Walter Energy / Western Coal
China needs Canadian coal, and U.S.–based Walter Energy, Inc., intends to cash in on that need. After two weeks of exclusive talks, Tampa-based Walter Energy, Inc., announced on December 3 that it would buy Vancouver-based Western Coal Corp. for $3.3 billion. Walter plans to sell Western’s coal to the Chinese market. China is the second-biggest consumer of coal behind the United States, but its mining sector is inefficient and transportation of the natural resource is a problem, so the country is looking to foreign suppliers.
