Lenders to Samson Resources Corp. have less than a month to reach a deal to restructure the energy company’s $4.15 billion of debt.

The natural-gas producer owned by KKR & Co. has told creditors it’s unlikely to make a $110 million interest payment due Aug. 15 on its unsecured bonds, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. Two groups of creditors are now racing to find cash that would either fund the company through bankruptcy proceedings or inject it with enough capital to make the payment and keep it out of Chapter 11, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private.

Silver Point Capital LP and Cerberus Capital Management LP, who are negotiating for holders of $1 billion of second-lien term loans maturing in September 2018, are seeking a loan that will finance operations during a bankruptcy, said two of the people. The group hired investment bank Houlihan Lokey Inc. and law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher as advisers.

Investors in the natural gas producer’s $2.25 billion of 9.75 percent senior unsecured notes due February 2020, led by Blackstone Group LP’s credit unit GSO Capital Partners, Oaktree Capital Group LP and Centerbridge Partners, are looking for cash to fund an out-of-court restructuring, people with knowledge of the matter said earlier this month.

Energy Slump

The financing -- crucial for the company to continue operating -- is key to getting Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Samson to sign on to one of the restructuring plans. Samson, which produces oil and natural gas from onshore shale formations, has been struggling to service its debt since energy prices slumped a year ago.

Spokesmen for Samson, Cerberus and Houlihan Lokey declined to comment. Representatives for Silver Point and Willkie Farr didn’t return e-mails and phone calls seeking comment.

Samson’s 9.75 percent senior unsecured bonds last traded at 4.5 cents on the dollar on July 2 in New York, falling 34 cents this year, according to Trace, the bond-price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

The company’s $1 billion term loan due in 2018 is quoted at 33.3 cents, according to prices compiled by Bloomberg. That’s down from 78.6 cents at the start of the year.

The proposal by the unsecured bondholders calls for Samson to swap its debt into a combination of senior notes and equity. The new borrowings will be senior to the second-lien term loan and will keep Samson out of bankruptcy and retain some value for KKR. The company was bought by the private-equity firm in 2011 for $7.2 billion.

The senior lenders have been working on an alternative plan that would hand them control of the company in a court restructuring, leaving little for lower-ranking investors.