According to The Australian, Wesfarmers was prompted to put Premier Coal on the market after Lanco Infratech paid a higher-than-expected $830 million for Griffin Coal in Western Australia in December. A key difference between the two operations is that most of Griffin’s coal will be exported to Lanco’s power stations in India, whereas Premier’s annual output of 4 million metric tons (mt) is sold mainly to state-owned electricity generator Verve Energy. A foreign buyer would probably seek to expand production and divert more coal to the export market. Some analysts said Premier Coal could be worth about $400 million, while others estimated its enterprise value in today’s inflated market may be much higher, given projections of a severe shortfall of thermal coal in India. Wesfarmers said Premier Coal had a measured and indicated coal resource of 472 million mt. In 2007, Premier Coal was valued at $500 million.

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