FTC Grants Early Termination of Waiting Period for Cliffs-Alpha Merger
08/26/2008 - The Federal Trade Commission grants Cleveland-Cliffs and Alpha Natural Resources early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act for their proposed merger.
The Federal Trade Commission has granted Cleveland-Cliffs Inc and Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act for their proposed merger.
The merger transaction remains subject to additional approvals, including Cleveland-Cliffs shareholder and Alpha stockholder approvals.
Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland-Cliffs is an international mining company, the largest producer of iron ore pellets in North America and a major supplier of metallurgical coal to the global steelmaking industry. The company operates six iron ore mines in Michigan, Minnesota and Eastern Canada, and three coking coal mines in West Virginia and Alabama. Cleveland-Cliffs also owns 85% of Portman Limited, a large iron ore mining company in Australia, serving the Asian iron ore markets with direct-shipping fines and lump ore. In addition, the company has a 30% interest in the Amapá Project, a Brazilian iron ore project, and a 45% economic interest in the Sonoma Project, an Australian coking and thermal coal project.
Alpha Natural Resources is a leading supplier of high-quality Appalachian coal to the steel industry, electric utilities and other industries. Approximately 89% of the company's reserve base is high-Btu coal and 82% is low sulfur, qualities that are in high demand among electric utilities that use steam coal. Alpha is also the nation's largest supplier and exporter of metallurgical coal. Alpha and its subsidiaries currently operate mining complexes in four states, consisting of 57 mines supplying 11 coal preparation and blending plants. Alpha and its subsidiaries employ more than 3600 people
