UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM 8-K

 

 

CURRENT REPORT

PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)

OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): November 28, 2017

 

 

CNX Resources Corporation

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

Delaware   001-14901   51-0337383

(State or other jurisdiction

of incorporation)

 

(Commission

File Number)

 

(IRS Employer

Identification No.)

CNX Center

1000 CONSOL Energy Drive

Canonsburg, Pennsylvania 15317

(Address of principal executive offices)

(Zip code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (724) 485-4000

 

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

 

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions ( see General Instruction A.2. below):

 

Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

 

Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

 

Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

 

Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company in as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company  ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.  ☐

 

 

 


Item 1.01 Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.

On November 28, 2017 (the “Distribution Date”), CNX Resources Corporation, formerly known as CONSOL Energy Inc. (the “Company”) completed the previously announced separation of its business into two independent, publicly traded companies, a coal company, CONSOL Energy Inc., formerly known as CONSOL Mining Corporation (“CoalCo”) and the Company, which will retain the natural gas exploration and production (E&P) business (the “Separation”). Following the Separation, CoalCo and its subsidiaries hold coal assets previously held by the Company, including its Pennsylvania Mining Complex, Baltimore Marine Terminal, its direct and indirect ownership interest in CONSOL Coal Resources LP, formerly known as CNXC Coal Resources LP and other related coal assets previously held by the Company.

On the Distribution Date, the Company distributed all of the outstanding shares of CoalCo common stock to the Company’s stockholders (the “Distribution”). The Company’s stockholders of record as of the close of business on November 15, 2017 (the “Record Date”) received one share of CoalCo common stock for every eight shares of the Company’s common stock held as of the Record Date. The Company did not issue fractional shares of CoalCo common stock in the Distribution. Instead, fractional shares that the Company’s stockholders would have otherwise been entitled to receive were aggregated and are for sale in the public market by the distribution agent. The aggregate net cash proceeds of these sales will be distributed ratably to those stockholders who would otherwise have been entitled to receive a fractional share of CoalCo common stock, in accordance with the SDA (defined below).

Spin Agreements

On November 28, 2017, in connection with the Separation and the Distribution, the Company entered into several agreements with CoalCo that govern the relationship of the parties following the Distribution, including the following:

 

    Separation and Distribution Agreement (“SDA”);

 

    Transition Services Agreement (“TSA”);

 

    Tax Matters Agreement (“TMA”);

 

    Employee Matters Agreement (“EMA”);

 

    Intellectual Property Matters Agreement (“IPMA”);

 

    CNX Resources Corporation to CONSOL Energy Inc. Trademark License Agreement (“TLA 1”);

 

    CONSOL Energy Inc. to CNX Resources Corporation Trademark License Agreement (“TLA 2”); and

 

    First Amendment to Amended and Restated Omnibus Agreement (“Omnibus Amendment”).

Summaries of the material terms of the SDA, TSA, TMA, EMA and Omnibus Amendment may be found under the section entitled “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions” in that certain Information Statement of CoalCo, dated November 3, 2017 (the “Information Statement”), which is included as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K, which summaries are incorporated herein by reference.

The following is a summary of the material terms of the IPMA, TLA1 and TLA2:

Pursuant to the terms of the IPMA, certain of the intellectual property rights of the Company not already owned by CoalCo or its direct or indirect subsidiaries (the “CoalCo Group”) prior to the Distribution, generally including those used primarily in the coal business, and the liabilities relating to, arising out of or resulting therefrom were transferred to the CoalCo Group. The IPMA also provides for cross-licensing rights to be afforded to each of the Company and CoalCo as it relates to the use of certain names and marks historically utilized by the other party.

To address the need to continue to utilize certain marks associated with each of the Company’s and CoalCo’s historic name usage, and in light of the renaming that was effected in connection with the Separation and Distribution (as described below), the parties entered into license agreements (TLA1 and TLA2), under which each company has granted to the other (and their respective subsidiaries as applicable) certain irrevocable, non-exclusive, worldwide, sublicensable (only in specified circumstances) and royalty-free licenses to certain trademarks and related intellectual property for use in the other’s existing businesses.


Under the terms of TLA1, the Company has granted CoalCo an evergreen renewable, royalty-free license for a period of one year to use the “CNX” name within certain defined parameters. Additionally, pursuant to the terms of TLA2 and subject to limited exceptions, the Company is not be permitted to use, or license others to use, the “CNX” name for a period of five years in the coal business.

Under the terms of TLA2, CoalCo has granted the Company an evergreen renewable, royalty-free license for a period of one year to use the “CONSOL” name within certain defined parameters. Additionally, pursuant to the terms of TLA2 and subject to limited exceptions, CoalCo is not be permitted to use, or license others to use, the “CONSOL” name for a period of five years in the natural gas business.

The foregoing descriptions of each of these agreements set forth under this Item 1.01, and in the summaries of such agreements in the Information Statement, are not complete and are subject to, and qualified in their entirety by reference to, the full text of the agreements, which are attached hereto as Exhibits 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3 and 10.4 and are incorporated herein by reference.

Item 2.01 Completion of Acquisition or Disposition of Assets.

As discussed above, on November 28, 2017, the Company completed the Separation and Distribution. The Company distributed approximately 28.0 million shares of CoalCo common stock in the Distribution. As a result of the Distribution, CoalCo is now an independent public company trading under the symbol “CEIX” on the New York Stock Exchange, and the Company continues to trade under the symbol “CNX” on the New York Stock Exchange.


On November 29, 2017, the Company issued a press release announcing the completion of the Separation and Distribution. A copy of the press release is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.2 and is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

As previously disclosed, upon the occurrence of the Separation and the Distribution, the conditional resignation submitted by James A. Brock with respect to his position as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer – Coal of the Company became effective. Mr. Brock currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of CoalCo.

In addition and as previously disclosed, upon the occurrence of the Separation and the Distribution, the conditional resignations of Messrs. Alvin R. Carpenter, John T. Mills, Joseph P. Platt, William P. Powell and Edwin S. Roberson as directors of the Company were accepted. Each of the foregoing now serves on the Board of Directors of CoalCo, effective as of the Distribution. As a result, the Company’s Board of Directors currently consists of Messrs. J. Palmer Clarkson, William E. Davis, Nicholas J. DeIuliis, Bernard Lanigan, Jr. and William N. Thorndike, Jr., and Ms. Maureen E. Lally-Green. In connection with the resignations described above, the committees of the Company’s Board of Directors were reconstituted, effective as of the Distribution, as follows:

Audit Committee :

Bernard Lanigan, Jr. (chair)

William E. Davis

William N. Thorndike, Jr.

Compensation Committee :

William E. Davis (chair)

J. Palmer Clarkson

Maureen E. Lally-Green

William N. Thorndike, Jr.

Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee :

Maureen E. Lally-Green (chair)

J. Palmer Clarkson

Bernard Lanigan, Jr.

Health, Safety and Environmental Committee :

J. Palmer Clarkson (chair)

William E. Davis

Nicholas J. DeIuliis

Maureen E. Lally-Green

Bernard Lanigan, Jr.

William N. Thorndike, Jr.

The Finance and Investment Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors was disbanded and dissolved, given the reduction in the size of the Company’s Board of Directors.

Item 5.03 Amendments to Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws; Change in Fiscal Year.

An amendment to the Company’s certificate of incorporation (the “Certificate of Amendment”) to change the name of the Company to CNX Resources Corporation became effective on November 28, 2017. The foregoing description of the Certificate of Amendment is not complete and is subject to, and qualified in its entirety by reference to, the full text of the Certificate of Amendment, which is attached hereto as Exhibit 3.1.


Amended and restated bylaws (the “Amended and Restated Bylaws”) of the Company became effective on November 28, 2017, pursuant to which all references to “CONSOL Energy Inc.” in the existing bylaws were replaced with references to “CNX Resources Corporation”. The foregoing description of the Amended and Restated Bylaws is not complete and is subject to, and qualified in its entirety by reference to, the full text of the Amended and Restated Bylaws, which are attached hereto as Exhibit 3.2 and incorporated herein by reference. A marked copy of the Company’s Amended and Restated Bylaws, showing the amendments that became effective on November 28, 2017, is attached hereto as Exhibit 3.3 and incorporated herein by reference.

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(b) Pro forma financial information

The unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated balance sheet of the Company as of September 30, 2017, and the unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated statements of income of the Company for the nine months ended September 30, 2017, and each of the last three fiscal years ended December 31, 2016, in each case giving effect to the Separation and Distribution, are filed as Exhibit 99.3 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.

(d) Exhibits

 

Exhibit Number    Description of the Exhibit
  2.1    Separation and Distribution Agreement, dated as of November 28, 2017, by and between the Company and CoalCo*
  2.2    Tax Matters Agreement, dated as of November 28, 2017, by and between the Company and CoalCo*
  2.3    Employee Matters Agreement, dated as of November 28, 2017, by and between the Company and CoalCo*
  2.4    Intellectual Property Matters Agreement, dated as of November 28, 2017, by and between the Company and CoalCo*
  3.1    Certificate of Amendment to the Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Company
  3.2    Amended and Restated Bylaws of the Company
  3.3    Amended and Restated Bylaws of the Company (Marked Version)
10.1    Transition Services Agreement, dated as of November 28, 2017, by and between the Company and CoalCo
10.2    CNX Resources Corporation to CONSOL Energy Inc. Trademark License Agreement dated as of November 28, 2017, by and between the Company and CoalCo
10.3    CONSOL Energy Inc. to CNX Resources Corporation Trademark License Agreement, dated as of November 28, 2017, by and between the Company and CoalCo
10.4    First Amendment to Amended and Restated Omnibus Agreement, dated as of November  28, 2017, by and among the Company, CoalCo, CNX Coal Resources GP LLC, CNX Coal Resources LP and the other parties listed on Exhibit A attached thereto
99.1    Information Statement of CoalCo, dated November 3, 2017
99.2    Press Release of the Company, dated November 29, 2017
99.3    Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Consolidated Financial Information

 

* Schedules and exhibits have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(b)(2) of Regulation S-K. The Company hereby undertakes to furnish copies of any of the omitted schedules and exhibits upon request by the SEC.


SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

 

CNX Resources Corporation
By:    /s/ Stephen W. Johnson
Name:   Stephen W. Johnson
Title: Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer

Dated: December 4, 2017

Exhibit 2.1

SEPARATION AND DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT

BY AND BETWEEN

CONSOL ENERGY INC.

AND

CONSOL MINING CORPORATION

DATED AS OF NOVEMBER 28, 2017


TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

ARTICLE I DEFINITIONS

     1  

1.1

 

Table of Definitions

     1  

1.2

 

Other Defined Terms

     3  

ARTICLE II THE SEPARATION

     12  

2.1

 

Transfer of Assets and Assumption of Liabilities

     12  

2.2

 

Coal Assets

     14  

2.3

 

Parent Assets

     16  

2.4

 

Coal Liabilities

     16  

2.5

 

Parent Liabilities

     17  

2.6

 

Approvals and Notifications

     18  

2.7

 

Novation of Liabilities

     22  

2.8

 

Release of Guarantees

     23  

2.9

 

Termination of Agreements

     23  

2.10

 

Treatment of Shared Contracts

     24  

2.11

 

Bank Accounts; Cash Balances

     25  

2.12

 

Ancillary Agreements

     25  

2.13

 

Disclaimer of Representations and Warranties

     25  

2.14

 

Financial Information Certifications

     26  

2.15

 

Transition Committee and Other Matters

     26  

2.16

 

CoalCo Financing Arrangements

     26  

2.17

 

Parent Financing Arrangements

     27  

ARTICLE III THE DISTRIBUTION

     27  

3.1

 

Sole and Absolute Discretion; Cooperation

     27  

3.2

 

Actions Prior to the Distribution

     27  

3.3

 

Conditions to the Distribution

     28  

3.4

 

The Distribution

     29  

ARTICLE IV MUTUAL RELEASES; INDEMNIFICATION

     30  

4.1

 

Release of Pre-Distribution Claims

     30  

4.2

 

Indemnification by CoalCo

     32  

4.3

 

Indemnification by Parent

     32  

4.4

 

Indemnification Obligations Net of Insurance Proceeds and Other Amounts

     33  

4.5

 

Procedures for Indemnification of Third-Party Claims

     33  

4.6

 

Additional Matters

     35  

4.7

 

Right of Contribution

     36  

4.8

 

Covenant Not to Sue

     36  

4.9

 

Remedies Cumulative

     37  

4.10

 

Survival of Indemnities

     37  

4.11

 

Real Property Transfer Documents

     37  

ARTICLE V CERTAIN OTHER MATTERS

     37  

5.1

 

Cooperation With Respect to Insurance Matters

     37  

5.2

 

Access to Insurance Policies

     37  

5.3

 

CoalCo Insurance Policies

     38  

5.4

 

Payments and Reimbursements

     38  

5.5

 

Directors and Officers Policies

     39  

ARTICLE VI EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION; CONFIDENTIALITY

     39  

6.1

 

Agreement for Exchange of Information and Cooperation

     39  

6.2

 

Ownership of Information

     40  

6.3

 

Compensation for Providing Information

     40  

6.4

 

Record Retention

     40  

6.5

 

Limitations of Liability

     40  

6.6

 

Other Agreements Providing for Exchange of Information

     40  

6.7

 

Production of Witnesses; Records; Cooperation

     41  

6.8

 

Privileged Matters

     41  

6.9

 

Confidentiality

     43  

6.10

 

Protective Arrangements

     44  

 

i


ARTICLE VII DISPUTE RESOLUTION

     44  

7.1

 

Good-Faith Officer Negotiation

     44  

7.2

 

Mediation

     45  

7.3

 

Arbitration

     45  

7.4

 

Injunctive Relief; Litigation

     46  

7.5

 

