Chesapeake Energy (CHK $15.40 +0.59) announces it has entered into a $3.0 billion unsecured loan from Goldman Sachs Bank USA and affiliates of Jefferies Group. The net proceeds of the loan will be utilized to repay borrowings under the co's existing corporate revolving credit facility. The new facility may be repaid at any time this year without penalty at par value and carries an initial variable annual interest rate through December 31, 2012 of LIBOR plus 7.0%, which is currently 8.5%, given the 1.5% LIBOR floor in the loan agreement.
During the remainder of the year, co plans to complete asset sales totaling $9.0-11.5 bln and intends to use a portion of the proceeds from these asset sales to repay the loan. Co has received strong interest from prospective buyers of its Permian Basin asset sales process and its Mississippi Lime joint venture process, and the company expects to complete these two transactions in Q3.






