Bankruptcy Alert: Alpine Summit Energy Partners / Ironroc / Ageron Ironroc

Please take notice of the new bankruptcy filing by Alpine Summit Energy Partners, Inc., and 6 affiliated debtors. The case was filed on 7-5-2023 in the Southern District of Texas -Houston. Disclosure: Please note that our firm has been very active in this particular case as part of efforts to protect creditor rights and claims for unpaid oilfield services work.

Company Information: According to the Debtors’ pleadings, Alpine Summit is a U.S. oil and natural gas development company that operates and develops oil and gas wells. Alpine Summit focuses its drilling activity in two main areas, the Austin Chalk and Eagle Ford formations in the Giddings Field in Austin, Fayette, Lee, Robertson and Washington Counties, TX, and the Hawkville Field in Webb and LaSalle Counties, TX, both well-positioned acreage locations in Texas which have produced substantial amounts of oil, natural gas, and NGLs for decades.

You can access Alpine Summit's website here. The initial bankruptcy application listed a principal place of business at 3322 West End Ave., Suite 450, Nashville, TN 37203. Your internal records may list the previous office at 2445 Technology Forest Blvd., Suite 1010, The Woodlands, Texas.?

Case Information:?The debtor filed for a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.?However, all court pleadings, and the company’s Press Release state the intention is to “conduct a sale of its assets pursuant to Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code. The debtors seek to secure a $15.5 million debtor-in-possession loan, with a super-priority rollup lien position on its pre-petition loans on all assets. Objections by investor-partners suggest that there is a significant dispute as to true ownership of the interests in the assets.

You can access the bankruptcy petition here. The Top 30 list of creditors begins at page 17/19.

Affiliates: The company names included in the bankruptcy are:

• ?Ironroc Energy Partners LLC
• Alpine Summit Energy Partners, Inc.
• Alpine Summit Energy Investors, Inc.
• HB2 Origination, LLC
• Ageron Ironroc Energy, LLC
• Ageron Energy II, LLC
• Alpine Carbon, LLC

Important Note: HB2, Inc., and HB2 Energy, Inc. are NOT included as Debtors in the bankruptcy.

?This corporate structure chart can be expanded for viewing:

Deadlines:?The case has been assigned to Judge Jones. A hearing on a series of motions began Thursday, July 6, 2023, and was completed about 6:00 p.m. CST on Friday, July 7. The Court approved an Interim Order on approval of the DIP motion, approved motions to pay wages to employees, to pay utilities and insurance, and in general to allow the Debtors’ to continue operating and proceed with the efforts to sell assets. Further items:

• The U.S. Trustee has sent its solicitation for consideration as a member on the Committee of Unsecured Creditors. The deadline for response is July 13, 2023.
• Our objections were successful in reserving the right to claim against the production proceeds which were suspended with the purchaser of production. This is part of a new statute which allows a mineral lien claimant to suspend production revenues.
• The deadline for filing a proof of claim has not been set.
• Other Litigation: We are aware of 21 lawsuits against these Debtors. All have been stayed immediately with the bankruptcy filing.

?Recommendations:

1. You should review your accounts receivable to determine whether outstanding invoices exist to support a mineral lien claim. This is extremely important. It is likely that an unsecured claim will have very little recovery potential.
2. You should review your invoices to determine whether any products were delivered to the debtor in the 20 days prior to the 7-5-23 filing date. If so, your claim could receive priority handling.
3. You should verify whether you received any payments between April 6, 2023, and July 5, 2023.?Payments during this period could potentially raise the issue of being subject to the claim of being a preference payment which could be “clawed back” to the estate. There are defenses to these claims, but only if you assert them.

To all recipients: I hope you and your Team continue to find these Alerts of value to your risk profile decisions. This is our small effort to provide value to the industry. We hope we continue to earn your respect and your trust.??

Carl Doré, Jr.

Phone: 281.829.1555

Email: [email protected]

Houston Office: 16225 Park Ten Place Dr., Suite 700 | Houston, Texas 77084

Fort Worth Office: 6300 Ridglea Place, Suite 617 | Ft. Worth, Texas 76116

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