History
SandRidge sold its Permian and Gulf assets, was wiped out in a 2016 bankruptcy, then rebuilt as a debt-free Mid-Continent producer paying dividends and buying Cherokee-play assets.
2013-2014: Selling up to focus on the Mid-Continent
The record the company's disclosures give us begins in 2013, when SandRidge sold its Permian Basin assets, apart from those tied to SandRidge Permian Trust, to Sheridan Holding Company II for $2.6 billion in cash. In January 2014 it agreed to sell its entire Gulf of Mexico business to Fieldwood Energy for $750 million cash plus the assumption of $370 million in abandonment liabilities (the cost of shutting down old wells and platforms). That sale closed on 28 February 2014. Together with the Permian sale and a senior notes redemption, it left SandRidge focused purely on its Mid-Continent assets in Oklahoma.
In November 2014 the company warned that penalty fees owed to Occidental Petroleum under a 30-year CO2 delivery agreement might have been recorded in the wrong accounting periods, and that earlier financial statements might need restating.
2015-2016: Debt, dilution and bankruptcy
As oil prices weakened, SandRidge turned to financing. In May 2015 it swapped $50 million of notes with one noteholder for about 28 million new shares. In June it priced and closed a $1.25 billion offering of 8.75% senior secured notes due 2020, and activated a new $500 million first-lien revolving credit facility, using the money to repay its earlier revolver. In August it issued $158.4 million of 2022 and $116.6 million of 2023 convertible notes in exchange for older notes. Fully converted, these could become about 100 million shares at an initial $2.75 each. In October it agreed to retire $100 million of senior notes for $30 million in cash and to exchange $300 million of notes for further convertible notes, which could add about 109.1 million shares.
It was not enough. In January 2016 the NYSE moved to delist the stock after its price collapsed, and shares began trading over-the-counter as SDOC. The company drew down the remaining $488.9 million of its credit facility and hired restructuring advisors Kirkland & Ellis and Houlihan Lokey. On 16 May 2016 it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy under a pre-arranged plan to convert about $3.7 billion of second-lien and unsecured debt into equity.
The court confirmed the plan on 9 September 2016. Existing common and preferred stock received nothing and was cancelled. Second-lien noteholders received new convertible notes and shares equal to 83.5% of the new stock, while unsecured creditors received cash, warrants and 16.5%. A new board took office, including James D. Bennett. The NYSE certified the securities for listing in October 2016, and the share count after the restructuring stood at 19.6 million at year end.
2017-2019: A new start and a failed merger
In February 2017 SandRidge refinanced into a new $600 million credit facility with better pricing and looser covenants. The refinancing also forced the conversion of its remaining $264 million of convertible notes into about 14.1 million shares. In June 2017 it ended the registration of one class of securities.
In November 2017 SandRidge agreed to buy Bonanza Creek Energy for $36.00 per share in cash and stock, which would have added 67,000 net acres in Colorado's DJ Basin. In December the deal was terminated by mutual agreement after the company's largest shareholders made clear they would vote it down. SandRidge paid Bonanza Creek $3.7 million in expenses. In January 2018 Carl Icahn ran an activist campaign seeking board seats and governance changes. The board rejected his specific proposals but raised the trigger on its shareholder rights plan, or poison pill, from 10% to 15%. The record for 2019 is quiet.
2020-2026: Survival, debt-free payouts and Cherokee deals
The COVID-19 oil price crash put the company under strain. In 2020 SandRidge agreed to sell its Oklahoma City headquarters tower, and the sale closed on 31 August 2020 for $35.4 million net. In December 2020 it replaced its bank-led credit facility with a $30 million facility from affiliates of Icahn Enterprises, and agreed to sell its North Park Basin assets in Colorado to Gondola Resources for $47 million. In September 2021 it repaid its remaining roughly $20 million of debt and ended that facility, leaving it debt-free.
In May 2023 SandRidge began returning cash to shareholders: a one-time $2.00 per share dividend (about $74 million), a new $0.10 quarterly dividend, and a $75 million buyback program. In January 2024 it declared a further one-time $1.50 dividend (about $55 million) and raised the quarterly dividend 10% to $0.11.
In July 2024 it agreed to buy Cherokee-play assets in the Western Anadarko Basin for $144 million cash, adding about 6,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The deal closed in September 2024 and the company raised its production and spending guidance. On 29 June 2026 SandRidge agreed to a second Cherokee-play purchase, buying producing assets from Rockies Resources Holdings for $65 million cash. As of that date, the company was debt-free according to its last reported position and had grown its Cherokee position through two acquisitions.
Written from the 32 story beats below (2013 to 29 June 2026), which come from the company's own announcements and filings.