NEWS OUT:Existing lenders have offered $500 millio
Post# of 61
Posted On: 02/09/2016 9:27:43 AM
NEWS OUT:Existing lenders have offered $500 million for the core assets of Alpha Natural Resources Inc.(ANRZQ), a so-called credit bid designed to get the distressed coal mining operation out of bankruptcy.
The offer is open to competition, and is linked to a business plan that will lay the groundwork for Alpha to emerge from chapter 11 by the end of June, court papers say.
Credit-bidding allows existing secured lenders to bid by offering to cancel debts they're owed, instead of offering fresh cash. Papers filed Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, Va., say Alpha's existing lenders are also offering to assume liabilities with the businesses they propose to take on.
Creditors will weigh in on the sale proposal, and on Alpha's reorganization deal, which was struck during desperate times in the industry. The company's one of dozens of coal operations to seek bankruptcy protection in recent years, as prices for their products plunged and environmental and operating burdens remained high.
The motion for procedures to auction the assets, with the offer from existing lenders to serve as the opening bid to set a floor price, is scheduled for a court hearing later this month.
If the sale plan is approved Alpha will hold the door open until March 28 for competing bids on the assets that its lenders have identified as central to the reorganization effort.
Properties covered by the offer include mining operations in Wyoming, Pennsylvania, including the natural gas Marcellus Shale business, West Virginia and Virginia, as well as Alpha's interest in a coal export terminal in Newport News, Va.
Alpha, of Bristol, Va., mines for coal in West Virginia, Wyoming and several other states. It sought chapter 11 protection in August with debts topping $7 billion.
--Jacqueline Palank contributed to this article.
Write to Peg Brickley at peg.brickley@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
02-09-160923ET
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
The offer is open to competition, and is linked to a business plan that will lay the groundwork for Alpha to emerge from chapter 11 by the end of June, court papers say.
Credit-bidding allows existing secured lenders to bid by offering to cancel debts they're owed, instead of offering fresh cash. Papers filed Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, Va., say Alpha's existing lenders are also offering to assume liabilities with the businesses they propose to take on.
Creditors will weigh in on the sale proposal, and on Alpha's reorganization deal, which was struck during desperate times in the industry. The company's one of dozens of coal operations to seek bankruptcy protection in recent years, as prices for their products plunged and environmental and operating burdens remained high.
The motion for procedures to auction the assets, with the offer from existing lenders to serve as the opening bid to set a floor price, is scheduled for a court hearing later this month.
If the sale plan is approved Alpha will hold the door open until March 28 for competing bids on the assets that its lenders have identified as central to the reorganization effort.
Properties covered by the offer include mining operations in Wyoming, Pennsylvania, including the natural gas Marcellus Shale business, West Virginia and Virginia, as well as Alpha's interest in a coal export terminal in Newport News, Va.
Alpha, of Bristol, Va., mines for coal in West Virginia, Wyoming and several other states. It sought chapter 11 protection in August with debts topping $7 billion.
--Jacqueline Palank contributed to this article.
Write to Peg Brickley at peg.brickley@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
02-09-160923ET
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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