ST. LOUIS, July 10, 2012
/PRNewswire/ -- Patriot Coal Corporation, a producer and
marketer of coal products in the eastern United States, today announced that the
Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the "Court") granted Patriot interim
approval of its $802 million
Debtor-in-Possession financing ("DIP") from Citigroup Global
Markets Inc., Barclays Bank PLC, and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner
& Smith Incorporated as joint lead arrangers, and granted
Patriot interim authorization to access immediately $677 million of the DIP financing. The DIP
financing and cash from the Company's ongoing operations will
provide Patriot with financial flexibility to operate its business
in the ordinary course, including funding post-petition payments to
suppliers and meeting other customary business obligations, during
the reorganization process.
In addition, the Bankruptcy Court granted interim authorization
for Patriot to continue to pay wages and provide health care and
other benefits to employees, use existing cash management systems,
and take certain other actions to help ensure that Patriot's mining
operations and customer shipments continue in the ordinary
course.
As previously announced, Patriot Coal and substantially all of
its wholly owned subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for
reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the
Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on July 9,
2012. The case has been assigned to the Honorable Shelley C.
Chapman.
Additional information is available on Patriot's website at
www.patriotcoal.com or by calling Patriot's Restructuring Hotline,
toll-free in the U.S., at 877-600-6531. (For calls originating
outside the U.S., please dial 1-336-542-5677.) Also, court filings
and other documents related to the reorganization proceedings are
available on a separate website administered by Patriot's claims
agent, the Garden City Group, at www.PatriotCaseInfo.com.
About Patriot Coal
Patriot Coal Corporation is a producer and marketer of coal in
the eastern United States, with 12
active mining complexes in Appalachia and the Illinois Basin.
The Company ships to domestic and international electricity
generators, industrial users and metallurgical coal customers, and
controls approximately 1.9 billion tons of proven and probable coal
reserves.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking as
defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These statements involve certain risks and
uncertainties that may be beyond our control and may cause our
actual future results to differ materially from our current
expectations both in connection with our Chapter 11 filings and our
business and financial prospects. Statements of management's
expectations, including its expectation to have financial
flexibility to operate its business in the ordinary course are
based on current assumptions and expectations. No assurance
can be made that these events will come to fruition. We do
not undertake to update our forward-looking statements.
Factors that could affect our results include, but are not limited
to: (i) the ability of Patriot and its subsidiaries to continue as
a going concern, (ii) the ability of Patriot and its subsidiaries
to obtain Bankruptcy Court approval with respect to motions in the
Chapter 11 cases, (iii) the ability of Patriot and its subsidiaries
to prosecute, develop and consummate one or more plans of
reorganization with respect to the Chapter 11 cases, (iv) the
effects of the bankruptcy filing on Patriot and its subsidiaries
and the interests of various creditors, equity holders and other
constituents, (v) Bankruptcy Court rulings in the Chapter 11 cases
and the outcome of the cases in general, (vi) the length of time
Patriot and its subsidiaries will operate under the Chapter 11
cases, (vii) risks associated with third-party motions in the
Chapter 11 cases, which may interfere with the ability of Patriot
and its subsidiaries to develop one or more plans of reorganization
and consummate such plans once they are developed, (viii) the
potential adverse effects of the Chapter 11 proceedings on
Patriot's liquidity or results of operations, (ix) the ability to
execute Patriot's business and restructuring plans,
(x) increased legal costs related to Patriot's bankruptcy
filing and other litigation, and (xi) the ability of Patriot and
its subsidiaries to maintain contracts that are critical to their
operation, including to obtain and maintain normal terms with their
vendors, customers, landlords and service providers and to retain
key executives, managers and employees. In the event that the risks
disclosed in Patriot's public filings and those discussed above
cause results to differ materially from those expressed in
Patriot's forward-looking statements, Patriot's business, financial
condition, results of operations or liquidity, and the interests of
creditors, equity holders and other constituents, could be
materially adversely affected. Patriot undertakes no
obligation (and expressly disclaims any such obligation) to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as
a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For
additional information concerning factors that could cause actual
results to materially differ from those projected herein, please
refer to Patriot's Form 10-K and Form 10-Q reports.
SOURCE Patriot Coal Corporation