History
Born as IPO-funded Midstates Petroleum, it borrowed heavily, went through bankruptcy, merged with Amplify in 2019, then sold major assets in 2025 after a failed Juniper deal.
2012-2013: Going public and buying big
The company began as Midstates Petroleum Company, a private business backed by First Reserve. On April 25, 2012 it completed an initial public offering at $13.00 per share, selling 27.6 million shares plus a 3.6 million-share underwriters' option, for about $220 million of net proceeds, and became a public Delaware corporation. Its shares had been cleared for trading on the New York Stock Exchange a week earlier.
Growth came quickly and was paid for with debt. In August 2012 it agreed to buy Mississippian Lime assets in Oklahoma and Kansas from Eagle Energy for $325 million cash plus $325 million of new preferred stock. It priced $600 million of 10.75% senior notes in September to help fund the deal, which closed on October 2, 2012. Eagle's controller, Riverstone Holdings, gained a board seat and veto rights over major actions.
In April 2013 it agreed to buy Anadarko Basin properties in Texas and Oklahoma for $620 million cash. It raised the credit facility borrowing base to $425 million and priced $700 million of 9.25% senior notes to pay for it.
2014-2015: Selling assets as oil weakened
In 2014 the company sold its Pine Prairie acreage in Louisiana to Tana Exploration for about $150 million net, and reported first-quarter Adjusted EBITDA (a measure of operating earnings) of $111.3 million, up 97% on the year, along with record April production. A second sale, of DeQuincy-area acreage to Baseline Energy Resources for up to $90 million, fell through in December when Baseline terminated the agreement alleging breach. Midstates disputed the claim and said it would keep Baseline's $5 million deposit.
The oil price downturn then forced distressed refinancing. In May 2015 it raised $625 million of new second-lien notes, and in June it issued a further $20 million of third-lien notes in exchange for existing unsecured notes, on top of $504 million already issued. The NYSE flagged problems: a share price below $1.00 led to a 1-for-10 reverse split announced in July, and in August the company also fell short on market capitalization and equity. In October its credit facility was reaffirmed at a reduced $252 million borrowing base. The share count at the end of 2014 and 2015 reflects the reverse split and later changes.
2016-2017: Bankruptcy and a fresh start
In February 2016 Midstates drew the last roughly $249 million of its credit facility for general corporate purposes, leaving cash of about $336 million. The NYSE began delisting proceedings because market capitalization had averaged under $15 million, and the stock moved to the OTC Pink market. On May 2, 2016 the company and its operating subsidiary filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with a pre-negotiated plan backed by about 80% of first-lien lenders and 74-77% of second- and third-lien noteholders.
The court confirmed the plan on October 4, 2016. Existing stock and debt were cancelled, and new shares and warrants went to creditors. That is why the share count rose to about 25 million by the end of 2016. The new shares were cleared to trade on Nasdaq on October 21, 2016, and moved back to the NYSE on May 3, 2017.
2018-2019: Recovery and the Amplify merger
In April 2018 Midstates agreed to sell substantially all its Anadarko Basin wells and leases for $58.0 million to an unnamed buyer. In November 2018 it amended its exit credit facility to allow dividends and share buybacks for the first time since bankruptcy, a sign of recovery.
In May 2019 it agreed a stock-for-stock merger of equals with privately held Amplify Energy, a company that had also recently emerged from Chapter 11. Amplify holders would receive 0.933 Midstates shares each, leaving each side with roughly half. Holders of about 35.5% of Midstates stock had signed voting agreements in support. The merger closed on August 6, 2019, and Midstates renamed itself Amplify Energy Corp. It was accounted for as a reverse acquisition, with legacy Amplify treated as the acquirer. Shares on issue rose to about 37.6 million by year end.
2020-2024: A quieter stretch
In June 2020, during the COVID-19 oil price collapse, lenders cut the borrowing base from $450 million toward $260 million in stages and tightened terms. In late August the company received an NYSE notice that its market capitalization and stockholders' equity were both under $50 million, and it stayed listed while it worked on a compliance plan. The record shows little else of note until August 2023, when it fully refinanced its revolving credit facility with a KeyBank-led facility: an initial $150 million borrowing base, $135 million of elected commitments, maturing 2027, replacing a $180 million facility. Shares grew slowly, from about 37.7 million to about 39.8 million over these years.
2025: A deal abandoned, assets sold
In January 2025 Amplify agreed to buy North Peak Oil & Gas (DJ Basin, Colorado) and Century Oil and Gas (Powder River Basin) from Juniper Capital Advisors for 26,729,315 new shares. Existing holders would have owned about 61% and Juniper about 39% on a fully diluted basis. A final proxy on March 4 set a shareholder meeting for April 14. On April 25 the two sides mutually terminated the agreement.
The company then sold assets. It sold Karnes County, Texas to Murphy Exploration & Production for $23 million cash on July 1. It agreed in late October to sell East Texas and Louisiana assets to EQV Alpha for $122 million, and in November to sell Oklahoma assets to Revolution Resources III for $92.5 million. These closed on December 23 and December 29. On December 31, with its asset base sharply smaller, its credit facility, now led by Citizens Bank, was reset to a $25 million borrowing base, with maturity extended to December 2028.
Written from the 42 story beats below (2012 to 31 Dec 2025), which come from the company's own announcements and filings.