Conduct During Dispute Resolution Process

     46  

ARTICLE VIII FURTHER ASSURANCES AND ADDITIONAL COVENANTS

     47  

8.1

 

Further Assurances

     47  

8.2

 

Non-Solicitation; No Hire; Non-Compete; Options

     47  

8.3

 

Late Payments

     49  

8.4

 

Inducement

     49  

8.5

 

Post-Effective Time Conduct

     49  

ARTICLE IX TERMINATION

     50  

9.1

 

Termination

     50  

9.2

 

Effect of Termination

     50  

ARTICLE X MISCELLANEOUS

     50  

10.1

 

Counterparts; Entire Agreement; Corporate Power

     50  

10.2

 

Governing Law; Consent to Jurisdiction; WAIVER OF JURY TRIAL

     51  

10.3

 

Assignability

     51  

10.4

 

Third-Party Beneficiaries

     52  

10.5

 

Notices

     52  

10.6

 

Severability

     52  

10.7

 

Force Majeure

     52  

10.8

 

No Set-Off

     53  

10.9

 

Publicity

     53  

10.10

 

Expenses

     53  

10.11

 

Headings

     53  

10.12

 

Survival of Covenants

     53  

10.13

 

Waivers of Default

     53  

10.14

 

Specific Performance

     53  

10.15

 

Amendments

     53  

10.16

 

Interpretation

     54  

10.17

 

Limitations of Liability

     54  

10.18

 

Performance

     54  

10.19

 

Mutual Drafting

     54  

 

ii


EXHIBITS

 

Exhibit A

 

Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of CoalCo

Exhibit B

 

Amended and Restated Bylaws of CoalCo

SCHEDULES

Schedule 1.2(a)

 

Other Coal Contracts

Schedule 1.2(b)

 

Coal Environmental Liabilities

Schedule 1.2(e)

 

Coal Surface Property

Schedule 1.2(f)

 

Employee and Retiree Liability

Schedule 1.2(g)

 

Leatherwood Property

Schedule 1.2(h)

 

ORRIs

Schedule 2.1(a)

 

Plan of Reorganization

Schedule 2.2(b)

 

Transferred Entities

Schedule 2.2(g)(i)

 

Excluded Unmined Coal

Schedule 2.2(g)(ii)

 

Tangible Personal Property in Coal Business

Schedule 2.2(i)

 

Discontinued Business

Schedule 2.2(l)

 

Headquarters Lease

Schedule 2.2(m)

 

Carbon Credits

Schedule 2.2(o)

 

Other Coal Assets

Schedule 2.3

 

Exception to Parent Assets

Schedule 2.4(g)

 

Other Coal Liabilities

Schedule 2.4(h)

 

Shared Environmental Liabilities

Schedule 2.7(a)

 

Exception to Novation of CoalCo Liabilities

Schedule 2.7(b)

 

Exception to Novation of Parent Liabilities

Schedule 2.8(c)

 

Guarantees

Schedule 2.9(b)

 

Related Party Agreements Not Being Terminated

Schedule 4.2(d)

 

Parent Indemnification

Schedule 4.3(d)

 

CoalCo Indemnification

Schedule 4.3(e)

 

Parent Statements in Form 10

Schedule 10.10

 

Expenses

 

iii


SEPARATION AND DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT

This SEPARATION AND DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT, dated as of November 28, 2017 (this “ Agreement ”), is by and between CONSOL Energy Inc., a Delaware corporation to be renamed CNX Resources Corporation (“ Parent ”), and CONSOL Mining Corporation, a Delaware corporation to be renamed CONSOL Energy Inc. (“ CoalCo ”). Capitalized terms used herein and not otherwise defined shall have the respective meanings assigned to them in Article  I .

R E C I T A L S

WHEREAS, the board of directors of Parent (the “ Parent Board ”) has determined that it is in the best interests of Parent and its stockholders to create a new publicly traded company that will operate the Coal Business;

WHEREAS, in furtherance of the foregoing, the Parent Board has determined that it is appropriate and desirable to separate the Coal Business from the Parent Business (the “ Separation ”) and, following the Separation, make a distribution, on a pro rata basis, to holders of Parent Shares on the Record Date of 100% of the outstanding shares of common stock of CoalCo owned by Parent (the “ Distribution ”);

WHEREAS, CoalCo has been incorporated solely for these purposes and has not engaged in activities except in preparation for the Separation and the Distribution;

WHEREAS, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, it is intended that the Contribution (as defined herein) and the Distribution, taken together, shall qualify as a reorganization under Section 368(a)(1)(D) of the Code and the Distribution shall be a transaction described in Section 355(a) of the Code, and this Agreement is intended to be, and is hereby adopted as, a “plan of reorganization” within the meaning of Treasury Regulation Section 1.368-2(g);

WHEREAS, CoalCo and Parent have prepared, and CoalCo has filed with the SEC, the Form 10, which includes the Information Statement, and which sets forth disclosure concerning CoalCo, the Separation and the Distribution;

WHEREAS, each of Parent and CoalCo has determined that it is appropriate and desirable to set forth the principal corporate transactions required to effect the Separation and the Distribution and certain other agreements that will govern certain matters relating to the Separation and the Distribution and the relationship of Parent, CoalCo and the members of their respective Groups following the Distribution; and

WHEREAS, the Parties acknowledge that this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements represent the integrated agreement of Parent and CoalCo relating to the Separation and the Distribution, are being entered into together, and would not have been entered into independently.

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual agreements, provisions and covenants contained in this Agreement, and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the parties, intending to be legally bound, hereby agree as follows:

ARTICLE I

DEFINITIONS

1.1     Table of Definitions . The following terms have the meanings set forth in the section of this Agreement referenced below.


Definition    Section

Affected Business

  

Section 2.6(k)

Affected Real Property

  

Section 2.6(k)

Agreement

  

Preamble

Cash Transfer

  

Section 2.16(a)

Coal Assets

  

Section 2.2

Coal Liabilities

  

Section 2.4

CoalCo

  

Preamble

CoalCo Accounts

  

Section 2.11(a)

CoalCo Financing Arrangements

  

Section 2.16(a)

CoalCo Indemnitees

  

Section 4.3

CoalCo Option

  

Section 8.2(g)

CoalCo Senior Credit Facility

  

Section 2.16(a)

D&O Tail Program

  

Section 5.5(a)

Delayed Coal Asset

  

Section 2.6(c)

Delayed Coal Liability

  

Section 2.6(c)

Delayed Parent Asset

  

Section 2.6(h)

Delayed Parent Liability

  

Section 2.6(h)

Dispute

  

Section 7.1

Distribution

  

Recitals

Facility

  

Section 2.16(a)

Indemnifying Party

  

Section 4.4(a)

Indemnitee

  

Section 4.4(a)

Indemnity Payment

  

Section 4.4(a)

Initial Notice

  

Section 7.1

Linked

  

Section 2.11(a)

Mediation Notice

  

Section 7.2

Notes

  

Section 2.16(a)

Notice of Violation

  

Section 2.6(k)

Option Notice

  

Section 8.2(g)

Optionee

  

Section 8.2(g)

Optionor

  

Section 8.2(g)

Options

  

Section 8.2(g)

Parent

  

Preamble

Parent Accounts

  

Section 2.11(a)

Parent Assets

  

Section 2.3

Parent Board

  

Recitals

Parent Indemnitees

  

Section 4.2

Parent Liabilities

Parent Option

  

Section 2.5

Section 8.2(g)

Partial Use of Proceeds

  

Section 2.16(a)

Plan of Reorganization

  

Section 2.1(a)

Separation

  

Recitals

Shared Contract

  

Section 2.10(a)

Third-Party Claim

  

Section 4.5(a)

Transfer Documents

Transferred Entities

  

Section 2.1(b)

Section 2.2(b)

Transition Committee

  

Section 2.15

Unreleased Coal Liability

  

Section 2.7(b)(ii)

Unreleased Parent Liability

  

Section 2.7(b)(ii)

 

2


1.2     Other Defined Terms . For the purposes of this Agreement, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

Action ” shall mean any demand, action, claim, counterclaim, dispute, suit, countersuit, arbitration, inquiry, subpoena, hearing, proceeding, examination or investigation of any nature (whether criminal, civil, legislative, administrative, regulatory, prosecutorial, appellate or otherwise) by or before any federal, state, local, foreign or international Governmental Authority or any arbitration or mediation tribunal.

Affiliate ” shall mean, when used with respect to a specified Person, a Person that, directly or indirectly, through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by or is under common control with such specified Person. For the purpose of this definition, “ control ” (including, with correlative meanings, “ controlled by ” and “ under common control with ”), when used with respect to any specified Person shall mean the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of such Person, whether through the ownership of voting securities or other interests, by contract, agreement, obligation, indenture, instrument, lease, promise, arrangement, release, warranty, commitment, undertaking or otherwise. The parties agree that from and after the Effective Time, none of the members of the CoalCo Group are or will be deemed to be Affiliates of any member of the Parent Group and none of the members of the Parent Group are or will be deemed to be Affiliates of any member of the CoalCo Group.

Agent ” shall mean the trust company or bank duly appointed by Parent to act as distribution agent, transfer agent and registrar for the CoalCo Shares in connection with the Distribution.

Ancillary Agreements ” shall mean all agreements (other than this Agreement) entered into by the Parties or members of their respective Groups (but as to which no Third Party is a party) in connection with the Separation, the Distribution, or the other transactions contemplated by this Agreement, including the Transition Services Agreement, the Tax Matters Agreement, the Employee Matters Agreement, the IP Matters Agreement, [the Master Cooperation and Safety Agreements] and the Transfer Documents. For the avoidance of doubt, Ancillary Agreements (i) shall include any Transfer Documents executed in connection with the Plan of Reorganization, regardless of whether such Transfer Documents are executed prior to or after this Agreement, and (ii) shall not include any on-going commercial agreements that were entered into by the Parties or any members of the Parent Group or CoalCo Group, including CNX Coal Resources, relating to operations of CNX Coal Resources prior to the date of Separation.

Approvals or Notifications ” shall mean any consents, waivers, approvals, permits or authorizations to be obtained from, notices, registrations or reports to be submitted to, or other filings to be made with, any Third Party, including any Governmental Authority.

Assets ” shall mean, with respect to any Person, the assets, properties, claims and rights (including goodwill) of such Person, wherever located (including in the possession of vendors or other Third Parties or elsewhere), of every kind, character and description, whether real, personal or mixed, tangible, intangible or contingent, in each case whether or not recorded or reflected or required to be recorded or reflected on the books and records or financial statements of such Person, including rights and benefits pursuant to any contract, license, permit, indenture, note, bond, mortgage, agreement, concession, franchise, instrument, undertaking, commitment, guaranty, understanding or other arrangement.

Benefit Plan ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Employee Matters Agreement.

CNX Coal Resources ” shall mean the limited partnership known as CNX Coal Resources, LP.

Coal Business ” shall mean

(i)    the Pennsylvania Mining Complex,

(ii)    ownership interest in CNX Coal Resources and CNX Coal Resources GP, the general partner of CNX Coal Resources,

 

3


(iii)    the marine terminal at the Baltimore Port,

(iv)    undeveloped coal reserves located in the Northern Appalachian, Central Appalachian and Illinois basins and all other coal reserves and related coal assets in the US and Canada, and certain related coal assets and liabilities, and

(v)    any other business or operation owned or operated by Parent or CoalCo or their respective current or historic Affiliates, including operations that have been terminated, divested or otherwise discontinued, which directly or indirectly relate or are related to (A) the purchase, leasing, ownership, or sale of any interest in coal, (B) the purchase, leasing, ownership, or sale of any interest in any coal, coal mine, coal processing preparation plant, mine pond, mine water treatment plant, train or barge load-out site, coal shipping terminal or coal refuse site or (C) the operation of any coal mine, coal processing or preparation plant, mine pond, mine water treatment plant, train or barge load-out site, coal shipping terminal, coal refuse site or any other activity associated with a coal mine or coal mining.

excluding in each case the business, operations and activities primarily related to the Parent Assets and Parent Liabilities.

Coal Contracts ” shall mean the following contracts and agreements (or relevant portion of an agreement) to which either Party or any member of its Group is a party or by which it or any member of its Group or any of their respective Assets is bound, whether or not in writing; provided that (y) Coal Contracts shall not include any whole contract or agreement (or the relevant portion of such agreement) that is contemplated to be retained by Parent or any member of the Parent Group from and after the Effective Time pursuant to any provision of this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement and (z) to the extent that a contract that relates to the Coal Business is a Shared Contract, only that portion of the contract that relates to the Coal Business will be deemed to be a Coal Contract:

(a)    any vendor contracts or agreements with a Third Party pursuant to which such Third Party provides information technology, human resources or financial services to either Party or any member of its Group primarily in connection with the Coal Business as of the Effective Time;

(b)    (i) any customer, distribution, supply or vendor contract or agreement entered into prior to the Effective Time exclusively related to the Coal Business and (ii) with respect to any customer, distribution, supply or vendor contract or agreement entered into prior to the Effective Time that relates to the Coal Business but is not exclusively related to the Coal Business, only that portion of any such customer, distribution, supply or vendor contract or agreement that relates to the Coal Business;

(c)    other than any vendor contracts or agreements addressed in clauses (a) and (b) above to the extent that they shall constitute a Coal Contract, any lease or license agreement entered into prior to the Effective Time exclusively related to the Coal Business;

(d)    any contract that is, or portion of any contract containing, any guarantee, indemnity, representation, covenant, warranty or other Liability of either Party or any member of its Group in respect of any other Coal Contract, any Coal Liability, or the Coal Business;

(e)    any employment, change of control, retention, consulting, indemnification, termination, severance or other similar agreements with any CoalCo Group Employee (as defined in the Employee Matters Agreement) or consultants of the CoalCo Group that are in effect as of the Effective Time;

(f)    any contract or agreement (or portion thereof) that is expressly contemplated pursuant to this Agreement or any of the Ancillary Agreements to be assigned to CoalCo or any member of the CoalCo Group;

(g)    any interest rate, currency, commodity or other swap, collar, cap or other hedging or similar agreements or arrangements related exclusively to the Coal Business or entered into by or on behalf of any division, business unit or member of the CoalCo Group;

(h)    any credit or other financing agreement entered into by CoalCo and/or any member of the CoalCo Group in connection with the Separation;

 

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(i)    (A) any other contract or agreement exclusively related to the Coal Business or Coal Assets, including any CoalCo Financing Arrangements, and (B) to the extent a contract or agreement is not exclusively related to the Coal Business or Coal Assets, that portion(s) of said contract or agreement that is related to the Coal Business or Coal Assets; and

(j)    any contracts, agreements or settlements listed on Schedule  1.2(a) , including the right to recover any amounts under such contracts, agreements or settlements.

