to the Class B warrants to be exchanged by such exchanging holder, a number of shares of Common Stock equal to the product of (a) the number of

Our principal executive offices are located at 6100 North Western Avenue, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73118, and our telephone number is (405) 848-8000. We maintain a website at www.chk.com. The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, our website is not part of, and is not incorporated into, this Prospectus/Offers to Exchange or the registration statement of which it forms a part. Our Common Stock, Class A warrants, Class B warrants and Class C warrants are listed on NASDAQ under the symbols “CHK,” “CHKEW,” “CHKEZ” and “CHKEL,” respectively.

In certain cases, all signatures on the Letter of Transmittal must be guaranteed by an “Eligible Institution.” See “— Signature Guarantees.”

If the Letter of Transmittal is signed by someone other than the registered holder of the tendered warrants (for example, if the registered holder has assigned the warrants to a third-party), or if our shares of Common Stock to be issued upon exchange of the tendered warrants are to be issued in a name other than that of the registered holder of the tendered warrants, the tendered warrants must be properly accompanied by appropriate assignment documents, in either case signed exactly as the name(s) of the registered holder(s) appear on the warrants, with the signature(s) on the warrants or assignment documents guaranteed by an Eligible Institution.

Holders of warrants may tender and will have withdrawal rights until the applicable Offer expires. Because the Offers will expire at 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on the last day of the Observation Period — approximately 6.5 hours after the number of shares of Common Stock that constitutes their applicable Class A Exchange Consideration, Class B Exchange Consideration and Class C Exchange Consideration is determinable — holders will have an opportunity for last-minute tenders and withdrawals. In this regard, we note the following:

The Company has been advised that DTC will be open until 6:00 p.m., New York City time, on the Expiration Date.

Between 6:00 p.m., New York City time, and 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on the Expiration Date, tenders of warrants will be able to be made by faxing a Voluntary Offering Instructions form to the exchange agent, and withdrawals of previous tenders will be able to be made by faxing notice of withdrawal to the exchange agent. The exchange agent will cause those tenders and withdrawals to be reflected when DTC’s system reopens at 8:00 a.m., New York City time, on the business day after the Expiration Date. Immediately after delivering the Voluntary Offering Instructions form, a DTC participant should telephone the exchange agent at its telephone number listed on the back cover page of this Prospectus/Offers to Exchange to confirm receipt and determine if any further action is required.

We will pay all transfer taxes, if any, applicable to the exchange of warrants for our Common Stock in the Offers. If transfer taxes are imposed for any other reason, the amount of those transfer taxes, whether imposed on the registered holder or any other persons, will be payable by the tendering holder. Other reasons transfer taxes could be imposed include (i) if our Common Stock is to be registered or issued in the name of any person other than the person signing the Letter of Transmittal, or (ii) if tendered warrants are registered in the name of any person other than the person signing the Letter of Transmittal. If satisfactory evidence of payment of or exemption from those transfer taxes is not submitted with the Letter of Transmittal, the amount of those transfer taxes will be billed directly to the tendering holder and/or withheld from any payment due with respect to the warrants tendered by such holder.

Tenders of warrants made pursuant to any of the Offers may be withdrawn at any time prior to the applicable Expiration Date. Tenders of warrants may not be withdrawn after the applicable Expiration Date. If an Offer Period is extended, you may withdraw your applicable tendered warrants at any time until the expiration of such extended Offer Period. After the applicable Offer Period expires, such tenders are irrevocable; provided, however, that warrants that are not accepted by us for exchange on or prior to September 26, 2022 may thereafter be withdrawn by you until such time as the warrants are accepted by us for exchange.

To be effective, a written notice of withdrawal must be timely received by the exchange agent at its address identified in this Prospectus/Offers to Exchange. Any notice of withdrawal must specify the name of the person who tendered the warrants for which tenders are to be withdrawn and the number of warrants of the applicable series to be withdrawn. If the warrants to be withdrawn have been delivered to the exchange agent, a signed notice of withdrawal must be submitted prior to release of such warrants. In addition, such notice must specify the name of the registered holder (if different from that of the tendering warrant holder). A withdrawal may not be cancelled, and warrants for which tenders are withdrawn will thereafter be deemed not validly tendered for purposes of the Offers. However, warrants for which tenders are withdrawn may be tendered again by following one of the procedures described above in the section entitled “— Procedure for Tendering Warrants for Exchange” at any time prior to the applicable Expiration Date.

