UPDATE 1-Sea Launch to exit bankruptcy in Russian hands

Sea Launch Co LLC, a provider of commercial satellite launches, received court approval for its reorganization and will emerge from bankruptcy under Russian ownership, according to court documents filed on Friday.
 
Sea Launch will exit bankruptcy with a $200-million line of credit and $155 million in new equity investment by Energia Overseas, a Russian company.
 
Energia will end up with 95 percent of the company.
 
Sea Launch was formed in 1995 by a unit of Boeing Co (BA.N), RSC Energia, a company partly owned by the Russian government, a Ukrainian government company and Aker Maritime Finance AS.
 
The company launched its first satellite from its sea-based platform in 1999, and had 29 successful launches prior to its bankruptcy.
 
In 2007, one of the company's launches failed and the customer, Hughes Network Solutions LLC, eventually won an arbitration award of $44 million.
 
Along with cost overruns and declining launches, the company filed for bankruptcy in 2009 with more than $1 billion in debt. Among that total was more than $760 million owed to Boeing and Aker.
 
Most of the suppliers to Sea Launch were also the owners, and Boeing and Aker said they were owed more than $1.5 billion when supplier payments were included.
 
Under the reorganization, Boeing and Aker will divide 5 percent of the company between them.