Coal Environmental Liabilities ” shall mean all Environmental Liabilities (i) to the extent relating to, arising out of or resulting from the Coal Business, (ii) that are otherwise allocated to a member of the CoalCo Group pursuant to this Agreement, or (iii) set forth on Schedule  1.2(b) .

Coal Intellectual Property ” shall mean (a) the CONSOL Name and CONSOL Marks, (b) the Registrable IP set forth in the IP Matters Agreement as being transferred to CoalCo, and (c) all Other IP owned by a member of the CoalCo Group, exclusively used or exclusively held for use in the Coal Business, including any Other IP set forth in the IP Matters Agreement, in each case, excluding Registrable IP and Other IP of Parent.

Coal Know-How ” shall mean all Know-How owned or licensed by either Party or any member of its Group exclusively used or exclusively held for use in the Coal Business as of the Effective Time.

Coal Permits ” shall mean all Permits owned or licensed by either Party or any member of its Group exclusively used or exclusively held for use in the Coal Business as of the Effective Time.

Coal Software ” shall mean all Software owned or licensed by either Party or member of its Group exclusively used or exclusively held for use in the Coal Business as of the Effective Time.

Coal Surface Property ” shall mean (i) all right, title, interest or claims of either Party or any of the members of its Group immediately prior to the Effective Time in (a) the surface tracts owned within the “surface area” boundary depicted on each map attached hereto as Schedule  1.2(e), Part I(1) through Part I(4) , including any interest in those surface tracts described on Schedule  1.2(e), Part II , to the extent located within the depicted “surface area” boundary associated therewith, and (b) the surface tracts set forth on Schedule 1.2(e), Part  III , the locations of such “scheduled surface tracts” being generally depicted on the maps attached hereto as Schedule 1.2(e), Part IV(1) through Part IV(31) , (ii) all right, title, interest or claims in any surface owned or otherwise controlled by CoalCo and/or the members of the CoalCo Group as of immediately prior to the Reorganization in the areas set forth on Schedule 1.2(e), Part V , (iii) those easements or licenses (including roadways) (a) owned or controlled by CoalCo and/or the members of the CoalCo Group and evidenced by instruments, whether recorded or unrecorded, and located within the boundary of the Pennsylvania Mining Complex or (b) set forth on Schedule  1.2(e), Part VI , and (iv) those surface leases set forth on Schedule 1.2(e), Part VII . Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Parties acknowledge and agree that the Schedule 1.2(e), Part IV maps generally depict the property intended to be described on Schedule 1.2(e), Part III , and in the event of a discrepancy between the Schedule 1.2(e), Part III property listing and the Schedule 1.2(e), Part IV maps, the Parties will work together to revise the Schedule 1.2(e), Part III property listing accordingly and make any real property conveyances necessary in accordance with any such revision.

CoalCo Balance Sheet ” shall mean the pro forma combined balance sheet of the Coal Business, including any notes and subledgers thereto, as of June 30, 2017, as presented in the Information Statement mailed to the Record Holders.

CoalCo Bylaws ” shall mean the Amended and Restated Bylaws of CoalCo, substantially in the form of Exhibit  B .

CoalCo Certificate of Incorporation ” shall mean the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of CoalCo, substantially in the form of Exhibit  A .

CoalCo Group ” shall mean (a) prior to the Effective Time, CoalCo and each Person that will be a Subsidiary of CoalCo as of immediately after the Effective Time, including the Transferred Entities, even if, prior to the Effective Time, such Person is not a Subsidiary of CoalCo; and (b) on and after the Effective Time, CoalCo and each Person that is a Subsidiary of CoalCo.

 

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CoalCo Shares ” shall mean the shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, of CoalCo.

Code ” shall mean the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

Competing Business ” shall mean:

(i)    with respect to Parent as the restricted Party and CoalCo as the other Party, any mining, processing, marketing or selling of coal, coal waste or any interest in either (excluding coalbed methane) in the Restricted Territory; provided , however , that any activities related to or involving oil and natural gas (including coalbed methane and natural gas liquids and any other constituents) or any other aspect of the Parent Business (including any activities contemplated to be performed by Parent or member of Parent Group under the Master Cooperation and Safety Agreements or any other Ancillary Agreement) shall not be deemed to be Competing Business; and

(ii)    with respect to CoalCo as the restricted Party and Parent as the other Party, any exploration and development (including drilling and production activities), marketing or selling, processing, transporting and/or any other production, development or midstream activities relating to oil or natural gas (including coalbed methane and natural gas liquids and any other constituents) in the Restricted Territory; provided, however, that any activities related to or involving any coal, coal waste or any interest in either, or any other aspect of the Coal Business (including any activities contemplated to be performed by CoalCo or member of CoalCo Group under the Master Cooperation and Safety Agreements or any other Ancillary Agreement) shall not be deemed to be a Competing Business.

CONSOL Name and CONSOL Marks ” shall mean the names, marks, trade dress, logos, monograms, domain names and other source or business identifiers of either Party or any member of its Group using or containing “CONSOL,” or any other word or element listed in the IP Matters Agreement (in block letters or otherwise) as Transferred Trademarks (as defined therein), either alone or in combination with other words or elements, and all names, marks, trade dress, logos, monograms, domain names and other source or business identifiers confusingly similar to or embodying any of the foregoing either alone or in combination with other words or elements, together with the goodwill associated with any of the foregoing.

Contribution ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Tax Matters Agreement.

Disclosure Document ” shall mean any registration statement (including the Form 10) filed with the SEC by or on behalf of any Party or any member of its Group, and also includes any information statement (including the Information Statement), prospectus, offering memorandum, offering circular, periodic report or similar disclosure document, whether or not filed with the SEC or any other Governmental Authority, including the IRS, in each case which describes the Separation or the Distribution or the CoalCo Group or relates to the transactions contemplated hereby.

Distribution Date ” shall mean the date of the consummation of the Distribution, which shall be determined by the Parent Board in its sole and absolute discretion.

Distribution Ratio ” shall mean a number equal to one share of CoalCo common stock for every eight shares of Parent common stock.

Effective Time ” shall mean 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on the Distribution Date.

Employee and Retiree Liabilities ” shall mean, except as otherwise expressly set forth on Schedule  1.2(f) , hereto, all employment and retirement related Liabilities of the Parent Group (to the extent related to the Coal Business) or otherwise related to the CoalCo Group arising before or after the Effective Time, including, without limitation, (i) all shutdown, layoff, pension, medical and welfare benefits, disability, and other Liabilities of the Parent Group (to the extent related to the Coal Business) or CoalCo Group to, or on behalf of, past, present, or future

 

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employees and retirees (including dependents and heirs of such employee and any other person or entity who asserts a claim derived from such person), including, without limitation, claims based upon any collective bargaining agreement, Benefit Plan, Welfare Plan or otherwise, to which such entities are or were a party, the Coal Act, employment claims, disability claims, workers compensation claims, and claims arising under ERISA, whether arising prior to or subsequent to the Effective Time, and whether such Liabilities exist by reason of contract, statute, or otherwise; (ii) any contribution or other obligations pursuant to any Benefit Plan or Welfare Plan on behalf of any past, present or future employees or retirees of the Parent Group (to the extent related to the Coal Business) or CoalCo Group, (iii) Liabilities for all claims under any state workers’ compensation laws or claims of intentional tort, including, without limitation, tort claims for personal injury or illness giving rise to the potential for damages above and beyond remedies provided for by a state workers’ compensation schedule of benefits, in each case by or on behalf of any past, present or future employees or retirees of the Parent Group (to the extent related to the Coal Business) or CoalCo Group, and all dependents and heirs of all such employees or any other person or entity who asserts a claim derived from such person, based on occupational illnesses or injuries (excluding Black Lung Claims), regardless of whether such illness, injury or the events or circumstances giving rise to any such claim had or shall have occurred before or after the Separation; (iv) Liabilities for all Black Lung Claims by or on behalf of past, present or future employees or retirees of the Parent Group (to the extent related to the Coal Business) or CoalCo Group and any dependents or heirs of all such employees or any other person or entity who asserts a claim derived from such person, regardless of whether the events or circumstances giving rise to such claim had or shall have occurred before or after the Separation; and (v) Liabilities for any disability benefits, including short or long term, to past, present or future employees or retirees of the Parent Group (to the extent related to the Coal Business) or CoalCo Group, in each case whether related to a disability that occurred before or after the Closing Date; (vi) any withdrawal liability related to any Benefit Plan of the Parent Group (to the extent related to the Coal Business) or CoalCo Group, (vii) all Liabilities arising under employment, change of control, retention, consulting, indemnification, termination, severance or other similar agreements with any CoalCo Group Employee (as defined in the Employee Matters Agreement) or consultants of the CoalCo Group that are in effect as of the Effective Time and (viii) Liabilities specifically addressed under the Employee Matters Agreement.

Employee Matters Agreement ” shall mean the Employee Matters Agreement to be entered into by and between Parent and CoalCo or members of their respective Groups in connection with the Separation, the Distribution or the other transactions contemplated by this Agreement, as it may be amended from time to time.

Environmental Law ” means any and all Laws in effect as of the Separation pertaining to or regulating pollution, environmental protection, natural resource damages, conservation of resources, wildlife, waste management, or the use, storage, generation, production, treatment, emission, discharge, release, remediation, removal, disposal, or transport of Hazardous Substances, including: the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (which includes the Federal Clean Water Act), the Federal Clean Air Act, the Federal Solid Waste Disposal Act (which includes the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act), the Federal Toxic Substances Control Act, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986, the Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, and the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002, the Surface Mining and Control and Reclamation Act, each as amended and any similar state or Law.

Environmental Liabilities ” shall mean all Liabilities relating to, arising out of or resulting from any Hazardous Substances, Environmental Law or contract or agreement relating to environmental, health or safety matters (including all removal, remediation or cleanup costs, investigatory costs, response costs, natural resources damages, property damages, personal injury damages, costs of compliance with any product take back requirements or with any settlement, judgment or other determination of Liability and indemnity, contribution or similar obligations) and all costs and expenses, interest, fines, penalties or other monetary sanctions in connection therewith.

Environmental Permit ” shall mean any Permit relating to Environmental Laws or Hazardous Substances.

ERISA ” means the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended.

 

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Exchange Act ” shall mean the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, together with the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.

Force Majeure ” shall mean, with respect to a Party, an event beyond the reasonable control of such Party (or any Person acting on its behalf), which event (a) does not arise or result from the fault or negligence of such Party (or any Person acting on its behalf) and (b) by its nature would not reasonably have been foreseen by such Party (or such Person), or, if it would reasonably have been foreseen, was unavoidable, and includes acts of God, acts of civil or military authority, embargoes, epidemics, war, riots, insurrections, fires, explosions, earthquakes, floods, sudden and unusually severe weather conditions, labor problems or unavailability of parts, or, in the case of computer systems, any significant and prolonged failure in electrical or air conditioning equipment. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the receipt by a Party of an unsolicited takeover offer or other acquisition proposal, even if unforeseen or unavoidable, and such Party’s response thereto shall not be deemed an event of Force Majeure.

Form  10 ” shall mean the registration statement on Form 10 filed by CoalCo with the SEC to effect the registration of CoalCo Shares pursuant to the Exchange Act in connection with the Distribution, as such registration statement may be amended or supplemented from time to time prior to the Distribution.

Governmental Approvals ” shall mean any Approvals or Notifications to be made to, or obtained from, any Governmental Authority.

Governmental Authority ” shall mean any nation or government, any state, municipality or other political subdivision thereof, and any entity, body, agency, commission, department, board, bureau, court, tribunal or other instrumentality, whether federal, state, local, domestic, foreign, supranational, or multinational, exercising executive, legislative, judicial, regulatory, administrative or other similar functions of, or pertaining to, government and any executive official thereof, including the NYSE and any similar self-regulatory body under applicable securities Laws.

Group ” shall mean either the CoalCo Group or the Parent Group, as the context requires.

Hazardous Substances ” shall mean any chemical, material, substance, waste, pollutant, emission, discharge, release or contaminant that could result in Liability under, or that is prohibited, limited or regulated by or pursuant to, any Environmental Law, and any natural or artificial substance (whether solid, liquid or gas, noise, ion, vapor or electromagnetic) that could cause harm to human health or the environment, including petroleum, petroleum products and byproducts, asbestos and asbestos-containing materials, urea formaldehyde foam insulation, electronic, medical or infectious wastes, polychlorinated biphenyls, radon gas, radioactive substances, chlorofluorocarbons and all other ozone-depleting substances.

Headquarters Lease ” shall collectively mean that certain Lease Agreement between Southpointe Two Lot 2-6 LP, as Landlord and Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, as Tenant, dated November 27, 2006, as amended and or revised by (i) that certain First Amendment to Lease Agreement, dated December 28, 2006, (ii) that certain Second Amendment to Lease Agreement, dated April 28, 2016, and (iii) that certain Assignment and Assumption of Lease, with an effective date of November 1, 2017, as executed and delivered by Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, successor by conversion to Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, as assignor, and CNX Land LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, as assignee.

