Murray Energy Corp., one of the largest privately held U.S. coal miners, is working with investment banks to renegotiate terms of its credit agreements in a bid to stave off bankruptcy, Reuters reported yesterday. Murray Energy, based in St. Clairsville, Ohio, is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Deutsche Bank AG on negotiating relief from creditors. Murray Energy, which has about $3 billion of debt, is urging lenders to loosen a rule in their credit agreements concerning the amount of debt the company owes as a function of its profits. Covenants under some of the agreements became more restrictive in the third quarter this year, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said in an April research note.
