Fort Worth's Darden Family Seeks to Stop Foreclosure Sale of Ranch Holdings

Thomas "Toby" Darden, who watched Barnett Shale natural gas field pioneer Quicksilver Resources slip into bankruptcy, is back in federal court to seek protection for ranch and energy holdings in West Texas.Darden is seeking Chapter 11 reorganization protection for four companies under the KC7 Ranch umbrella. The companies control significant assets near the oil-rich Permian Basin, including a 31,737-acre ranch in the Davis Mountain range that is already for sale for $52 million.The entities, listed as parent company KC7 Holdings, KC7 Ranch, KC7 GP and KC7 Partners, reported $50 million to $100 million in assets and $10 million to $50 million in liabilities, according to bankruptcy records. Darden initially filed for bankruptcy for the ranch Dec. 28 and the other companies last week.The bankruptcies apparently were filed to stop Hitachi Infrastructure Systems, the mortgage holder on the ranch, from conducting a foreclosure sale of the property after Hitachi declared its loan to be in default.The KC7 companies control, through leases and contracts, not only ranching activities but also oil and gas exploration and efforts related to obtaining and supplying water for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.  Continue reading...