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Rumors are circulating that Massey Energy, the largest mountaintop removal (MTR) mine operator in Appalachia, may be up for sale.
The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Massey “has formed a committee to study a number of options. Those options could include a sale to a rival or a private-equity firm, acquiring another company or remaining independent.”
Standard & Poor (S&P) put Massey’s credit rating ‘on watch’ this Tuesday, in the uncertainty of this news. Massey’s credit has been rated at BB- (a junk bond rating) even before the Upper Big Branch mine disaster in April, when 29 Massey miners were killed.
We reported in August that JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, all of which have had substantial financing relationships with Massey Energy since January 2005, no longer finance the company.