The United Mine Workers of America Combined Benefit Fund and the United Mine Workers of America 1992 Benefit Plan (collectively, the “Coal Act Funds”) filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court a motion for reconsideration of the Court’s May 24, 2016 order on the Coal Act Funds’ Section 1114 objection.
The motion asserts that reconsideration is warranted because new evidence emerged in the days following trial. The motion explains, “The prospect that the Debtors will receive $139.5 million more than they had reason to expect on May 9 may alter what is ‘necessary’ to effect the Debtors’ restructuring. This marginal cash balance, standing alone, would allow the Debtors to satisfy their Coal Act obligations for 20 years without disturbing the Debtors’ other existing plans….The Court granted the Debtors’ motion on a state of facts that no longer exists. Those facts changed in the days following the Court’s bench ruling, when the Debtors agreed to fund their single-employer defined-benefit pension plans on an ongoing basis, and the ‘buyer’ – the lenders who will own NewCo – agreed to finance it. They changed even more dramatically when the Debtors learned that they would be receiving significant new cash on account of the PLR assets.”
The motion continues, “All this new evidence shows that rejecting the Debtors’ Coal Act obligations was and is not ‘necessary to permit the reorganization of the’ Debtors and that ‘all of the affected parties’ are not ‘treated fairly and equitably.’ 11 U.S.C. section 1114(g) (3). The new evidence was not reasonably available or discoverable by the Funds before the May 9 hearing. At the hearing, the Debtors’ witnesses were asked specifically about the status of the Debtors’ business plan and whether changes were coming….The Coal Act Funds have not been negotiating with the Debtors and are not in a position to know about changes to the Debtors’ plan or financial projections until the Debtors choose to disclose them….In light of the new evidence, the Funds request reconsideration of the 1114 Order and, so that the Coal Act Funds may present their case to the Court, that the Funds be granted leave to take targeted discovery on the terms of the Debtors’ agreement to fund their single employer defined-benefit obligations and the source of funding therefore.”
The Court scheduled a June 28, 2016 hearing on the motion. Read more ANR bankruptcy news.
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