Information ” shall mean information, whether or not patentable or copyrightable, in written, oral, electronic or other tangible or intangible forms, stored in any medium, including studies, reports, records, books, contracts, instruments, surveys, discoveries, ideas, concepts, techniques, designs, specifications, drawings, blueprints, diagrams, models, prototypes, samples, flow charts, data, computer data, disks, diskettes, tapes, computer programs or other software, marketing plans, customer names, communications by or to attorneys (including attorney-client privileged communications), memos and other materials prepared by attorneys or under their direction (including attorney work product), and other technical, financial, employee or business information or data, files, papers, tapes, keys, correspondence, plans, invoices, forms, product data and literature, promotional and advertising materials, operating manuals, instructional documents, quality records and regulatory and compliance records; provided that “Information” shall not include Know-How or Registrable IP.

 

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Information Statement ” shall mean the information statement to be made available to the holders of Parent Shares in connection with the Distribution, as such information statement may be amended or supplemented from time to time prior to the Distribution.

Insurance Proceeds ” shall mean those monies (a) received by an insured from an insurance carrier; or (b) paid by an insurance carrier on behalf of the insured, in any such case net of any applicable premium adjustments (including reserves and retrospectively rated premium adjustments) and net of any costs or expenses incurred in the collection thereof; provided , however , that with respect to a captive insurance arrangement, Insurance Proceeds shall only include amounts received by the captive insurer in respect of any reinsurance arrangement.

Intellectual Property ” shall mean all of the following whether arising under the Laws of the United States (or any state or other jurisdiction thereof) or of any foreign or multinational jurisdiction: (a) patents, patent applications (including patents issued thereon), utility models, industrial design registrations and statutory invention registrations, including reissues, divisions, continuations, continuations in part, substitutions, renewals, extensions and reexaminations of any of the foregoing, and all rights in any of the foregoing provided by international treaties or conventions, (b) trademarks, service marks, trade names, service names, trade dress, logos and other source or business identifiers, including all goodwill associated with any of the foregoing, and any and all common law rights in and to any of the foregoing, registrations and applications for registration of any of the foregoing, all rights in and to any of the foregoing provided by international treaties or conventions, and all reissues, extensions and renewals of any of the foregoing, (c) Internet domain names, accounts or “handles” with Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and similar social media platforms, registrations and related rights, (d) copyrightable works, copyrights, moral rights, mask work rights, database rights and design rights, whether or not registered, and all registrations and applications for registration of any of the foregoing, and all rights in and to any of the foregoing provided by international treaties or conventions, (e) confidential and proprietary information, including trade secrets, invention disclosures, processes and know-how, and (f) any other intellectual property rights, in each case other than Software.

IP Matters Agreement ” shall mean the Intellectual Property Matters Agreement to be entered into by and between Parent and CoalCo or members of their respective Groups in connection with the Separation, the Distribution or the other transactions contemplated by this Agreement, as it may be amended from time to time.

Know How ” shall mean all technology, designs, formulae, algorithms, procedures, methods, discoveries, processes, techniques, ideas, know-how, research and development, technical data, tools, materials, specifications, processes, inventions (whether patentable or unpatentable and whether or not reduced to practice), apparatus, creations, improvements, works of authorship in any media, confidential, proprietary or nonpublic information, and other similar materials, and all recordings, graphs, drawings, reports, analyses and other writings, and other tangible embodiments of the foregoing in any form whether or not listed herein, in each case, other than Software.

Law ” shall mean any national, supranational, federal, state, provincial, local or similar law (including common law), statute, code, order, ordinance, rule, regulation, treaty (including any income tax treaty), license, permit, authorization, approval, consent, decree, injunction, binding judicial or administrative interpretation or other requirement, in each case, enacted, promulgated, issued or entered by a Governmental Authority.

Leatherwood Property ” shall mean all right, title, and interest of Leatherwood, LLC in (i) those certain oil and natural gas (including coalbed methane and natural gas liquids and any other constituents) leases set forth on Schedule 1.2(g), Part I , TO THE EXTENT AND ONLY TO THE EXTENT such leases are related to formations above the top of the Rhinestreet formation, (ii) all wellbores and associated facilities owned by Leatherwood, LLC as of the Effective Date, including those set forth on Schedule 1.2(g), Part II , and (iii) all deeds, easements, or licenses (including roadways) set forth on Schedule 1.2(g), Part III . For the avoidance of doubt, if any lease set forth on Schedule 1.2(g), Part I covers only depths above the top of the Rhinestreet, all right, title, and interest in such lease shall be Leatherwood Property.

Liabilities ” shall mean all debts, guarantees, assurances, commitments, liabilities, responsibilities, Losses, remediation, deficiencies, damages, fines, penalties, settlements, sanctions, costs, expenses, interest and obligations of any nature or kind, whether accrued or fixed, absolute or contingent, matured or unmatured, accrued or not accrued, asserted or unasserted, liquidated or unliquidated, foreseen or unforeseen, known or unknown, reserved or unreserved, or determined or determinable, including those arising under any Law, claim (including any Third-Party

 

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Claim), demand, Action, or order, writ, judgment, injunction, decree, stipulation, determination or award entered by or with any Governmental Authority or arbitration tribunal, and those arising under any contract, agreement, obligation, indenture, instrument, lease, promise, arrangement, release, warranty, commitment or undertaking, or any fines, damages or equitable relief that is imposed, in each case, including all costs and expenses relating thereto.

Losses ” shall mean actual losses (including any diminution in value), costs, damages, penalties and expenses (including legal and accounting fees and expenses and costs of investigation and litigation), whether or not involving a Third-Party Claim.

Master Cooperation and Safety Agreements ” shall mean (i) that certain Amendment and Restatement of Master Cooperation and Safety Agreement dated July 7, 2015, by and among CNX Thermal Holdings LLC, Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company LLC, Conrhein Coal Company, CNX Gas Company LLC, CONSOL Energy Inc., and certain subsidiaries of CONSOL Energy Inc., as has been and may in the future be amended and/or restated, and (ii) that certain Second Amendment and Restatement of Master Cooperation and Safety Agreement, dated October 20, 2017, and effective as of 7:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on October 6, 2017, between CONSOL Mining Corporation and its Affiliates, CNX Gas Company, CNX Resource Holdings LLC, and, for the limited purpose expressly set forth therein, CONSOL Energy Inc. and certain of its Affiliates, as may be further amended and/or restated.

NYSE ” shall mean the New York Stock Exchange.

Omnibus Agreement ” shall meant the First Amended and Restated Omnibus Agreement dated September 30, 2016 by and among Parent, CNX Coal Resources GP LLC, CNX Coal Resources and the other parties listed on Exhibit A thereto, as amended by the First Amendment to the Omnibus Agreement dated as of the Effective Date.

Other IP ” shall mean all Intellectual Property, other than Registrable IP, that is owned by, licensed by or to, or sublicensed by or to either Party or any member of its Group as of the Effective Time.

ORRIs ” shall mean (i) with respect to any oil, natural gas (including coalbed methane and natural gas liquids and any other constituents), or other non-coal minerals sold, assigned, transferred, or otherwise conveyed in full by Parent, CoalCo, or any member of their respective Groups to any Third Party prior to the Effective Time, all financial benefits which directly or indirectly relate to any such in-full assignment, transfer, or other conveyance, including all royalty interests, overriding royalty interests, or other financial benefits; and (ii) the override listed in Schedule 1.2(h) . For the avoidance of doubt, other than as set forth on Schedule 1.2(h) , “ORRIs” does not include any royalty interests, overriding royalty interests, or other financial benefits related to any coal sold, assigned, transferred, leased, subleased, or otherwise conveyed to any Third Party prior to the Effective Time, which are Coal Assets.

Parent Business ” shall mean (a) the oil and natural gas (including coalbed methane and natural gas liquids and any other constituents) exploration and production (E&P) business, including production, gathering, processing and acquisition of natural gas properties, as conducted at any time prior to the Effective Time by either Party or any current or former member of its Group (excluding the Leatherwood Property and excluding those assets referenced in Sections 2.2(o) and 2.2(p)) and (b) any terminated, divested or discontinued businesses, operations and activities that, at the time of termination, divestiture or discontinuation, related to the businesses, operations or activities described in clause (a) as then conducted, (c) such other assets and operations of either Party or any member of its Group that are not part of the Coal Business or included within the Coal Assets, including all surface other than Coal Surface Property, the ORRIs, any water, injection, and disposal wells used in connection with clause (a) of this definition, the operation of Buchanan Generation, LLC or the operation of its power plant, known as the “Peaker Plant,” the operation of CNX Water Assets LLC, the operation of Mon-View, LLC, and the escrow account created pursuant to the that certain Membership Interest and Asset Purchase Agreement, dated February 26, 2016, between CONSOL Energy Inc., certain of its Affiliates, and Coronado IV, LLC (the “ MIPA ”) and that certain Escrow Agreement entered into pursuant to the MIPA, and remaining escrow funds therein, or any other assets not related to the Coal Business excluding, in the case of each of clauses (a), (b) and (c), the business, operations and activities exclusively related to the Coal Assets.

 

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Parent Group ” shall mean Parent and each Person that is a Subsidiary of Parent (other than CoalCo and any other member of the CoalCo Group).

Parent Shares ” shall mean the shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, of Parent.

Parties ” shall mean the parties to this Agreement.

Permits ” shall mean permits, approvals, authorizations, consents, licenses or certificates issued by any Governmental Authority.

Person ” shall mean an individual, a general or limited partnership, a corporation, a trust, a joint venture, an unincorporated organization, a limited liability entity, any other entity and any Governmental Authority.

Prime Rate ” shall mean the rate that Bloomberg displays as “Prime Rate by Country United States” or on a Bloomberg terminal at PRIMBB Index.

Privileged Information ” shall mean any information, in written, oral, electronic or other tangible or intangible forms, including any communications by or to attorneys (including attorney-client privileged communications), memoranda and other materials prepared by attorneys or under their direction (including attorney work product), as to which a Party or any member of its Group would be entitled to assert or have asserted a privilege, including the attorney-client and attorney work product privileges.

Record Date ” shall mean the close of business on the date to be determined by the Parent Board as the record date for determining holders of Parent Shares entitled to receive CoalCo Shares pursuant to the Distribution.

Record Holders ” shall mean the holders of record of Parent Shares as of the Record Date.

Registrable IP ” shall mean all patents, patent applications, statutory invention registrations, registered trademarks, registered service marks, registered Internet domain names and copyright registrations.

Release ” shall mean any release, spill, emission, discharge, leaking, pumping, pouring, dumping, injection, deposit, disposal, dispersal, leaching or migration of Hazardous Substances into the environment (including ambient air, surface water, groundwater and surface or subsurface strata).

Representatives ” shall mean, with respect to any Person, any of such Person’s directors, officers, employees, agents, consultants, advisors, accountants, attorneys or other representatives.

Residual Information ” shall mean information in non-tangible form that may be retained in the unaided memory of Representatives of a Party or members of such Party’s Group who have had access to confidential and proprietary information concerning the other Party or any member of the other Party’s Group.

Restricted Territory ” shall mean Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia.

SEC ” shall mean the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Security Interest ” shall mean any mortgage, security interest, pledge, lien, charge, claim, option, right to acquire, voting or other restriction, right-of-way, covenant, condition, easement, encroachment, restriction on transfer, or other encumbrance of any nature whatsoever.

Software ” shall mean any and all (a) computer programs, including any and all software implementation of algorithms, models and methodologies, whether in source code, object code, human readable form or other form, (b) databases and compilations, including any and all data and collections of data, whether machine readable or otherwise, (c) descriptions, flow charts and other work products used to design, plan, organize and develop any of the foregoing, (d) screens, user interfaces, report formats, firmware, development tools, templates, menus, buttons and icons and (e) documentation, including user manuals and other training documentation, relating to any of the foregoing.

 

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Subsidiary ” shall mean, with respect to any Person, any corporation, limited liability company, joint venture or partnership of which such Person (a) beneficially owns, either directly or indirectly, more than fifty percent (50%) of (i) the total combined voting power of all classes of voting securities of such Person, (ii) the total combined equity interests or (iii) the capital or profit interests, in the case of a partnership, or (b) otherwise has voting power, either directly or indirectly, to elect a majority of the board of directors or similar governing body.

Tangible Information ” shall mean information that is contained in written, electronic or other tangible forms.

Tax ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Tax Matters Agreement.

Tax Matters Agreement ” shall mean the Tax Matters Agreement to be entered into by and between Parent and CoalCo or members of their respective Groups in connection with the Separation, the Distribution or the other transactions contemplated by this Agreement, as it may be amended from time to time.

Tax Return ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Tax Matters Agreement.

Third Party ” shall mean any Person other than the Parties and any members of their respective Groups.

Transition Services Agreement ” shall mean the Transition Services Agreement to be entered into by and between Parent and CoalCo or members of their respective Groups in connection with the Separation, the Distribution or the other transactions contemplated by this Agreement, as it may be amended from time to time.

Welfare Plan ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Employee Matters Agreement.

