Chesapeake Energy Files $445 Million Dollar Claim Against McClendon Estate
After almost 8 months when Oklahoma energy leader Aubrey McClendon was killed in a traffic crash, the claims against his estate have reached above $1 billion.
Chesapeake Energy Corp. has joined the fight surrounding the estate of Aubrey McClendon, and have brought into question the fiduciary role of estate executor Thomas J. Blalock.
Blalock was the chief legal officer for American Energy Partners, which McClendon founded after leaving Chesapeake and which announced in May it was going out of business. He was also was a principal in Scoop Energy Co. LLC, which was sold by the McClendon estate to Jones Energy Inc. for $136.5 million.
The estate and a group of lenders are disputing the distribution of proceeds from the sale. McClendon’s companies have a loan for $85 million with an affiliate of Oaktree Capital. In a court filing last month, Oaktree objected to disbursement of the proceeds of the sale that “dilutes, delays or otherwise adversely affects the Oaktree payments.”
The Journal Record in Oklahoma City reported that the claim by Chesapeake Energy pushed the total beyond the $1 billion mark. The paper reported the Oct. 13 filing by Chesapeake Energy totaled more than $445 million. It involved enforcement of an alleged settlement agreement between McClendon and the company, but terms of the settlement were not made available in the filing.
The claims from Wilmington Trust as well as unpaid loans from Goldman Sachs and other lenders totals more than $464 million. Other debts lodged in court include more than $22 million for an aircraft purchase plus millions in real estate loans.
McClendon also held a stake in the Oklahoma City Thunder among other various business ventures. McClendon died in a March 2 single-vehicle crash in northeast Oklahoma City. Police investigators said there was no evidence the collision with a bridge wall was anything other than an accident.
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