History
A Marcellus Shale gas royalty trust listed in 2010 at $20 a unit, changed operators in 2017, and was delisted from the NYSE to OTC Pink in 2020.
2010: Listing and formation
ECA Marcellus Trust I was a royalty trust, not an operating company. It was created by Energy Corporation of America (ECA) to hold overriding royalty interests, meaning a right to a share of the gas produced from Marcellus Shale wells. The New York Stock Exchange certified its securities for listing on 30 June 2010. On 6 July, ECA priced the sale of 8,802,500 trust units at $20.00 each, with $18.70 per unit going to the Trust. Underwriters also held a 30-day option to buy 1,320,375 more units.
The formation closed in July 2010. ECA conveyed perpetual royalty interests to the Trust, along with similar interests from private ECA investors and its subsidiary Eastern Marketing Corp. The package included an administrative services agreement paying ECA $60,000 a year, a development agreement committing ECA to drill specified wells, and a swap agreement hedging gas prices on Trust production through March 2014.
2012-2017: An exchange offer and a change of operator
In December 2012, ECA filed an offer to exchange up to 3,957,527 ECA Marcellus Trust I units it already held for depositary units of Eastern American Natural Gas Trust (NGT). The Trust itself was not a party to the exchange. A January 2013 amendment fixed the terms: ECA would swap up to 4,120,059 of the Trust units it held for a maximum of 3,197,385 NGT units, at a ratio set later from a 10-day average price. The pitch rested on timing, since NGT was due to start liquidating on 15 May 2013. The prospectus said no fairness opinion or independent representative had been obtained for NGT's holders. The records here do not confirm whether the exchange was completed.
The record then goes quiet until December 2017, when Greylock Energy, an ArcLight Capital Partners affiliate, acquired substantially all of ECA's gas production and midstream assets. These included the properties behind the Trust's royalties. Greylock took on ECA's obligations to the Trust, including the administrative services agreement and a standing letter agreement to loan the Trust money to cover its liabilities.
2019-2020: Falling out of the NYSE
In November 2019, the NYSE warned that the units' 30-day average closing price had fallen below $1.00. That gave the Trust six months to recover. The Trust said it would not pursue a reverse split or other action to lift the price.
The price did not recover in time. Trading on the NYSE was suspended effective 30 July 2020, and the exchange moved to delist the units. On 31 July they began trading over-the-counter on OTC Pink under the symbol ECTM. On 14 August 2020, the exchange filed to remove the units from listing. At that date, the Trust remained a royalty trust whose underlying properties were owned by Greylock Energy, with its units on OTC Pink.
Written from the 9 story beats below (2010 to 14 Aug 2020), which come from the company's own announcements and filings.