ARTICLE II

THE SEPARATION

2.1     Transfer of Assets and Assumption of Liabilities .

(a)    On or prior to the Effective Time, but in any case prior to the Distribution, in accordance with the plan and structure set forth on Schedule  2.1(a) (the “ Plan of Reorganization ”), but subject to Section  2.6 :

(i)     Transfer and Assignment of Coal Assets. Parent shall, and shall cause the applicable members of the Parent Group to, contribute, assign, transfer, convey or deliver to CoalCo, or the applicable member of the CoalCo Group, or take such steps as may be necessary for CoalCo or such member of the CoalCo Group to succeed to, and CoalCo or such member of the CoalCo Group shall accept from Parent and the applicable members of the Parent Group, all of Parent’s and such Parent Group member’s respective direct or indirect right, title and interest in and to all of the Coal Assets (it being understood that if any Coal Asset shall be held by a Transferred Entity or a wholly owned Subsidiary of a Transferred Entity, such Coal Asset shall be assigned, transferred, conveyed and delivered to CoalCo or the applicable member of the CoalCo Group as a result of the transfer of all of the equity interests in such Transferred Entity from Parent or the applicable members of the Parent Group to CoalCo or the applicable member of the CoalCo Group);

(ii)     Acceptance and Assumption of Coal Liabilities. CoalCo and the applicable members of the CoalCo Group shall accept and assume, agree to perform, discharge and fulfill, or succeed to, all the Coal Liabilities in accordance with their respective terms (it being understood that if any Coal Liabilities shall be Liabilities of a Transferred Entity or a wholly owned Subsidiary of a Transferred Entity, such Coal Liabilities shall be assumed by CoalCo or the applicable member of the CoalCo Group as a result of the transfer of all of the equity interests in such Transferred Entity from Parent or the applicable members of the Parent Group to CoalCo or the applicable member of the CoalCo Group). CoalCo and such members of the CoalCo Group shall be responsible for all Coal Liabilities, regardless of when or where such Coal Liabilities arose or arise, or whether the facts on which they are based occurred prior to

 

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or subsequent to the Effective Time, regardless of where or against whom such Coal Liabilities are asserted or determined (including any Coal Liabilities arising out of claims made by Parent’s or CoalCo’s respective directors, officers, employees, agents, Subsidiaries or Affiliates against any member of the Parent Group or the CoalCo Group) or whether asserted or determined prior to the date hereof, and regardless of whether arising from or alleged to arise from negligence, recklessness, violation of Law, fraud or misrepresentation by any member of the Parent Group or the CoalCo Group, or any of their respective directors, officers, employees, agents, Subsidiaries or Affiliates;

(iii)     Transfer and Assignment of Parent Assets. Parent and CoalCo shall cause CoalCo and the applicable members of the CoalCo Group to contribute, assign, transfer, convey or deliver to Parent, or the applicable members of the Parent Group designated by Parent, or take such steps as may be necessary for Parent or such members of the Parent Group to succeed to, and Parent or such other members of the Parent Group shall accept from CoalCo and the applicable members of the CoalCo Group, all of CoalCo’s and such CoalCo Group member’s respective direct or indirect right, title and interest in and to all Parent Assets held by CoalCo or a member of the CoalCo Group; and

(iv)     Acceptance and Assumption of Parent Liabilities. Parent and the applicable Parent Group members designated by Parent shall accept and assume, agree to perform, discharge and fulfill, or succeed to, all of the Parent Liabilities held by CoalCo or any member of the CoalCo Group in accordance with their respective terms, and Parent and the applicable members of the Parent Group shall be responsible for all Parent Liabilities, regardless of when or where such Parent Liabilities arose or arise, whether the facts on which they are based occurred prior to or subsequent to the Effective Time, where or against whom such Parent Liabilities are asserted or determined (including any Parent Liabilities arising out of claims made by Parent’s or CoalCo’s respective directors, officers, employees, agents, Subsidiaries or Affiliates against any member of the Parent Group or the CoalCo Group) or whether asserted or determined prior to the date hereof, and regardless of whether arising from or alleged to arise from negligence, recklessness, violation of Law, fraud or misrepresentation by any member of the Parent Group or the CoalCo Group, or any of their respective directors, officers, employees, agents, Subsidiaries or Affiliates.

(b)     Transfer Documents. In furtherance of the contribution, assignment, transfer, conveyance and delivery of and succession to the Assets and the acceptance and assumption of, performance, discharge and fulfillment of and succession to the Liabilities in accordance with Section  2.1(a) , each Party shall execute and deliver, and shall cause the applicable members of its Group to execute and deliver, to the other Party or its designated group member, (i) such bills of sale, quitclaim deeds, stock powers, certificates of title, assignments of contracts and other instruments of contribution, transfer, conveyance, assignment, delivery and succession as and to the extent necessary to evidence the contribution, transfer, conveyance, assignment, delivery and succession of all of such Party’s and the applicable members of its Group’s right, title and interest in and to such Assets to the other Party and the applicable members of its Group in accordance with Section  2.1(a) and (ii) such assumptions of contracts and other instruments of acceptance and assumption, performance, discharge and fulfillment and succession as and to the extent necessary to evidence the valid and effective assumption of the Liabilities by such Party and the applicable members of its Group in accordance with Section  2.1(a) . All of the foregoing documents contemplated by this Section  2.1(b) shall be referred to collectively herein as the “ Transfer Documents .” The Transfer Documents shall effect certain of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and, notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, shall not expand or limit any of the obligations, covenants or agreements in this Agreement. It is expressly agreed that in the event of any conflict between the terms of the Transfer Documents and the terms of this Agreement or the Tax Matters Agreement, the terms of this Agreement or the Tax Matters Agreement, as applicable, shall control.

(c)     Misallocations. In the event that at any time or from time to time (whether prior to, at or after the Effective Time), one Party (or any member of such Party’s Group) shall receive or otherwise possess any Asset that is allocated to the other Party (or any member of such other Party’s Group) pursuant to this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement, such Party shall promptly transfer, or cause to be transferred, such Asset to the Party (or to any member of such Party’s Group) so entitled thereto, and such Party (or member of such Party’s Group) shall accept such Asset. Prior to any such transfer, the Person receiving or possessing such Asset shall hold such Asset in trust for such other Person. In the event that at any time or from time to time (whether prior to, at or after the Effective Time), one Party hereto (or any member of such Party’s Group)

 

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shall receive or otherwise assume any Liability that is allocated to the other Party (or any member of such Party’s Group) pursuant to this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement, such other Party shall promptly assume, or cause to be assumed, such Liability and agree to faithfully perform such Liability.

(d)     Waiver of Bulk-Sale and Bulk-Transfer Laws. CoalCo hereby waives compliance by Parent and each and every member of the Parent Group with the requirements and provisions of any “bulk-sale” or “bulk-transfer” Laws of any jurisdiction that may otherwise be applicable with respect to the transfer or sale of any or all of the Coal Assets to any member of the CoalCo Group. Parent hereby waives compliance by CoalCo and each and every member of the CoalCo Group with the requirements and provisions of any “bulk-sale” or “bulk-transfer” Laws of any jurisdiction that may otherwise be applicable with respect to the transfer or sale of any or all of the Parent Assets to any member of the Parent Group.

2.2     Coal Assets . For purposes of this Agreement, “ Coal Assets ” shall mean:

(a)    all of the Parent Group’s (i) direct and indirect ownership interests (including Parent Group’s general partnership interest, incentive distribution rights, limited partnership interests, and subordinated partnership interests) in CNX Coal Resources LP, which owns a 25% undivided interest (indirectly through Subsidiaries) in the mining complex known as the Pennsylvania Mining Complex and (ii) membership interests in CNX Coal Resources GP LLC, the general partner of CNX Coal Resources;

(b)    all issued and outstanding capital stock or other equity interests of those entities included on Schedule  2.2(b) (“ Transferred Entities ”) that are owned by either Party or any members of its Group as of the Effective Time, including the entities known as Conrhein Coal Company, Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company LLC and CNX Marine Terminals LLC, and any assets of such entities (other than Parent Assets);

(c)    all Assets of either Party or any members of its Group properly included or reflected (i.e. that which has not been included or reflected as a result of error, omission, lack of consent, contravention of consent or similar circumstances) as assets of the CoalCo Group on the CoalCo Balance Sheet, subject to any dispositions of such Assets subsequent to the date of the CoalCo Balance Sheet; provided that the amounts set forth on the CoalCo Balance Sheet with respect to any Assets shall not be treated as minimum amounts or limitations on the amount of such Assets that are included in the definition of Coal Assets pursuant to this clause;

(d)    all Assets of either Party or any of the members of its Group as of the Effective Time that are of a nature or type that would have resulted in such Assets being included as Assets of CoalCo or members of the CoalCo Group on a pro forma combined balance sheet of the CoalCo Group or any notes or subledgers thereto as of the Effective Time (were such balance sheet, notes and subledgers to be prepared on a basis consistent with the determination of the Assets included on the CoalCo Balance Sheet), it being understood that (i) the CoalCo Balance Sheet shall be used to determine the types of, and methodologies used to determine, those Assets that are included in the definition of CoalCo Assets pursuant to this clause and (ii) the amounts set forth on the CoalCo Balance Sheet with respect to any Assets shall not be treated as minimum amounts or limitations on the amount of such Assets that are included in the definition of Coal Assets pursuant to this clause;

(e)    all Coal Contracts as of the Effective Time and all rights, interests or claims of Parent or CoalCo or any member of such Party’s Group arising thereunder as of the Effective Time;

(f)    all Coal Surface Property;

(g)    all of the following Assets of either Party or any of the members of its Group as of the Effective Time:

(i)    all owned, leased, or controlled coal wherever located, and associated mining rights, whether previously mined, currently being mined, or not yet mined, but excluding any unmined coal described on Schedule  2.2(g)(i) ;

 

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(ii)    all buildings, fixtures, systems, equipment, and items of personal property that are used exclusively in the Coal Business; all rental houses that are located on the Coal Surface Property; and all other buildings, fixtures, systems, equipment, and items of personal property designated on Schedule  2.2(g)(ii );

(h)    all Leatherwood Property;

(i)    any terminated, divested or discontinued businesses, operations and activities that, at the time of termination, divestiture or discontinuation, related to the ownership, lease, operation or sale of any interest in coal, coal reserves, or in related surface land, in any coal mine, coal processing preparation plant, mine pond, mine water treatment plant, train or barge load-out site, coal shipping terminal or coal refuse site or any other activity associated with coal reserves, coal mine or coal mining, or as otherwise set forth on Schedule 2.2(i) , but excluding the ORRIs;

(j)    all Coal Intellectual Property, Coal Software and Coal Know-How as of the Effective Time and all rights, interests or claims of either Party or any of the members of its Group thereunder as of the Effective Time;

(k)    all Coal Permits as of the Effective Time and all rights, interests or claims of either Party or any of the members of its Group thereunder as of the Effective Time;

(l)    all rights and benefits under the Headquarters Lease as it relates to that portion assigned to CoalCo or applicable member of the CoalCo Group as set forth in Schedule 2.2(l) , and as such rights and benefits may be limited, modified or otherwise amended pursuant to any agreement listed on Schedule 2.2(l) entered into by CoalCo or any member of the CoalCo Group and Parent or any member of the Parent Group prior to the Effective Time;

(m)    a fifty percent (50%) share of those existing and future carbon credits and allowances associated with Assets owned by Parent, CoalCo, and/or their respective Group members, as of and prior to the Effective Date, as further set forth in Schedule 2.2(m) ;

(n)    all rights, interests and claims of either Party or any of the members of its Group as of the Effective Time with respect to Information that is exclusively related to the Coal Assets, the Coal Liabilities, the Coal Business or the Transferred Entities and, subject to the provisions of the applicable Ancillary Agreements, a non-exclusive right to all Information that is related to, but not exclusively related to, the Coal Assets, the Coal Liabilities, the Coal Business or the Transferred Entities;

(o)    all wells located within the boundary of the Pennsylvania Mining Complex that were acquired by Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company LLC with the intent to plug for mining operations;

(p)    all oil or natural gas interests (including coalbed methane and natural gas liquids and any other constituents) purchased, leased, or otherwise acquired after July 7, 2015 by Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company LLC, Conrhein Coal Company, and/or CNX Thermal Holdings LLC within the boundary of the Pennsylvania Mining Complex, which such interests remain subject to the terms of that certain Amendment and Restatement of Master Cooperation and Safety Agreement dated July 7, 2015, by and among CNX Thermal Holdings LLC, Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company LLC, Conrhein Coal Company, CNX Gas Company LLC, CONSOL Energy Inc., and certain subsidiaries of CONSOL Energy Inc., as has been and may in the future be amended and/or restated, including the Gas Party Option set forth in Section 3.5(a) thereof;

(q)    any and all Assets set forth on Schedule  2.2(q) ;

(r)    royalty interests, overriding royalty interests, or other financial benefits related to any coal sold, assigned, transferred, leased, subleased, or otherwise conveyed to any Third Party prior to the Effective Time; and

(s)    any and all Assets that are acquired, or otherwise become Assets of the CoalCo Group after the Effective Time.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Coal Assets shall not in any event include any Asset referred to in Section  2.3 .

 

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2.3     Parent Assets . For the purposes of this Agreement, “Parent Assets” shall mean, without duplication:

(a)    at or prior to the Effective Time, all right, title, interest or claims in any Assets of Parent and/or any member of the Parent Group and/or CoalCo and/or any member of the CoalCo Group that are not Coal Assets, including, for the avoidance of doubt:

(i)    any and all oil and natural gas (including coalbed methane and natural gas liquids and any other constituents), and appurtenant rights and associated wellbores and facilities (excluding the Leatherwood Property) and existing carbon credits and allowances other than those contemplated in Section  2.2(m) , and excluding those assets referenced in Sections 2.2(o) and 2.2(p)) ,

(ii)    all surface properties and interests, easements, and licenses (including roadways) other than those expressly described as a “Coal Asset,”

(iii)    the ORRIs;

(iv)    any water, injection, and disposal rights and wells used in connection with the Parent Business,

(iv)    Buchanan Generation LLC and the associated Peaker Plant,

(v)    CNX Water Assets LLC,

(vi)    Mon-View, LLC,

(vii)    the escrow account created pursuant to the MIPA and that certain Escrow Agreement entered into pursuant to the MIPA, and remaining escrow funds therein, and

(viii)    those assets set forth on Schedule 2.3 .

(b)    any and all Assets that are acquired or otherwise become an Asset of the Parent Group after the Effective Time.

