Walter Energy Inc.’s most senior lenders are pushing the unprofitable coal miner to slash worker pay, reduce pension expenses and idle plants as part of a bankruptcy plan that they will present the company this week, Bloomberg News reported today. The creditors, including Apollo Global Management LLC, Blackstone Group LP’s GSO Capital Partners, Fidelity Investments and KKR & Co., are seeking the cuts in exchange for support of a restructuring plan in bankruptcy court that would grant mining unions an equity stake in the company. The lenders, which own Walter’s first-lien bonds and loans, want to take ownership of the company as part of the reorganization. The steering committee representing Walter’s creditors has shifted in the last three months. It now comprises at least six investment firms: Ares Management, Apollo, Caspian Capital Management, Fidelity, GSO and KKR.
