TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Eastern US-based coal producer Patriot Coal has received bankruptcy court approval for its plan of reorganisation, giving the distressed company the green light to sell a substantial majority of its operating assets to Blackhawk Mining and most of its remaining assets and liabilities to an affiliate of Virginia Conservation Legacy Fund (VCLF).
Following the court's confirmation on Thursday, the transactions were expected to close within a few weeks and were subject to certain other customary closing conditions. Until then, Patriot's mining operations would continue to operate independently of Blackhawk and VCLF.
Patriot expected that a majority of its current employees would be offered employment once the transactions had closed.
Seventeen months after emerging from an 18-month-long Chapter 11 reorganisation, Patriot in May again filed for creditor protection, citing challenging market conditions. In its voluntary petition to the US Bankruptcy Court’s Eastern District of Virginia, Patriot listed assets and liabilities of more than $1-billion.
The downturn in coal prices had hit North American coal producers hard, forcing players such as Alpha Natural Resources and Walter Energy to enter bankruptcy.
Centerview Partners was serving as financial adviser and investment banker for Patriot, and Kirkland & Ellis was serving as legal adviser to Patriot. Alvarez & Marsal was serving as chief restructuring officer for Patriot.