Akin Gump served as lead antitrust counsel to Peabody as it entered into a definitive agreement with Arch Coal, Inc. to combine the companies' Powder River Basin and Colorado assets in a joint venture aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of coal against natural gas and renewables, while creating substantial value for customers and shareholders.
The joint venture is expected to unlock synergies with a pre-tax net present value of approximately $820 million. Average joint venture synergies are projected to be approximately $120 million per year over the initial 10 years. The joint venture will be 66.5 percent owned by Peabody and 33.5 percent owned by Arch.
The Akin Gump team was led by antitrust partner Gorav Jindal (DC) and included partners Corey Roush (DC), Haidee Schwartz (DC), Davina Garrod (London) and Charles Johnson (DC); counsel Alaric Green (London); and associates Matthew Schmitten (DC), Alexander Merritt (DC), Cristina Thrasher (NY), Sebastian Casselbrant-Multala (London), and Richard D’Amato (NY).