Patriot Coal, the St. Louis-based coal producer which filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 9, has engaged PR counsel in New York as it kicks off a restructuring process.
Patriot, which spun off from Peabody Energy in 2007, hired Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher to handle bankruptcy communications.
"The coal industry is undergoing a major transformation and Patriot's existing capital structure prevents it from making the necessary adjustments to achieve long-term success," said Irl Engelhardt, chairman and CEO of Patriot.
The company, which mines coal in Appalachia and the Illinois basin, has secured $802M in financing and reported $3.1B in debts against $3.6B in assets. It says mining operations and shipments will continue in ordinary course through the revamp.
Patriot had previously closed and idled mines, cut production and fired nearly 1,000 workers.
Bloomberg noted Patriot is the first major U.S. coal producer to hit bankruptcy amid an industry-wide slump.
Patriot shares dropped more than 72% following the announcement on Monday.
Joele Frank partner Michael Freitag handles Patriot Coal.
Janine Orf is VP of IR at Patriot.