Foothills Resources, Inc. Updates Status of Credit Facility
October 17 2008 - 10:47AM
PR Newswire (US)
BAKERSFIELD, Calif., Oct. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Foothills
Resources, Inc. (OTC:FTRS) (BULLETIN BOARD: FTRS) (the "Company")
today announced that it has entered into a Third Amendment to
Credit Agreement and Amended and Restated Forbearance Agreement
with its lenders in connection with previously announced defaults
on financial covenants contained in its Credit Agreement with
various lenders and Wells Fargo Foothill, LLC, as agent (the
"Amended Credit Facility"). The Amended Credit Facility is
effective September 15, 2008, the expiration date of the previous
forbearance granted by the lenders, and extends the forbearance
until December 31, 2008. The Company will be required to comply
with the actions and timetable contained in a restructuring
analysis provided to the lenders, which it prepared with the
assistance of Parkman Whaling LLC, its advisor. The restructuring
analysis provides for the evaluation of a range of possible
strategic alternatives, including a sale of a portion of the
Company's assets, a merger or other business combination, or the
issuance of equity or other securities. The Amended Credit Facility
contains additional or revised financial covenants during the
forbearance period pertaining to the Company's leverage ratio,
minimum earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortization, and minimum production levels, but suspends the
Company's obligation to comply with the asset coverage and interest
coverage ratios during the forbearance period. In addition, it
provides for increases in existing interest rates on loans
outstanding under the Amended Credit Facility, and for the payment
of forbearance fees to the lenders. The Company also reported that
the borrowing base under the revolving credit facility has been
confirmed at $25 million, and further that under the Amended Credit
Facility the $2 million reserve against the borrowing base imposed
under the previous forbearance agreement has been terminated. The
Company and its advisor are working toward completion of the
strategic alternatives initiative at the earliest possible date,
but the Company cannot predict whether this effort will lead to
completion of a transaction or if so, the approximate time it would
take for a transaction to be closed. The Company does not intend to
provide further updates on the process unless and until the Board
of Directors approves a specific transaction or transactions. The
Company may require forbearance extensions in future periods. There
can be no assurance that the Company will be able to negotiate
additional forbearances or that such forbearances will be on terms
acceptable to the Company, or that the Company will be able to
complete any of the strategic alternatives on satisfactory terms,
or at all. The restructuring plan may impair the Company's
operations and future prospects. Foothills Chief Executive Officer,
Dennis Tower, commented, "We are confident that this additional
time will allow the Company to identify and execute the strategic
alternative which can provide the best possible outcome for all
Foothills stakeholders." About Foothills Resources, Inc. Foothills
Resources, Inc. is a growth-oriented independent energy company
engaged in the acquisition, exploration, exploitation and
production of oil and natural gas opportunities in California,
Texas and Oklahoma. Additional information on Foothills Resources
is available at http://www.foothills-resources.com/. SEC Filings
and Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains
forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other
than statements of historical facts, included in this press release
that address activities, events or developments that we expect or
anticipate will or may occur in the future are forward-looking
statements. The words "will," "should," "believe," "intend,"
"expect," "anticipate," "project," "estimate," "predict," "plan"
and similar expressions are also intended to identify
forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to, statements regarding business
strategy and expansion and growth of our business and operations.
Such forward-looking statements involve assumptions and are subject
to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results or performance to differ materially from those
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although
we believe that the assumptions reflected in such forward-looking
statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such
assumptions will prove to have been correct. You should also know
that such statements are not guaranties of future performance and
are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including, but
not limited to, our ability to negotiate additional forbearances,
our ability to maintain compliance with the terms and covenants of
our Amended Credit Facility, our ability to consummate any
strategic alternatives, our ability to discover reserves that may
be extracted on a commercially viable basis, our ability to
accurately estimate oil and gas reserves, intense competition,
environmental risks and general economic conditions including the
price of oil and gas and the global credit crisis. Readers are
urged not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. Should
any of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of
our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may differ
materially from those included within these forward-looking
statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly release the
result of any revision to these forward-looking statements to
reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this
release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Readers are urged to carefully review and consider the various
disclosures made by us in our reports filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including the Company's Report on Form 10-Q
for the quarter ended June 30, 2008, which attempt to advise
interested parties of the risks and factors that may affect our
business, financial condition, results of operations and cash
flows. DATASOURCE: Foothills Resources, Inc. CONTACT: Dennis B.
Tower, Chief Executive Officer, John L. Moran, President, or W.
Kirk Bosche, Chief Financial Officer, all of Foothills Resources,
Inc., 1-888-662-3877 Web site: http://www.foothills-resources.com/
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