New Fortress Energy - Restructuring Deep Dive
A Trojan Horse
New Fortress Energy - Restructuring Deep Dive
On Tuesday, March 17, New Fortress Energy formally launched its balance sheet restructuring, doing so through a UK court process rather than through a traditional US Chapter 11 filing. We do not think this came as a surprise to anyone. In fact, after covering the company since 2019, we had already become highly skeptical by August 2024, following the FLNG debacle, and published several reports throughout 4Q24 and all of 2025 arguing that it was completely unviable for the company to repair its extremely stretched debt burden, whether organically or through asset sales.
The transaction itself is structured as a UK Restructuring Plan ( $5.7Bn, one of the largest transactions of its type ever completed under this framework - a court-sanctioned process under English law that allows a company to restructure its debt with creditor support, continue operating without interruption, and bind dissenting minorities through a cross-class cram-down mechanism. NFE has signed a Restructuring Support Agreement (RSA) with more than 50% of its creditors by value, which contains all material terms. The RSA is consensual, meaning the company avoids the adversarial dynamics and prolonged timeline of a US Chapter 11 filing.
The first step of the transaction is to split the company in two. NFE’s Brazilian operations - terminals, power plants and the entire Barcarena and Santa Catarina platform - will be spun off as a private entity called BrazilCo, reverting to its original name Hygo. It will be owned by a consortium of institutional investors and managed by the existing Brazil leadership team. Existing NFE shareholders receive zero equity in BrazilCo.
The remainder of the business - Puerto Rico, Mexico, Nicaragua, Fast LNG 1, and a portfolio of ten GE TM2500 turbines - will continue as a publicly listed entity under the ticker NFE. This is what the company calls “New NFE”. The corporate debt of “New NFE” will be cut from approximately $5.7 billion to approximately $527.5 million. In exchange, creditors will receive a combination of new debt, $2.5Bn preferred equity, and 65% of the common equity. Existing shareholders retain 35% of “New NFE”, subject to further dilution if the preferred equity is not repaid within three years. The transaction completion targeted for mid-2026.
Today we take a deep look at:
We break down NFE’s new capital structure and go in detail with Corporate Debt, FLNG2 Asset debt and new preferred shares
Each of the remaining assets individually, estimating the standalone EBITDA each one can generate, what it could be worth in a realistic sale process, and where we think the line sits between economic reality and management narrative.
The full range of operating and monetisation scenarios, looking at the resulting valuation outcomes, what we believe is most likely over the next three years, and whether this is a genuine opportunity or just another value trap.
Quite honestly, after seven years of covering the company and having been early on each step of what has unfolded over the past 20 months, we believe this analysis will be useful for anyone interested in the name.