The new owner as of March 31, Warrior Met Coal LLC, was formerly known as Coal Acquisition LLC. The Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Alabama approved the sale on January 8.
Walter has now divested all of its U.S. operating assets to third parties; its noncore U.S. property has already been taken over by Seminole Coal Resources, ERP Compliant Coke and ERP Environmental Fund — all affiliates of ERP Compliant Fuels and Virginia Conservation Legacy Fund (VCLF).
The Alabama-based producer’s remaining assets include Walter Energy Canada Holdings, which has both U.K. and Canadian properties. Walter Canada obtained creditor protection last December for those sites under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) following an order by the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Vancouver.
According to a Reuters report in January, with the deal now closed, Warrior Met Coal/Coal Acquisition will assume $115 million to $122 million in liabilities and also pay about $5.4 million for the assets it has obtained. Additionally, it will forgive about $1.25 billion owed to it by Walter. If the deal had fallen through, Walter Energy would have been forced to close its Alabama mines and sell them off individually.
