OREANDA-NEWS. March 13, 2013. Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) announced that it is seeking a declaratory judgment in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York with respect to redeeming the Company’s 6.775% Senior Notes due 2019 (“the Notes”) at par.

Specifically, the Company is requesting the Court to confirm that a notice to redeem issued on or before March 15, 2013, as specified in the governing indenture, will be timely and effective to redeem the Notes at par, with payment to be made 60 days after such notice, pursuant to the Special Early Redemption provision of the Notes. Chesapeake desires to redeem the Notes as part of a broader refinancing of its outstanding debt obligations.

The Company is also requesting a prompt preliminary order from the Court that a notice issued by March 15 for a Special Early Redemption at par cannot be construed to be a notice to redeem under the “make-whole” provision of the indenture in the event the Court does not determine that the March 15 notice is timely for a redemption at par. If the Court does not issue either the preliminary order (assuring that the proposed March 15 notice will not under any circumstances constitute a notice of redemption at the make-whole price) or the requested declaratory judgment (that the March 15 notice is timely for purposes of a Special Early Redemption at par), such notice would have no effect and the Notes will remain outstanding.

The defendant in the action initiated today by Chesapeake is the indenture trustee for the Notes, The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Corporation, N.A.

This announcement does not constitute an offer to purchase or a solicitation of an offer to sell any securities.