Halcón Resources Corp. on Aug. 14 named Ragan T. Altizer as CFO, replacing Quentin Hicks who recently joined Gulfport Energy Corp.

Altizer joins Halcón while the Houston-based company is undergoing a restructuring after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month. The appointment, effective Aug. 14, also adds to a slew of management changes made at Halcón so far this year including the replacement of its founder, Floyd Wilson, in June.

Most recently, Altizer served as CFO of Ajax Resources LLC, a Permian-focused oil company that Rich Little, currently Halcón’s CEO, also previously led. The pair had worked together at Ajax since the sale of the company’s assets to Diamondback Energy Inc. in October 2018 for roughly $1.2 billion.

“Ragan is joining Halcón at a critical time and will help lead our focus on capital discipline, cost control and strategic plans for developing the company’s assets to maximize shareholder return,” Little said in a statement on Aug. 14.

Since early 2018, Halcón has faced shareholder pressure, including calls for a sale, by activist investor Fir Tree Partners. The tension eventually led to Wilson, Halcón’s former CEO who had formed the company nearly a decade ago, to step down in February along with other executives. Wilson has since emerged with a new venture named Falconer Oil and Gas.

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Little was named as Wilson’s replacement in June. Shortly thereafter, Hicks, at the time CFO, informed the Halcón board of his intention step down, according to a July 9 filing.

Hicks later joined Gulfport Energy, an Oklahoma City-based oil and gas company with assets in the Utica Shale as well as the Scoop play and Louisiana Gulf Coast, as its executive vice president and CFO effective Aug. 26.

In his statement, Little thanked Hicks for his contributions to Halcón over the years.

“Quentin has been a key member of the management team at Halcón since joining the company in 2012 and played an integral role in the recent months in assisting with our review of strategic and financial alternatives,” he said. “On behalf of the board and our company, I would like to thank Quentin for his dedication and significant contributions to Halcón over the years. We wish him well in his future endeavors.”

Altizer, Hick’s replacement at Halcón, has more than 30 years of experience as a financial leader in a variety of industries. Prior to Ajax, he served as U.S. regional CFO and global controller for Hill+Knowlton Strategies. His career began with 15 years focused in oil and gas in Houston, first with Coopers & Lybrand’s audit practice and  as corporate controller and treasurer for Brooklyn Union Gas Co.’s upstream operations

In his new role as Halcón’s executive vice president, CFO and treasurer, he will lead the company’s financial strategy and also oversee its financial operations.

Halcón anticipates emerging from bankruptcy, expected clear over $750 million in debt and reduce its annual interest expense by more than $40 million, by early October. The bankruptcy is the company’s second in over three years.

Perella Weinburg Partners and Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. are acting as financial advisers to Halcón. Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP is its legal counsel and FTI Consulting Inc. is restructuring adviser to the company in connection with the restructuring plan. Ducera Partners LLC is financial adviser and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison is legal adviser to the company’s unsecured noteholders.

Halcón, which once held acreage in multiple U.S. shale plays, now solely focuses in the Permian Basin where it holds about 57,000 net acres in West Texas. As of May, the company was running a two-rig program focused on its Monument Draw assets in Ward County, Texas, within the Delaware Basin.

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