2.4     Coal Liabilities . For the purposes of this Agreement, “Coal Liabilities” shall mean the following Liabilities of either Party or any of the members of its Group:

(a)    all Liabilities properly included or reflected (i.e. that which has not been included or reflected as a result of error, lack of consent, contravention of consent or similar circumstances) as liabilities or obligations of CoalCo or the members of the CoalCo Group on the CoalCo Balance Sheet, subject to any discharge of such Liabilities subsequent to the date of the CoalCo Balance Sheet; provided that the amounts set forth on the CoalCo Balance Sheet with respect to any Liabilities shall not be treated as minimum amounts or limitations on the amount of such Liabilities that are included in the definition of Coal Liabilities pursuant to this clause (a);

(b)    all Liabilities that, as of the Effective Time, are of a nature or type that would have resulted in such Liabilities being included or reflected as liabilities or obligations of CoalCo or the members of the CoalCo Group on a pro forma combined balance sheet of the CoalCo Group or any notes or subledgers thereto as of the Effective Time (were such balance sheet, notes and subledgers to be prepared on a basis consistent with the determination of the Liabilities included on the CoalCo Balance Sheet), it being understood that (A) the CoalCo Balance Sheet shall be used to determine the types of, and methodologies used to determine, those Liabilities that are included in the definition of Coal Liabilities pursuant to this clause (A); and (B) the amounts set forth on the CoalCo Balance Sheet with respect to any Liabilities shall not be treated as minimum amounts or limitations on the amount of such Liabilities that are included in the definition of Coal Liabilities pursuant to this clause (B);

(c)    all Liabilities relating to, arising out of or resulting from the actions, inactions, events, omissions, conditions, facts or circumstances occurring or existing prior to the Effective Time (whether or not such Liabilities cease being contingent, mature, become known, are asserted or foreseen, or accrue, in each case before, at or after the Effective Time), in each case to the extent that such Liabilities relate to, arise out of or result from the Coal Business or a Coal Asset

(d)    any indemnification obligations arising under the Omnibus Agreement relating to the Coal Business or Coal Assets (but excluding any obligations referenced in Section  2.5(c) below);

 

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(e)    any and all Liabilities that are expressly provided by this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement (or the Schedules hereto or thereto) as Liabilities to be assumed by CoalCo or any other member of the CoalCo Group, and all agreements, obligations and Liabilities of any member of the CoalCo Group under this Agreement or any of the Ancillary Agreements, including but not limited to the Employee and Retiree Liabilities;

(f)    all other Liabilities to the extent relating to, arising out of or resulting from the ownership or operation of the Coal Assets, Coal Business, Coal Contracts, the Coal Intellectual Property, the Coal Software, the Coal Know-How, the Coal Permits, Leatherwood Property, or the Coal Surface Property; provided that to the extent a contract that relates to the Coal Business is a Shared Contract, only that portion that relates to the Coal Business will be assumed;

(g)    notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Section  2.5 , the applicable portion of any and all Liabilities set forth on Schedule  2.4(g) ;

(h)    notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Section  2.5 , (i) all Coal Environmental Liabilities, and the applicable portion of all shared Environmental Liabilities as set forth on Schedule  2.4(h) (the “ Shared Environmental Liabilities ”);

(i)    all Liabilities and obligations under the Headquarters Lease as it relates to that portion assigned to CoalCo or applicable member of the CoalCo Group as set forth in Schedule 2.2(l) , and as such rights and benefits may be limited, modified or otherwise amended pursuant to any agreement listed on Schedule 2.2(l) entered into by CoalCo or any member of the CoalCo Group and Parent or any member of the Parent Group prior to the Effective Time; and

(j)    all Liabilities arising out of claims made by any Third Party (including Parent’s or CoalCo’s respective directors, officers, stockholders, current or former employees, agents, Subsidiaries or Affiliates) against any member of the Parent Group or the CoalCo Group only to the extent relating to, arising out of or resulting from the Coal Business, the Coal Assets or otherwise relating to Coal Liabilities (whether such claims arise, in each case before, at or after the Effective Time);

provided that, notwithstanding the foregoing, the Parties agree that the Parent Liabilities, including the applicable portion of all Liabilities set forth on Schedules  2.4(g ) and  2.4(h) or under the portion of any Shared Contract assumed or retained by Parent Group and any Liabilities of any member of the Parent Group pursuant to the Ancillary Agreements shall not be Coal Liabilities but instead shall be Parent Liabilities.

2.5     Parent Liabilities . For the purposes of this Agreement, “Parent Liabilities” shall mean, all Liabilities (whether or not such Liabilities cease being contingent, mature, become known, are asserted or foreseen, or accrue, in each case before, at or after the Effective Time) of any member of the Parent Group and/or any member of the CoalCo Group:

(a)    that are not Coal Liabilities, including Liabilities directly related to the Parent Business;

(b)    relating to, arising out of or resulting from the actions, inactions, events, omissions, conditions, facts or circumstances occurring or existing prior to the Effective Time, in each case to the extent such Liabilities relate to, arise out of or result from the Parent Business or a Parent Asset;

(c)    any indemnification obligations of any member of the Parent Group arising under the Omnibus Agreement (i) as it relates to the Parent Business, or (ii) arising out of the provision of services by Parent or member of Parent Group prior to the Effective Time as contemplated in Section 2.1(g) of the Omnibus Agreement;

(d)    reflected on Schedule  2.4(g) as being apportioned to Parent Group;

(e)    reflected on Schedule  2.4(h) as being Parent Group’s applicable portion of Shared Environmental Liabilities,

(f)    all Liabilities and obligations under the Headquarters Lease as it relates to that portion assigned to and/or retained by Parent or applicable member of the Parent Group as set forth in Schedule 2.2(l) , and as such rights and benefits may be limited, modified or otherwise amended pursuant to any agreement listed on Schedule 2.2(l) entered into by Parent or any member of the Parent Group and CoalCo or any member of the CoalCo Group prior to the Effective Time, and

 

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(g)    arising out of claims made by any Third Party (including CoalCo’s or Parent’s respective directors, officers, stockholders, current or former employees and agents, Subsidiaries or Affiliates) against any member of the Parent Group or the CoalCo Group to the extent relating to, arising out of or resulting from the Parent Business or the Parent Assets (whether such claims arise, in each case, before, at or after the Effective Time).

2.6     Approvals and Notifications .

(a)     Approvals and Notifications for Coal Assets . To the extent that the contribution, assignment, transfer, conveyance or delivery of or succession to any Coal Asset, or the acceptance or assumption of, performance, discharge and fulfillment of, or succession to any Coal Liability, in each case under Section  2.1 , is determined to be a transfer or assignment that requires any Approvals or Notifications, or to the extent that the Separation or the Distribution requires any Approvals or Notifications, the Parties shall use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain or make such Approvals or Notifications as soon as reasonably practicable; provided , however , that, except to the extent expressly provided in this Agreement or any of the Ancillary Agreements or as otherwise agreed between Parent and CoalCo, neither Parent nor CoalCo, nor any member of their respective Groups, shall be obligated to contribute capital or pay any consideration in any form (including providing any letter of credit, guaranty or other financial accommodation) to any Person in order to obtain or make such Approvals or Notifications.

(b)     Delayed CoalCo Transfers. If and to the extent that the valid, complete and perfected contribution, assignment, transfer, conveyance or delivery to or succession of the CoalCo Group of any Coal Asset or acceptance or assumption by, performance, discharge and fulfillment by, or succession by the CoalCo Group of any Coal Liability in connection with the Separation or the Distribution would be a violation of applicable Law or is determined to be a transfer or assignment that requires any Approvals or Notifications that have not been obtained or made by the Effective Time then, unless the Parties mutually determine otherwise, the contribution, assignment, transfer, conveyance or delivery to or succession of the CoalCo Group of such Coal Assets or the acceptance or assumption by, performance, discharge and fulfillment of, or succession by the CoalCo Group of such Coal Liabilities, as the case may be, shall be automatically deemed deferred and any of the foregoing shall be null and void until such time as all legal impediments are removed or such Approvals or Notifications have been obtained or made. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any such Coal Assets or Coal Liabilities shall continue to constitute Coal Assets and Coal Liabilities for all other purposes of this Agreement.

(c)     Treatment of Delayed Coal Assets and Delayed Coal Liabilities. (i) If any contribution, assignment, transfer, conveyance or delivery of or succession to any Coal Asset (or a portion thereof) or any acceptance or assumption of, performance, discharge and fulfillment of, or succession to any Coal Liability (or a portion thereof) intended to be contributed, assigned, transferred, conveyed, delivered, succeeded to, accepted, assumed, or performed, discharged or fulfilled hereunder, as the case may be, is not consummated on or prior to the Effective Time, whether as a result of the provisions of Section  2.6(b ) or for any other reason, including due to error, and (ii) with respect to any such agreements that shall not be contributed, assigned, transferred, conveyed, delivered, succeeded to, accepted, assumed, or performed, discharged or fulfilled pursuant to Section  2.1(a) (notwithstanding anything therein to the contrary) (any such Coal Asset (or portion thereof), a “ Delayed Coal Asset ” and any such Coal Liability (or portion thereof), a “ Delayed Coal Liability ”), then, insofar as reasonably possible and subject to applicable Law, the member of the Parent Group retaining such Delayed Coal Asset or such Delayed Coal Liability, as the case may be, shall thereafter hold such Delayed Coal Asset or Delayed Coal Liability, as the case may be, for the use and benefit (or the performance and obligation, in the case of a Liability) of the member of the CoalCo Group entitled thereto (at the expense of the member of the CoalCo Group entitled thereto) and such member of the CoalCo Group shall be afforded all the benefits and burdens of such Delayed Coal Asset or Delayed Coal Liability, as applicable. In addition, the member of the Parent Group retaining such Delayed Coal Asset or such Delayed Coal Liability shall, insofar as reasonably possible and to the extent permitted by applicable Law, treat such Delayed Coal Asset or Delayed Coal Liability in the ordinary course of business in accordance with past practice and take such other actions as may be reasonably requested by the member of the CoalCo Group to whom such Delayed Coal Asset is to be contributed, assigned, transferred, conveyed or succeeded to, or which

 

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is to accept or assume, perform, discharge and fulfill or succeed to, such Delayed Coal Liability, as the case may be, in order to place such member of the CoalCo Group in a substantially similar position as if such Delayed Coal Asset or Delayed Coal Liability had been contributed, assigned, transferred, conveyed, succeeded to, accepted, assumed or performed, discharged or fulfilled as contemplated hereby and so that all the benefits and burdens relating to such Delayed Coal Asset or Delayed Coal Liability, as the case may be, including use, risk of loss, potential for gain, and dominion, control and command over such Delayed Coal Asset or Delayed Coal Liability, as the case may be, and all costs and expenses related thereto, shall inure from and after the Effective Time to the CoalCo Group. Except in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, neither Parent nor any applicable member of Parent Group shall terminate, dispose of, assign, sublease, encumber, amend, or in any other way modify any Delayed Coal Asset or Delayed Coal Liability without the prior written consent of the applicable CoalCo Group member, which may be withheld in such CoalCo Group member’s sole discretion.

(d)     Transfer of Delayed Coal Assets and Delayed Coal Liabilities. If and when the Approvals or Notifications, the absence of which caused the deferral of contribution, assignment, transfer, conveyance or delivery of or succession to any Delayed Coal Asset or the deferral of acceptance or assumption of, performance, discharge and fulfillment of or succession to any Delayed Coal Liability pursuant to Section  2.6(b) , are obtained or made, and, if and when any other legal impediments for the transfer or assignment of any Delayed Coal Asset or the assumption of any Delayed Coal Liability have been removed, the contribution, assignment, transfer, conveyance or delivery of or succession to the applicable Delayed Coal Asset or the acceptance and assumption of, performance, discharge and fulfillment of or succession to the applicable Delayed Coal Liability, as the case may be, shall be effected in accordance with the terms of this Agreement and/or the applicable Ancillary Agreement.

(e)     Costs for Delayed Coal Assets and Delayed Coal Liabilities. Except as otherwise agreed in writing between the Parties, any member of the Parent Group retaining a Delayed Coal Asset or Delayed Coal Liability due to the deferral of the contribution, assignment, transfer, conveyance or delivery of or succession to such Delayed Coal Asset or the deferral of the acceptance or assumption of, performance, discharge and fulfillment of or succession to such Delayed Coal Liability, as the case may be, shall not be obligated, in connection with the foregoing, to expend any money unless the necessary funds are advanced (or otherwise made available) by CoalCo or the member of the CoalCo Group entitled to the Delayed Coal Asset or Delayed Coal Liability, other than reasonable out-of-pocket expenses, attorneys’ fees and recording or similar fees, all of which shall be promptly reimbursed by CoalCo or the member of the CoalCo Group entitled to such Delayed Coal Asset or Delayed Coal Liability.

(f)     Approvals and Notifications for Parent Assets. To the extent that the contribution, assignment, transfer, conveyance or delivery of or succession to any Parent Asset or the acceptance or assumption of, performance, discharge and fulfillment, or succession to any Parent Liability, in each case under Section  2.1 , is determined to be a transfer or assignment that requires any Approvals or Notifications, the Parties shall use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain or make such Approvals or Notifications as soon as reasonably practicable; provided , however , that, except to the extent expressly provided in this Agreement or any of the Ancillary Agreements or as otherwise agreed between Parent and CoalCo, neither Parent nor CoalCo, nor any member of their respective Groups, shall be obligated to contribute capital or pay any consideration in any form (including providing any letter of credit, guaranty or other financial accommodation) to any Person in order to obtain or make such Approvals or Notifications.