Any warrants duly tendered and delivered as described above shall be automatically cancelled upon the issuance of Common Stock in exchange for such warrants as part of the completion of the Offers.

A holder who tendered its warrants other than through DTC should send written notice of withdrawal to the exchange agent specifying the name of the warrant holder who tendered the warrants being withdrawn. All signatures on a notice of withdrawal must be guaranteed by an Eligible Institution, as described above in the section entitled “— Procedure for Tendering Warrants for Exchange — Signature Guarantees”; provided, however, that signatures on the notice of withdrawal need not be guaranteed if the warrants being withdrawn are held for the account of an Eligible Institution. Withdrawal of a prior warrant tender will be effective upon receipt of the notice of withdrawal by the exchange agent. Selection of the method of notification is at the risk of the warrant holder, and notice of withdrawal must be timely received by the exchange agent.

All questions as to the form and validity (including time of receipt) of any notice of withdrawal will be determined by us, in our sole discretion, which determination shall be final and binding, subject to each warrant holder’s right to challenge any determination by us in a court of competent jurisdiction. Neither we nor any other person will be under any duty to give notification of any defect or irregularity in any notice of withdrawal or incur any liability for failure to give any such notification.

Upon the terms and subject to the conditions of the applicable Offers, we will accept for exchange warrants validly tendered until the Expiration Date, which is 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on September 16, 2022, or such later time and date to which we may extend. Our Common Stock to be issued upon exchange of warrants pursuant to the Offers, along with written notice from the exchange agent confirming the balance of any warrants not exchanged, will be delivered promptly following the Expiration Date. In all cases, warrants will only be accepted for exchange pursuant to the Offers after timely receipt by the exchange agent of (i) book-entry delivery of the tendered warrants, (ii) a properly completed and duly executed Letter of Transmittal, or compliance with ATOP where applicable, (iii) any other documentation required by the Letter of Transmittal, and (iv) any required signature guarantees.

For purposes of each of the Offers, we will be deemed to have accepted for exchange warrants that are validly tendered and for which tenders are not withdrawn, unless we give written notice to the warrant holder of our non-acceptance.

We will announce the final results of each Offer, including whether all of the conditions to the Offers have been satisfied or waived and whether we will accept the tendered warrants for exchange, as promptly as practicable following the end of the applicable Offer Period. The announcement will be made by a press release and by amendment to the Schedule TO we file with the SEC in connection with the Offers.

Throughout the Offers, indicative figures for the Class A Exchange Consideration, the Class B Exchange Consideration, and the Class C Exchange Consideration will be available at http://www. dfking.com/CHK and from the information agent, which may be contacted at one of its telephone numbers set forth on the back cover page of this Prospectus/Offers to Exchange. We will determine the final figures that make up the Class A Exchange Consideration, Class B Exchange Consideration and Class C Exchange Consideration promptly after the close of trading on NASDAQ on the Pricing Date. We will announce the final figures that

Subject to the limitations stated above, the following description addresses material U.S. federal income tax consequences of the receipt of our Common Stock in exchange for warrants pursuant to the Offers and the ownership and disposition of our Common Stock received in exchange for warrants, in each case that are expected to apply if you are a U.S. Holder of, as applicable, the warrants or our Common Stock received in exchange for warrants. For purposes of this discussion, a “U.S. Holder” is any beneficial owner of our warrants or Common Stock received in exchange for warrants pursuant to the Offers that, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, is or is treated as any of the following:

a trust that (i) is subject to the primary supervision of a U.S. court and the control of one or more “United States persons” ​(within the meaning of Section 7701(a)(30) of the Code), or (ii) has a valid election in effect to be treated as a United States person for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

We intend to treat the exchange of warrants for our Common Stock pursuant to the Offers as a “recapitalization” within the meaning of Section 368(a)(1)(E) of the Code. Under such treatment, (i) a U.S. Holder is not expected to recognize any gain or loss on the exchange of warrants for shares of our Common Stock, (ii) a U.S. Holder’s aggregate tax basis in the Common Stock received in the exchange is expected to equal its aggregate tax basis in its warrants surrendered in the exchange, and (iii) a U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Common Stock received in the exchange is expected to include its holding period for the surrendered warrants. Special tax basis and holding period rules apply to U.S. Holders that acquired different blocks of warrants at different prices or at different times. U.S. Holders should consult their tax advisor as to the applicability of these special rules to their particular circumstances.

