Westmoreland Coal secures court OK for going-concern sale of assets

By Susanna Moon

Chicago, March 4 – Westmoreland Coal Co. said the going-concern sale of its assets under its Chapter 11 plan has been approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division.

Under the terms, Westmoreland's first-lien creditors will assume ownership of the company’s assets, including its Colstrip, Mont.; San Juan, N.M.; and Canada operations, with the exception of Kemmerer mine operations, according to a company announcement.

Westmoreland’s mine assets will operate under new leadership and the company “will continue operating in the normal course, emerging with a strengthened balance sheet and better positioned to succeed,” the release said.

Westmoreland said it expects to carry out its financial restructuring and emerge from Chapter 11 protection by the end of the first quarter of 2019.

The move is expected to preserve more than a thousand jobs in the United States and Canada, the company added.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is the legal counsel to Westmoreland. Centerview Partners LLC is the investment banker and financial adviser. Alvarez & Marsal is the restructuring adviser. McKinsey Recovery & Transformation Services U.S., LLC is the operational adviser.

Westmoreland is an Englewood, Colo.-based coal company. The company filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 9 under Chapter 11. The case number is 18-35672.

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