(g)     Delayed Parent Transfers. If and to the extent that the valid, complete and perfected contribution, assignment, transfer, conveyance or delivery to or succession of the Parent Group of any Parent Asset or acceptance or assumption by, performance, discharge and fulfillment by, or succession by the Parent Group of any Parent Liability in connection with the Separation or the Distribution would be a violation of applicable Law or is determined to be a transfer or assignment that requires any Approval or Notification that has not been obtained or made by the Effective Time then, unless the Parties mutually determine otherwise, the contribution, assignment, transfer, conveyance or delivery to or succession of the Parent Group of such Parent Assets or the acceptance or assumption by, performance, discharge and fulfillment of or, or succession by the Parent Group of such Parent Liability, as the case may be, shall be automatically deemed deferred and any of the foregoing shall be null and void until such time as all legal impediments are removed or such Approval or Notification has been obtained or made. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any such Parent Assets or Parent Liabilities shall continue to constitute Parent Assets and Parent Liabilities for all other purposes of this Agreement.

 

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(h)     Treatment of Delayed Parent Assets and Delayed Parent Liabilities. (i) If any contribution, assignment, transfer, conveyance or delivery of or succession to any Parent Asset (or a portion thereof) or any acceptance or assumption of, performance, discharge and fulfillment of, or succession to any Parent Liability (or a portion thereof) intended to be contributed, assigned, transferred, conveyed, delivered, succeeded to, accepted, assumed, or performed, discharged or fulfilled hereunder, as the case may be, is not consummated on or prior to the Effective Time whether as a result of the provisions of Section  2.6(g) or for any other reason, including due to error, and (ii) with respect to any such agreements that shall not be contributed, assigned, transferred, conveyed, delivered, succeeded to, accepted, assumed, or performed, discharged or fulfilled pursuant to Section  2.1(a) (notwithstanding anything therein to the contrary) (any such Parent Asset (or portion thereof), a “ Delayed Parent Asset ” and any such Parent Liability (or portion thereof), a “ Delayed Parent Liability ”), then, subject to applicable Law, the member of the CoalCo Group retaining such Delayed Parent Asset or such Delayed Parent Liability, as the case may be, shall thereafter hold such Delayed Parent Asset or Delayed Parent Liability, as the case may be, for the use and benefit (or the performance or obligation, in the case of a Liability) of the member of the Parent Group entitled thereto (with associated costs being for the account of the member of the Parent Group entitled thereto) and such member of the Parent Group shall be afforded all the benefits and burdens of such Delayed Parent Asset or Delayed Parent Liability, as applicable. In addition, the member of the CoalCo Group retaining such Delayed Parent Asset or such Delayed Parent Liability shall, insofar as reasonably possible and to the extent permitted by applicable Law, treat such Delayed Parent Asset or Delayed Parent Liability in the ordinary course of business in accordance with past practice. Such member of the CoalCo Group shall also take such other actions as may be reasonably requested by the member of the Parent Group to which such Delayed Parent Asset is to be contributed, assigned, transferred, conveyed or succeeded to, or which is to accept or assume, perform, discharge and fulfill or succeed to, such Delayed Parent Liability, as the case may be, in order to place such member of the Parent Group in a substantially similar position as if such Delayed Parent Asset or Delayed Parent Liability had been contributed, assigned, transferred, conveyed, succeeded to, accepted, assumed or performed, discharged or fulfilled and so that all the benefits and burdens relating to such Delayed Parent Asset or Delayed Parent Liability, as the case may be, and all costs and expenses related thereto, shall inure from and after the Effective Time to the Parent Group. Except in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, neither CoalCo nor any applicable member of CoalCo Group shall terminate, dispose of, assign, sublease, encumber, amend, or in any other way modify any Delayed Parent Asset or Delayed Parent Liability without the prior written consent of the applicable Parent Group member, which may be withheld in such Parent Group member’s sole discretion.

(i)     Transfer of Delayed Parent Assets and Delayed Parent Liabilities. If and when the Approvals or Notifications, the absence of which caused the deferral of contribution, assignment, transfer, conveyance or delivery of or succession to any Delayed Parent Asset or the deferral of acceptance or assumption of, performance, discharge and fulfillment of or succession to any Delayed Parent Liability, are obtained or made, and, if and when any other legal impediments for the contribution, assignment, transfer, conveyance or delivery of or succession to any Delayed Parent Asset or the acceptance and assumption of, performance, discharge and fulfillment of or succession to any Delayed Parent Liability have been removed, the transfer or assignment of the applicable Delayed Parent Asset or the assumption of the applicable Delayed Parent Liability, as the case may be, shall be effected in accordance with the terms of this Agreement and/or the applicable Ancillary Agreement.

(j)     Costs for Delayed Parent Assets and Delayed Parent Liabilities. Any member of the CoalCo Group retaining a Delayed Parent Asset or Delayed Parent Liability due to the deferral of the contribution, assignment, transfer, conveyance or delivery of or succession to such Delayed Parent Asset or the deferral of the acceptance or assumption of, performance, discharge and fulfillment of or succession to such Delayed Parent Liability, as the case may be, shall not be obligated, in connection with the foregoing, to expend any money unless the necessary funds are advanced (or otherwise made available) by Parent or the member of the Parent Group entitled to the Delayed Parent Asset or Delayed Parent Liability, other than reasonable out-of-pocket expenses, attorneys’ fees and recording or similar fees, all of which shall be promptly reimbursed by Parent or the member of the Parent Group entitled to such Delayed Parent Asset or Delayed Parent Liability.

 

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(k)     Coal Permit Transfers .

(i)    To the extent required to effect the transfer of any Coal Permit, the Parties shall endeavor to submit within 10 days following the Closing Date (A) all filings necessary to cause the applicable Governmental Authorities to transfer to CoalCo, or the applicable member of the CoalCo Group, such Coal Permits and (B) any and all replacement bonds or other financial security, if applicable, required to complete the transfer of such Coal Permits. The Parties acknowledge that some Governmental Authorities may not require a permit transfer but may require updated ownership and control information, perhaps with a bond replacement and/or the issuance of a new license or mine number. CoalCo, or applicable member of CoalCo Group, shall use its best efforts to complete the transfer process for any Coal Permits as soon as reasonably practicable and in any event no later than 90 days following the Effective Time (or within such time frame dictated or provided by applicable regulatory requirements). Additionally, with respect to any bonds, guarantees or other financial security which were provided by Parent and/or any members of the Parent Group in connection with the Coal Permits or otherwise, CoalCo, or the applicable CoalCo Group, shall also promptly and in any event no later than 90 days following the Effective Time (or within such time frame dictated or provided by applicable regulatory requirements) replace these bonds, guarantees or other financial security and obtain the release of Parent and/or the applicable members of the Parent Group from any obligation with respect to such bonds, guarantees or other financial security. So long as Parent and/or any members of the Parent Group maintain any such bonds, guarantees or other financial security following the Effective Time, CoalCo shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless Parent and the applicable members of the Parent Group against any and all Losses suffered by such Persons related thereto in accordance with Article IV.

(ii)    Until the Coal Permits are transferred to CoalCo, CoalCo or any member of CoalCo Group may mine the coal reserves of the Coal Assets subject to the Coal Permits (the “ Affected Real Property ”) and CoalCo or any such member of CoalCo Group will operate in accordance with any Coal Permit (the “ Affected Business ”) as an “operator” pursuant to this clause (ii) . For as long as CoalCo or any CoalCo Group member operates the Affected Business on any Affected Real Property as the designated “operator” on behalf of Parent or any member of the Parent Group under each Coal Permit pursuant to the terms and conditions of such Coal Permit prior to the transfer of “permittee-liability” and the issuance of a successor permit, CoalCo shall comply, and shall cause such CoalCo Group member to comply with all applicable Laws and conditions of, or pertaining to, such Coal Permits, and CoalCo shall indemnify the Parent and any applicable member of the Parent Group and hold them harmless from and against all Losses incurred or suffered as a result of CoalCo’s or any such member’s act or omissions under or with respect to each Coal Permit in accordance with Article IV. CoalCo or CoalCo Group member, as applicable, shall have exclusive control over compliance with the Coal Permit and is hereby authorized to conduct and perform, in connection with compliance therewith, (i) water sampling, analysis and reporting, (ii) seven-day inspections of impoundments and other inspections, surveys, and reports related to impoundments, (iii) annual sediment pond inspections, (iv) emergency plan updates, and (v) similar matters. At CoalCo’s or CoalCo Group member’s request, Parent shall, and shall cause any applicable member of Parent Group to, assist CoalCo or CoalCo Group member in its obligations hereunder. CoalCo or CoalCo Group member, as applicable, shall provide Parent prompt written notice of any “notice of non-compliance,” “notice of violation,” “cessation order,” “notice of bond forfeiture” or other similar enforcement action (in any such instance, a “ Notice of Violation ”) with respect to the Coal Permits prior to final transfer of the Coal Permits to CoalCo or CoalCo Group member. In the event that any Notice of Violation is issued to Parent or any member of Parent Group, such Person shall provide CoalCo or CoalCo Group member with a copy of the same. All Losses, including all associated remedial work (or other required work) arising as a result of or relating to any Notice of Violation or other notice of default or violation under any Coal Permit, to the extent not resulting from any act or omission of Parent or any member of the Parent Group, shall be the sole and exclusive responsibility of CoalCo and/or member of CoalCo Group and shall be cured by such responsible Persons as soon as reasonably practicable. Parent or any member of Parent Group shall have the right to enter on any Affected Real Property (and to the extent practicable, shall provide reasonable prior notice to CoalCo or CoalCo Group member) for purposes of performing any remediation or reclamation activities necessary to comply with (i) the terms of the Coal Permit(s) and (ii) any applicable Law. Each party shall promptly inform the other party of any material communication between itself and any Governmental Authority with respect to the Coal Permits. If any party receives any formal or informal request, for

 

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supplemental information or documentary material, from any Governmental Authority with respect to the Coal Permits, then such party shall cause to be made, as soon as reasonably practical, a response in compliance with such request, with a copy to the other party.

2.7     Novation of Liabilities .

(a)     Novation of CoalCo Liabilities.

(i)    Except as set forth in Schedule  2.7(a) , each of Parent and CoalCo, at the request of the other, shall use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain, or to cause to be obtained, as soon as reasonably practicable, any consent, substitution, approval or amendment required to novate or assign all Coal Liabilities and obtain in writing the unconditional release of each member of the Parent Group that is a party to any such arrangements, so that, in any such case, the members of the CoalCo Group shall be solely responsible for such Coal Liabilities; provided , however , that, except as otherwise expressly provided in this Agreement or any of the Ancillary Agreements, neither Parent nor CoalCo, nor any member of either Party’s Group, shall be obligated to contribute any capital or pay any consideration in any form (including providing any letter of credit, guaranty or other financial accommodation) to any Third Party from whom any such consent, substitution, approval, amendment or release is requested.

(ii)    If Parent or CoalCo, or the applicable member of either Party’s Group, is unable to obtain, or to cause to be obtained, any consent, substitution, approval, amendment or release referred to in clause (i) of this Section  2.7(a) and the applicable member of the Parent Group continues to be bound by such agreement, lease, license or other obligation or Liability (each, an “ Unreleased Coal Liability ”), CoalCo shall, to the extent not prohibited by Law, as indemnitor, guarantor, agent or subcontractor for such member of the Parent Group, as the case may be, (A) pay, perform and discharge fully all the obligations or other Liabilities of such member of the Parent Group that constitute Unreleased Coal Liabilities from and after the Effective Time and (B) use commercially reasonable efforts to effect such payment, performance or discharge prior to any demand for such payment, performance or discharge is permitted to be made by the obligor thereunder on any member of the Parent Group. If and when any such consent, substitution, approval, amendment or release shall be obtained or the Unreleased Coal Liabilities shall otherwise become assignable or able to be novated, the applicable Parent Group member shall promptly assign, or cause to be assigned, and CoalCo or the applicable CoalCo Group member shall assume, such Unreleased Coal Liabilities without exchange of further consideration.

(b)     Novation of Parent Liabilities.

(i)    Except as set forth on Schedule  2.7(b) , each of Parent and CoalCo, at the request of the other, shall use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain, or to cause to be obtained, as soon as reasonably practicable, any consent, substitution, approval or amendment required to novate or assign all Parent Liabilities and obtain in writing the unconditional release of each member of the CoalCo Group that is a party to any such arrangements, so that, in any such case, the members of the Parent Group shall be solely responsible for such Parent Liabilities; provided , however , that, except as otherwise expressly provided in this Agreement or any of the Ancillary Agreements, neither Parent nor CoalCo, nor any member of either Party’s Group, shall be obligated to contribute any capital or pay any consideration in any form (including providing any letter of credit, guaranty or other financial accommodation) to any Third Party from whom any such consent, substitution, approval, amendment or release is requested.

(ii)    If Parent or CoalCo, or the applicable member of either Party’s Group, is unable to obtain, or to cause to be obtained, any consent, substitution, approval, amendment or release referred to in clause (i) of this Section  2.7(b) and the applicable member of the CoalCo Group continues to be bound by such agreement, lease, license or other obligation or Liability (each, an “ Unreleased Parent Liability ”), Parent shall, to the extent not prohibited by Law, as indemnitor, guarantor, agent or subcontractor for such member of the CoalCo Group, as the case may be, (A) pay, perform and discharge fully all the obligations or other Liabilities of such member of the CoalCo Group that constitute Unreleased Parent Liabilities from and after the Effective Time and (B) use commercially reasonable efforts to effect such payment, performance or discharge prior to any demand for such payment, performance or discharge is permitted to be made by the obligor thereunder on any member of

 

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the CoalCo Group. If and when any such consent, substitution, approval, amendment or release shall be obtained or the Unreleased Parent Liabilities shall otherwise become assignable or able to be novated, the applicable CoalCo Group member shall promptly assign, or cause to be assigned, and Parent or the applicable Parent Group member shall assume, such Unreleased Parent Liabilities without exchange of further consideration.