There is, however, a lack of direct legal authority regarding the U.S. federal income tax consequences of the exchange of our warrants for our Common Stock, and there can be no assurance that the IRS or a court will agree with the foregoing and alternative characterizations by the IRS or a court are possible, including ones that would require U.S. Holders to recognize taxable income. If our treatment of the exchange of our warrants for our Common Stock was successfully challenged by the IRS and such exchange was not treated as a recapitalization for United States federal income tax purposes, exchanging U.S. Holders may be subject to taxation in a manner analogous to the rules applicable to dispositions of Common Stock described below under “— Ownership and Disposition of Common Stock — Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of our Common Stock.”

Although we believe the exchange of our warrants for our Common Stock pursuant to the Offers is a value-for-value transaction, because of the uncertainty inherent in any valuation, there can be no assurance that the IRS or a court would agree. If the IRS or a court were to view the exchange pursuant to the Offers as the issuance of Common Stock to an exchanging holder having a value in excess of the warrants surrendered by such holder, such excess value could be viewed as a constructive dividend.

If a U.S. Holder exchanges our warrants for our Common Stock pursuant to the Offers and holds 5% or more of our Common Stock prior to the exchange, or if such U.S. Holder holds warrants and other securities of ours prior to the exchange with a tax basis of $1 million or more, such U.S. Holder will be required to file with its U.S. federal income tax return for the year in which the exchange occurs a statement setting forth certain information relating to the exchange (including the fair market value and tax basis, determined immediately prior to the exchange, of the warrants transferred in the exchange), and to maintain permanent records containing such information.

Gain described in the first bullet point above generally will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a net income basis at the regular rates. A Non-U.S. Holder that is a corporation also may be subject to a branch profits tax at a rate of 30% (or such lower rate specified by an applicable income tax treaty) on such effectively connected gain, as adjusted for certain items.

A Non-U.S. Holder described in the second bullet point above will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at a rate of 30% (or such lower rate specified by an applicable income tax treaty) on gain realized upon the sale or other taxable disposition of our common stock, which may be offset by U.S. source capital losses of the Non-U.S. Holder (even though the individual is not considered a resident of the United States), provided the Non-U.S. Holder has timely filed U.S. federal income tax returns with respect to such losses.

With respect to the third bullet point above, due to the nature of our assets and operations, we believe that we currently are, and expect to remain for the foreseeable future, a USRPHC under the Code and our Common Stock constitutes (and we expect the Common Stock to continue to constitute) a USRPI. Non-U.S. Holders are generally subject to a 15% withholding tax on the amount realized from a sale or other taxable disposition of a USRPI, such as our Common Stock, which is required to be collected from any sale or disposition proceeds. Furthermore, such Non-U.S. Holders are subject to U.S. federal income tax (at the regular rates) in respect of any gain on their sale or disposition of our Common Stock and are required to file a U.S. tax return to report such gain and pay any tax liability that is not satisfied by withholding. Any gain should be determined based on the excess, if any, of the consideration received over the Non-U.S. Holder’s basis in such Common Stock. A Non-U.S. Holder may, by filing a U.S. tax return, be able to claim a refund for any withholding tax deducted in excess of the tax liability on any gain. However, if our Common Stock is considered “regularly traded on an established securities market” ​(within the meaning of the Treasury Regulations) then Non-U.S. Holders will not be subject to the 15% withholding tax on the disposition of their Common Stock, even if such Common Stock constitute USRPIs. Moreover, if our Common Stock is considered (i) “regularly traded on an established securities market” ​(within the meaning of the Treasury Regulations) and (ii) the Non-U.S. Holder actually or constructively owns or owned, at all times during the shorter of the five-year period ending on the date of the disposition or the Non-U.S. Holder’s holding period, 5% or less of our Common Stock taking into account applicable constructive ownership rules, such Non-U.S. Holder may treat its ownership of our Common Stock as not constituting a USRPI and will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on any gain realized upon the sale or other taxable disposition of our Common Stock (in addition to not being subject to the 15% withholding tax described above) or U.S. tax return filing requirements.

Non-U.S. Holders should consult their tax advisors regarding potentially applicable income tax treaties that may provide for different rules.

On January 6, 2022, Chesapeake filed a final prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3), containing pro forma financial statements to reflect the following transactions:

On May 17, 2021, Chesapeake filed a Form 8-K containing pro forma financial statements to reflect the following:

On March 19, 2021, in connection with its initial public offering, Vine filed a final prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b)(4), containing pro forma financial statements to reflect the following transactions:

The pro forma statements of operations contained herein have been further adjusted to reflect the Marcellus Acquisition, as follows: