Patriot Coal CORP

20 Nov 2012material agreement● NeutralMajor

On November 15, 2012, Patriot and the three environmental groups (Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, WV Highlands Conservancy, Sierra Club) agreed to ask the court to extend selenium treatment deadlines by twelve months under the March 2012 consent decree, and to extend Hobet's compliance deadline to August 1, 2014. In return, Patriot accepts a declining cap on surface mining (no more than 3 million tons a year from 2018), no new valley-fill permit applications, and the withdrawal of some pending permits and retirement of two draglines. It also asks to lower the letter of credit requirement for the Apogee and Hobet treatment plants. This changes the consent decree covered in the earlier thread; it needs approval from the bankruptcy court and the district court, plus a public comment period.

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26 July 2012listing compliance notice● NeutralMajor

Patriot Coal CORP's exchange filed to remove a class of its securities from listing.

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13 July 2012listing compliance notice● NeutralMajor

Following the July 9 Chapter 11 filing, Patriot's $802.0M debtor-in-possession financing took effect: a $125.0M revolver, a $375.0M term loan and a roll-up of about $302.0M of existing letters of credit. On July 11 the court approved up to $677.0M on an interim basis and Patriot drew $250.0M of the term loan; the Bank of America-led letter-of-credit roll-up became effective July 13. The loans are secured by substantially all assets, must be repaid on the earlier of 450 days after closing (extendable to Dec 31, 2013 under conditions) or on plan effectiveness, and need a final court order within 30 to 45 days of July 11. This resolves the open question of court approval of the DIP, at least on an interim basis. The excerpt is truncated and the filing text shown says nothing about the listing-compliance item (3.01), so what happens to the stock listing is not shown here.

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9 July 2012bankruptcy or receivership▼ BadMajor

On July 9, 2012, Patriot Coal and 98 listed wholly owned subsidiaries filed voluntary Chapter 11 petitions in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (Case No. 12-12900) and will keep operating as debtors-in-possession. The accompanying press release says Patriot has a commitment for $802 million in debtor-in-possession financing from Citigroup, Barclays and Merrill Lynch, and that mining and shipments are expected to continue. It cites falling thermal coal demand, contract cancellations, lower prices and rising environmental and other liabilities as pressures on liquidity. This ends the 2012 refinancing effort begun with the $625 million commitment in May. The filing says nothing about what happens to existing shares.

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8 May 2012financial restatement▼ BadMajor

On May 7, 2012, Patriot said its 2010 and 2011 annual financial statements, and its quarterly statements for Q3 and Q4 2010 and all four quarters of 2011, should no longer be relied on. After SEC comments, it will accrue a liability and recognize a loss for two selenium water treatment facilities (Apogee FBR, about $55.0M, and Hobet ABMet, about $25.0M) that it had booked as capital spending. The restatement raises net loss by $49.7 million for 2010 and $23.6 million for 2011, with no effect on revenue or Adjusted EBITDA, and expected cash spending is unchanged. It also reports a material weakness in internal control, which it says has been remediated. Separately, Patriot signed a $625 million commitment letter with Citigroup, Natixis and Barclays for a new revolver (first lien) and term loan (second lien), to repay the Bank of America credit agreement and retire the $200 million convertible notes, which the filing says mature in April 2013. The commitment is subject to conditions including final loan documents. Q1 2012 results were also released (revenue $502.6M, Adjusted EBITDA $36.2M). This continues the selenium issue from the January 2012 consent decree.

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