- The coal industry’s multi-employer pension fund is suing miners Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) and Arch Coal (NYSE:ACI) in an effort to saddle them with nearly $800M of liabilities Patriot Coal could escape in its bankruptcy.
- Patriot, which was formed from assets once owned by BTU and ACI, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May following a collapse in coal prices, and the fund argues that “a principal purpose” for the transactions creating what is now Patriot was "to evade or avoid their obligations to the 1974 Pension Plan."
- BTU says it “has no liability to the plan” and that the claims are without merit.