History
A 2009 shell merger built on expensive Hexagon loans, rescued by Brushy and Värde-backed Permian growth, ended in 2020 Chapter 11 liquidation with shareholders receiving nothing.
2009-2011: Recovery Energy and the Hexagon loans
The company began on 22 September 2009, when a dormant Nevada shell, Universal Holdings, reverse-merged with oil and gas operator Coronado Acquisition and renamed itself Recovery Energy. Its first purchase, three Colorado wells, was half sold straight back to recover most of the cost. In late 2009 it added Wilkie Field in Nebraska for shares and a short-term note.
The real build-out came in 2010. Recovery Energy bought wells and acreage from Edward Mike Davis LLC, paying cash plus stock, and financed the cash with three loans from Hexagon Investments at 15% interest. Hexagon's stake, built from shares and warrants issued with the loans, reached 26.2%, and Davis became a large shareholder too. In June 2010 a $23.85 million private placement funded a $20 million land purchase and let the company push the Hexagon loans' maturity from December 2010 to December 2011. Hexagon also gained a board seat. By November, the Hexagon balance stood near $21 million. In 2011 the maturity was pushed again, to September 2012, and the company raised $8 million of 8% convertible debentures. A partner, TRW Exploration, joined on two Niobrara wells, but that venture was bought out for 1.5 million shares in December 2011. In July 2011 the company restated its 2010 results, widening the net loss from $16.8 million to $19.7 million.
2012-2014: Dilution and delinquency
The record is quiet in 2012. The Grover Field leases were sold to Bill Barrett Corporation for $4,540,800, with $3 million paid at the end of 2011. In June 2013 the company sold $2.2 million more of the debentures, with its own officers and directors among the buyers. In August Nasdaq warned that stockholders' equity had fallen to $8.27 million, below the $10 million minimum.
Renamed Lilis Energy, the company raised $7.5 million in January 2014, then converted $9 million of debentures into stock at $2.00 a share, far below the $4.25 conversion price. Shares on issue rose from 19.7 million at the end of 2013 to 27.0 million at the end of 2014. A planned merger with Shoreline Energy was abandoned within two months. Late filings followed, an interim CFO took over, and in June a $7.5 million preferred raise funded a Hexagon settlement. A $5 million payment was missed in August, putting the Hexagon loans (about $14 million outstanding) in default. In September the company handed Hexagon all the mortgaged properties plus $2 million of preferred stock to clear the debt. The auditor then declined to stand for re-election, and Nasdaq cited the board's lack of independent directors.
2015-2016: Near-delisting and the Brushy merger
A $3 million Heartland Bank loan in January 2015 funded the purchase of Wattenberg Field wells and acreage from Swan Exploration. A second restatement, over the accounting for the debentures' conversion feature, came in February. Nasdaq deficiencies kept piling up: equity fell to $6.4 million, then $3.5 million, and the share price dropped below $1.00. Shares on issue fell to 2.8 million at the end of 2015, a figure the beats do not explain.
In January 2016 Lilis agreed to merge with Brushy Resources. It fell into default with Heartland and survived on forbearance and ever-cheaper bridge notes, with warrants at $0.25 and then $0.01. About $20 million of Series B preferred, convertible at $0.11, made the merger possible. It closed on 23 June 2016. Nasdaq delisted the stock to the OTCQB that July. A $31 million term loan in September consolidated the debt.
2017-2018: The Permian push
A roughly $20 million placement at $3.85 a unit in March 2017 funded a move into the Delaware Basin. The stock returned to Nasdaq on 14 March 2017 and later appeared with an NYSE listing certification. In April a $125 million second-lien facility led by Värde Partners repaid the 2016 loan, and a Winkler County, Texas leasehold purchase from KEW Drilling followed, funded by more debt.
In 2018 Lilis bought Lea County, New Mexico acreage from OneEnergy for $70 million, using $40 million cash from a $100 million Värde preferred sale and 6,940,722 new shares. Salt Creek Midstream paid $35 million upfront for a gathering deal. In October a $500 million BMO-led revolving facility, with a $95 million initial borrowing base, replaced the first-lien debt.
2019-2020: Borrowing-base squeeze and liquidation
In August 2019 the borrowing base was cut to $115 million, and Lilis sold assets to Värde affiliates for $39 million. NYSE American flagged equity and share-price deficiencies. In January 2020 the base fell to $90 million, leaving a $25 million shortfall to repay in instalments. A Marlin acreage sale closed in March, cutting the shortfall to $7.75 million. The COVID-era oil price collapse brought waivers and delays, and the company ended its Salt Creek agreement. It missed the final payment on 5 June and entered a short forbearance.
Lilis filed Chapter 11 on 28 June 2020 under an agreement that would have given Värde all the new stock and cancelled existing shares. Värde declined to sponsor a reorganisation in August, and the case became an asset sale. Ameredev Texas won the auction at $46.6 million. The liquidating plan was confirmed on 17 November, with creditors expected to recover little. The sale closed on 1 December, and on 4 December 2020 Lilis and its subsidiaries were dissolved and all common and preferred stock cancelled. Shareholders received nothing.
Written from the 93 story beats below (2009 to 7 Dec 2020), which come from the company's own announcements and filings.