ABINGDON, Va., July 31, /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE: ANR) and Foundation Coal Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: FCL) announced today that they have completed their merger, creating one of America's foremost coal producers.
Stockholders of both companies approved the transaction at special stockholder meetings held today.
The new company, which will retain the name Alpha Natural Resources and continue to trade on the NYSE under the ticker symbol "ANR," becomes the third-largest coal producer in the U.S., with 2008 pro forma revenues of $4.2 billion. With the closing of the merger, Alpha now operates more than 60 coal mines and 14 preparation plants, maintains one of the most expansive geographic footprints in the industry, and controls reserves of more than 2.3 billion tons of coal.
Kevin Crutchfield, whose previously announced appointment to chief executive officer of Alpha Natural Resources becomes effective today, said, "This is an exciting day for our shareholders, employees and customers. With this merger, we have created a stronger, more diversified company with the balance, size and scale to compete successfully in today's market environment. Our combined production, demonstrated marketing expertise and vastly enhanced reserve base, as well as our strong balance sheet and credit profile, provide a tremendous foundation to invest in future growth for the benefit of all our stakeholders."
Effective with the completion of the merger, Michael Quillen, previously Alpha's chairman and chief executive officer, becomes executive chairman of the combined company; Kurt Kost, previously Foundation's president and chief operating officer, becomes president of the combined company; and James Roberts, previously Foundation's chairman and CEO, joins the combined company's board of directors.
In accordance with the terms of the definitive merger agreement announced on May 12, 2009, Foundation stockholders are entitled to receive 1.0840 shares of the new combined company for each share of Foundation common stock they owned at today's closing, and each share of Alpha automatically became one share of the new combined company. As a result of the stock-for-stock exchange, Foundation stockholders now own approximately 41 percent and Alpha stockholders now own approximately 59 percent of the new company on a fully diluted basis.
About Alpha Natural Resources
The merger with Foundation Coal positions Alpha Natural Resources as one of America's premier coal suppliers, ranked third-largest as measured by combined 2008 coal sales. Alpha is the nation's leading supplier and exporter of metallurgical coal used in the steel-making process and is a major supplier of thermal coal to electric utilities and manufacturing industries across the country.
