Yahoo Finance Chesapeake Energy board approves spinoff
Chesapeake Energy board approves spinoff of oilfield services unit Seventy Seven Energy
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Chesapeake Energy Corp. said its board has approved a previously announced plan to spin off its oilfield services business into a separate, publicly traded company.
The Oklahoma City-based oil and natural gas producer said Monday that the new company will be called Seventy Seven Energy Inc.
To separate the companies, Chesapeake shareholders will receive one share of Seventy Seven Energy for every 14 shares of Chesapeake stock they own as of June 19. No fractional shares of Seventy Seven Energy will be issued. Instead shareholders entitled to one will receive cash instead. The distribution is expected to happen June 30, after the market closes.
Seventy Seven Energy has applied to list its stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "SSE." Trading is expected to begin on July 1.
Seventy Seven Energy, based in Oklahoma City, provides drilling, hydraulic fracturing, oilfield rentals and other services to oil and gas producers.
Chesapeake first announced in February that it was planning to spin off the business to streamline its operations. In May, the company said the move would cut about $1.1 billion of debt from its balance sheets.
Shares of Chesapeake closed at $29.87 Friday. Its shares are up nearly 10 percent since the beginning of the year.
