Dallas-based Hunt and one group of Energy Future creditors plan to raise more than $12 billion to be used to pay off debt owed to another set of lenders. Should the plan win court approval after a vote of creditors, Energy Future would be split into two companies owned by different sets of lenders.
Hunt and some unsecured creditors would get Oncor, the regulated unit that sends power to more than 3 million Texas customers over 119,000 miles of power lines. Energy Future’s money-losing generating division, which includes coal-fired power plants, would go to a different set of creditors in a spinoff that avoids hitting investors with a big tax bill.
The transaction, which would make Oncor part of a real estate investment trust to save on taxes, must be approved by Texas regulators as well as U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi in Wilmington, Del., who has overseen the bankruptcy since it was filed in April 2014.
During the investor call, Shapard said that Oncor is protected from the bankruptcy proceedings because of a 2007 credit provision put in place to separate Oncor from its owners. According to the Oncor website, Oncor’s limited liability company agreement restricts EFH to only two members of Oncor’s 11-person board of directors, and requires certain actions by the Oncor board to obtain independent board member approvals.
