Notes Offering
On February 8, 2017, the Company issued a press release announcing that a special purpose wholly owned subsidiary of the Company priced an
offering of $500.0 million aggregate principal amount of 6.000% senior secured notes due 2022 and $500.0 million aggregate principal amount of 6.375% senior secured notes due 2025, each exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act
of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act). A copy of the press release, which was issued pursuant to and in accordance with Rule 135c under the Securities Act, is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 and incorporated herein by reference.
Neither the press release nor this Current Report on Form 8-K constitutes an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the notes.
The notes and related guarantees are being offered only to qualified institutional buyers in reliance on the exemption from registration set forth in Rule 144A under the Securities Act, and outside the United States to non-U.S. persons in reliance
on the exemption from registration set forth in Regulation S under the Securities Act. The notes and the related guarantees have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act, or the securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction,
and may not be offered or sold in the United States without registration or an applicable exemption from the Securities Act and applicable state securities or blue sky laws and foreign securities laws.
Term Loan
On February 8,
2017, the Company issued a press release announcing the pricing of a $950.0 million senior secured term loan. The term loan will mature in 2022 and bear interest at a fluctuating rate of LIBOR plus 4.50% per annum, with a 1.00% LIBOR floor. The
closing of the term loan is expected to occur on April 3, 2017, concurrently with the anticipated effective date of the Plan and subject to confirmation of the Plan and customary closing conditions and final documentation. The proceeds from the
term loan will be used to fund a portion of the distributions to creditors provided for under the Plan. A copy of the press release relating to the pricing of the term loan is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.2 and incorporated herein by reference.
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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Current Report contains forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
forward-looking statements include statements that relate to the intent, beliefs, plans or expectations of Peabody Energy or its management at the time of this Current Report, as well as any estimates or projections for the outcome of events that
have not yet occurred at the time of this Current Report. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include expressions such as believe anticipate,
expect, estimate, intend, may, plan, predict, will and similar terms and expressions. All forward-looking statements made by Peabody Energy are predictions and not
guarantees of future performance and are subject to various risks, uncertainties and factors relating to Peabody Energys operations and business environment, and the progress of its Chapter 11 Cases, all of which are difficult to predict and
many of which are beyond Peabody Energys control. These risks, uncertainties and factors could cause Peabody Energys actual results to differ materially from those matters expressed in or implied by these forward-looking statements. Such
factors include, but are not limited to: those described under the Risk Factors section and elsewhere in Peabody Energys most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings with the SEC, including its Quarterly
Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2016 and June 30, 2016, which are available on Peabody Energys website at www.peabodyenergy.com and on the SECs website at www.sec.gov, such as unfavorable economic,
financial and business conditions, as well as risks and uncertainties relating to the Chapter 11 Cases, including, but not limited to:
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Peabody Energys ability to obtain bankruptcy court approval with respect to motions or other requests made to the bankruptcy court in connection with the Chapter 11 Cases, including maintaining strategic control
as debtor-in-possession;
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Peabody Energys ability to negotiate, develop, confirm and consummate the Plan;
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the effects of the Chapter 11 Cases on Peabody Energys operations, including customer, supplier, banking, insurance and other relationships and agreements;
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bankruptcy court rulings in the Chapter 11 Cases as well as the outcome of all other pending litigation and the outcome of the Chapter 11 Cases in general;
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the length of time that Peabody Energy will operate under Chapter 11 protection and the continued availability of operating capital during the pendency of the proceedings;
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risks associated with third-party motions in the Chapter 11 Cases, which may interfere with Peabody Energys ability to confirm and consummate a plan of reorganization and restructuring generally;
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increased advisory costs to execute a plan of reorganization;
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the impact of the New York Stock Exchanges delisting of Peabody Energys common stock on the liquidity and market price of Peabody Energys common stock and on Peabody Energys ability to access the
public capital markets;
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the likelihood that Peabody Energys common stock will be cancelled and extinguished upon confirmation of a proposed plan of reorganization with no payments made to the holders of Peabody Energys common
stock;
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the volatility of the trading price of Peabody Energys common stock and the absence of correlation between any increases in the trading price and Peabody Energys expectation that the common stock will be
cancelled and extinguished upon confirmation of a proposed plan of reorganization with no payments made to the holders of Peabody Energys common stock;
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Peabody Energys ability to continue as a going concern including its ability to confirm a plan of reorganization that restructures Peabody Energys debt obligations to address liquidity issues and allows
emergence from the Chapter 11 Cases;
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the risk that the Plan may not be accepted or confirmed, in which case there can be no assurance that the Chapter 11 Cases will continue rather than be converted to chapter 7 liquidation cases or that any alternative
plan of reorganization would be on terms as favorable to holders of claims and interests as the terms of the Plan;
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Peabody Energys ability to use cash collateral;
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the effect of the Chapter 11 Cases on Peabody Energys relationships with third parties, regulatory authorities and employees;
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the potential adverse effects of the Chapter 11 Cases on Peabody Energys liquidity, results of operations, or business prospects;
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Peabody Energys ability to execute its business and restructuring plan;
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increased administrative and legal costs related to the Chapter 11 Cases and other litigation and the inherent risks involved in a bankruptcy process;
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the cost, availability and access to capital and financial markets, including the ability to secure new financing after emerging from the Chapter 11 Cases;
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the risk that the Chapter 11 Cases will disrupt or impede Peabody Energys international operations, including its business operations in Australia;
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and other risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements made by Peabody Energy in this Current Report, or elsewhere, speak only as of the date on which
the statements were made. New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and it is not possible for Peabody Energy to predict all of these events or how they may affect it or its anticipated results. Peabody Energy does not undertake any
obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements except as may be required by law. In light of these risks and uncertainties, readers should keep in mind that the events referenced by any forward-looking statements made in this Current
Report may not occur and should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements.
The Plan provides that Peabody Energy equity
securities will be canceled and extinguished upon confirmation of the Plan by the Bankruptcy Court, and that the holders thereof would not be entitled to receive, and would not receive or retain, any property or interest in property on account of
such equity interests. The Plan also sets forth the proposed recoveries for Peabody Energys other securities. Trading prices for Peabody Energys equity or other securities may bear little or no relationship during the pendency of the
Chapter 11 Cases to the actual recovery, if any, by the holders thereof at the conclusion of the Chapter 11 Cases. In the event of cancellation of Peabody Energy equity securities, as contemplated by the Plan, amounts invested by the holders of such
securities would not be recoverable and such securities would have no value. Accordingly, Peabody Energy urges caution with respect to existing and future investments in its equity or other securities.
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