In mid-March, MDN brought you the news that Chesapeake Energy had hired “restructuring advisers” to help the company navigate a $9 billion debt millstone hanging around its neck (see Chesapeake Energy Hires “Restructuring Advisers”). One of Chesapeake’s biggest investors is mutual-fund company Franklin Resources Inc., which owns over 12% of Chessy’s stock AND owns a lot of Chessy’s debt (notes). So Franklin sits on both sides of the aisle with Chesapeake–debt and equity. Franklin is not leaving Chesapeake’s “restructuring” to chance–whether it be bankruptcy or something else. According to a Wall Street Journal article, Franklin has hired lawyers to negotiate with Chesapeake ahead of any official restructuring announcement.