2.8     Release of Guarantees . In furtherance of, and not in limitation of, the obligations set forth in Section  2.7 :

(a)    On or prior to the Effective Time or as soon as practicable thereafter, each of Parent and CoalCo shall, at the request of the other Party and with the reasonable cooperation of such other Party and the applicable member(s) of such other Party’s Group, use commercially reasonable efforts but shall not be obligated to pay any consideration to (i) have any member(s) of the Parent Group removed as guarantor of or obligor for any Coal Liability to the extent that it relates to Coal Liabilities, including the removal of any Security Interest on or in any Parent Asset that may serve as collateral or security for any such Coal Liability; and (ii) have any member(s) of the CoalCo Group removed as guarantor of or obligor for any Parent Liability to the extent that it relates to Parent Liabilities, including the removal of any Security Interest on or in any Coal Asset that may serve as collateral or security for any such Parent Liability; provided, that, notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, the replacing party shall be obligated, to the extent required by relevant Law, regulation or contract, to post, supplement or otherwise replace any security, in such amounts and of such type, as had previously been in place with respect to such guarantee or obligation.

(b)    To the extent required to obtain a release from a guarantee of:

(i)    any member of the Parent Group, CoalCo shall execute a guarantee agreement in the form of the existing guarantee or such other form as is agreed to by the relevant parties to such guarantee agreement, which such agreement shall include the removal of any Security Interest on or in any Parent Asset that may serve as collateral or security for any such Parent Liability, except to the extent that such existing guarantee contains representations, covenants or other terms or provisions either (A) with which CoalCo would be reasonably unable to comply or (B) which CoalCo would not reasonably be able to avoid breaching; and

(ii)    any member of the CoalCo Group, Parent shall execute a guarantee agreement in the form of the existing guarantee or such other form as is agreed to by the relevant parties to such guarantee agreement, which agreement shall include the removal of any Security Interest on or in any Coal Asset that may serve as collateral or security for any such Coal Liability, except to the extent that such existing guarantee contains representations, covenants or other terms or provisions either (A) with which Parent would be reasonably unable to comply or (B) which Parent would not reasonably be able to avoid breaching.

(c)    If Parent or CoalCo is unable to (or has agreed not to) obtain, or to cause to be obtained, any such removal or release referred to in Section  2.8(a) or (b) (including, for the avoidance of doubt, any removal or release of the guarantees set forth on Schedule  2.8(c) ), (i) the Party or the relevant member of its Group that has assumed the Liability (whether fully or in case of Shared Contracts, partially), with respect to which such guarantee relates shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless the guarantor or obligor against or from any Liability arising from or relating thereto in accordance with the provisions of Article IV and shall, as agent or subcontractor for such guarantor or obligor, pay, perform and discharge fully all the obligations or other Liabilities of such guarantor or obligor thereunder; and (ii) each of Parent and CoalCo, on behalf of itself and the other members of their respective Group, agrees not to renew or extend the term of, increase any obligations under, or transfer to a Third Party, any loan, guarantee, lease, contract or other obligation for which the other Party or a member of such other Party’s Group is or may be liable unless all obligations of such other Party and the members of such other Party’s Group with respect thereto are thereupon terminated by documentation satisfactory in form and substance to such other Party.

2.9     Termination of Agreements .

(a)    Except as set forth in Section  2.9(b) , in furtherance of the releases and other provisions of Section  4.1 , CoalCo and each member of the CoalCo Group, on the one hand, and Parent and each member of the Parent Group, on the other hand, hereby terminate any and all agreements, arrangements, commitments or

 

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understandings, whether or not in writing, between or among CoalCo and/or any member of the CoalCo Group, on the one hand, and Parent and/or any member of the Parent Group, on the other hand, effective as of the Effective Time. No such terminated agreement, arrangement, commitment or understanding (including any provision thereof which purports to survive termination) shall be of any further force or effect after the Effective Time. Each Party shall, at the reasonable request of the other Party, take, or cause to be taken, such other actions as may be necessary to effect the foregoing.

(b)    The provisions of Section  2.9(a) shall not apply to any of the following agreements, arrangements, commitments or understandings (or to any of the provisions thereof): (i) this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements (and each other agreement or instrument expressly contemplated by this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement to be entered into by any of the Parties or any of the members of their respective Groups or to be continued from and after the Effective Time); (ii) any agreements, arrangements, commitments or understandings listed or described on Schedule  2.9(b) ; (iii) any Transfer Documents, leases, subleases, easements, rights of way, licenses, surface use agreements or other real property related agreements between CoalCo or any member of the CoalCo Group, on the one hand, and Parent or any member of the Parent Group, on the other hand, that was entered into in the ordinary course of business or consistent with past practices; (iv) any agreements, arrangements, commitments or understandings to which any Third Party is a party; (v) any intercompany accounts payable or accounts receivable accrued as of the Effective Time that are reflected in the books and records of the Parties or otherwise documented in writing in accordance with past practices, which shall be settled in the manner contemplated by Section  2.9(c) ; (vi) any agreements, arrangements, commitments or understandings to which any non-wholly owned Subsidiary of Parent or CoalCo, as the case may be, is a party (it being understood that directors’ qualifying shares or similar interests shall be disregarded for purposes of determining whether a Subsidiary is wholly owned); and (vii) any Shared Contracts.

(c)    All of the intercompany accounts receivable and accounts payable between any member of the Parent Group, on the one hand, and any member of the CoalCo Group, on the other hand, outstanding as of the Effective Time shall, as promptly as practicable after the Effective Time, be repaid, settled or otherwise eliminated by means of cash payments, a dividend, capital contribution, a combination of the foregoing, or otherwise as determined by Parent in its sole and absolute discretion.

2.10     Treatment of Shared Contracts .

(a)    Subject to applicable Law and without limiting the generality of the obligations set forth in Section  2.1 , unless the Parties otherwise agree or the benefits of any contract, agreement, arrangement, commitment or understanding described in this Section 2.10 are expressly conveyed to the applicable Party pursuant to this Agreement or an Ancillary Agreement, any contract or agreement, a portion of which is a Coal Contract, but the remainder of which is a Parent Asset (any such contract or agreement, a “ Shared Contract ”), shall be assigned in relevant part to the applicable member(s) of the applicable Group, if so assignable, or appropriately amended prior to, on or after the Effective Time, so that each Party or the member of its Group shall, as of the Effective Time, be entitled to the rights and benefits, and shall assume the related portion of any Liabilities, inuring to its respective businesses; provided , however , that (i) in no event shall any member of any Group be required to assign (or amend) any Shared Contract in its entirety or to assign a portion of any Shared Contract which is not assignable (or cannot be amended) by its terms (including any terms imposing consents or conditions on an assignment where such consents or conditions have not been obtained or fulfilled) and (ii) if any Shared Contract cannot be so partially assigned by its terms or otherwise, or cannot be amended or if such assignment or amendment would impair the benefit the parties thereto derive from such Shared Contract, then the Parties shall, and shall cause each of the members of their respective Groups to, take such other reasonable and permissible actions (including by providing prompt notice to the other Party with respect to any relevant claim of Liability or other relevant matters arising in connection with a Shared Contract so as to allow such other Party the ability to exercise any applicable rights under such Shared Contract) to cause a member of the CoalCo Group or the Parent Group, as the case may be, to receive the rights and benefits of that portion of each Shared Contract that relates to the Coal Business or the Parent Business, as the case may be (in each case, to the extent so related), as if such Shared Contract had been assigned to a member of the applicable Group pursuant to this Section  2.10 (or appropriately amended), and to bear the burden of the corresponding Liabilities (including any Liabilities that may arise by reason of such arrangement), as if such Liabilities had been assumed by a member of the applicable Group pursuant to this Section  2.10 (or appropriately amended).

 

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(b)    Each of Parent and CoalCo shall, and shall cause the members of its Group to, (i) treat for all Tax purposes the portion of each Shared Contract inuring to its respective businesses as Assets owned by, and/or Liabilities of, as applicable, such Party, or the members of its Group, as applicable, not later than the Effective Time, and (ii) neither report nor take any Tax position (on a Tax Return or otherwise) inconsistent with such treatment (unless required by applicable Law).

(c)    Nothing in this Section  2.10 shall require any member of either Group to make any non- de minimis payment (except to the extent advanced, assumed or agreed in advance to be reimbursed by any member of the other Group), incur any non- de minimis obligation or grant any non- de minimis concession for the benefit of any member of the other Group in order to effect any transaction contemplated by this Section  2.10 .

2.11     Bank Accounts; Cash Balances .

(a)    Each Party agrees to take, or cause the members of its Group to take, at the Effective Time (or such earlier time as the Parties may agree), all actions necessary to amend all contracts or agreements governing each bank and brokerage account owned by CoalCo or any other member of the CoalCo Group (collectively, the “ CoalCo Accounts ”) and all contracts or agreements governing each bank or brokerage account owned by Parent or any other member of the Parent Group (collectively, the “ Parent Accounts ”) so that each such CoalCo Account and Parent Account, if currently linked (whether by automatic withdrawal, automatic deposit or any other authorization to transfer funds from or to, hereinafter “ Linked ”) to any Parent Account or CoalCo Account, respectively, is no longer Linked to such Parent Account or CoalCo Account, respectively.

(b)    With respect to any outstanding checks issued or payments initiated by Parent, CoalCo or any of the members of their respective Groups prior to the Effective Time, such outstanding checks and payments shall be honored following the Effective Time by the Person or Group owning the account on which the check is drawn or from which the payment was initiated, respectively.

(c)    As between Parent and CoalCo (and the members of their respective Groups), all payments made and reimbursements received after the Effective Time by either Party (or member of its Group) that relate to a business, Asset or Liability of the other Party (or member of its Group), shall be held by such Party in trust for the use and benefit of the Party entitled thereto and, promptly following receipt by such Party of any such payment or reimbursement, such Party shall, or shall cause the applicable member of its Group to pay over to the other Party the amount of such payment or reimbursement without right of set-off.

2.12     Ancillary Agreements . Effective on or prior to the Effective Time, each of Parent and CoalCo shall, or shall cause the applicable members of their Groups to, execute and deliver all Ancillary Agreements to which it or such member, as applicable, is a party.

2.13     Disclaimer of Representations and Warranties . EACH OF PARENT (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND EACH MEMBER OF THE PARENT GROUP) AND COALCO (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND EACH MEMBER OF THE COALCO GROUP) UNDERSTANDS AND AGREES THAT, EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY SET FORTH HEREIN OR IN ANY ANCILLARY AGREEMENT, NO PARTY TO THIS AGREEMENT, ANY ANCILLARY AGREEMENT OR ANY OTHER AGREEMENT OR DOCUMENT CONTEMPLATED BY THIS AGREEMENT, ANY ANCILLARY AGREEMENT OR OTHERWISE, IS REPRESENTING OR WARRANTING IN ANY WAY AS TO THE ASSETS, BUSINESSES OR LIABILITIES TRANSFERRED OR ASSUMED AS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY OR THEREBY, AS TO ANY CONSENTS OR APPROVALS REQUIRED IN CONNECTION HEREWITH OR THEREWITH (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION GOVERNMENTAL APPROVALS OR PERMITS OF ANY KIND), AS TO THE VALUE OR FREEDOM FROM ANY SECURITY INTERESTS OF, OR ANY OTHER MATTER CONCERNING, ANY ASSETS OF SUCH PARTY, OR AS TO THE ABSENCE OF ANY DEFENSES OR RIGHT OF SETOFF OR FREEDOM FROM COUNTERCLAIM WITH RESPECT TO ANY CLAIM OR OTHER ASSET, INCLUDING ANY ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE, OF ANY PARTY, OR AS TO THE LEGAL SUFFICIENCY OF ANY ASSIGNMENT, DOCUMENT OR INSTRUMENT DELIVERED HEREUNDER OR THEREUNDER TO CONVEY TITLE TO ANY ASSET OR THING OF VALUE UPON THE EXECUTION, DELIVERY AND FILING HEREOF OR THEREOF. EXCEPT AS MAY EXPRESSLY BE SET FORTH HEREIN OR IN ANY ANCILLARY AGREEMENT, ALL SUCH

 

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ASSETS ARE BEING TRANSFERRED ON AN “AS IS,” “WHERE IS” BASIS (AND, IN THE CASE OF ANY REAL PROPERTY, BY MEANS OF A QUITCLAIM OR SIMILAR FORM OF DEED OR CONVEYANCE) AND THE RESPECTIVE TRANSFEREES SHALL BEAR THE ECONOMIC AND LEGAL RISKS THAT (A) ANY CONVEYANCE WILL PROVE TO BE INSUFFICIENT TO VEST IN THE TRANSFEREE GOOD AND MARKETABLE TITLE, FREE AND CLEAR OF ANY SECURITY INTEREST, AND (B) ANY NECESSARY APPROVALS OR NOTIFICATIONS ARE NOT OBTAINED OR MADE OR THAT ANY REQUIREMENTS OF LAWS OR JUDGMENTS ARE NOT COMPLIED WITH.

2.14     Financial Information Certifications . Parent’s disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting (as each is contemplated by the Exchange Act) are currently applicable to CoalCo as its Subsidiary. In order to enable the principal executive officer and principal financial officer of CoalCo to make the certifications required of them under Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, Parent, within thirty-five (35) days of the end of any fiscal quarter during which CoalCo remains Parent’s Subsidiary, shall provide CoalCo with one or more certifications with respect to such disclosure controls and procedures, its internal control over financial reporting and the effectiveness thereof. Such certification(s) shall be provided by Parent (and not by any officer or employee in their individual capacity).

2.15     Transition Committee and Other Matters . The Parties have established a transition committee (the “ Transition Committee ”) that shall consist of an equal number of members from Parent and CoalCo. The Transition Committee shall be responsible for monitoring and managing all matters related to any of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreements. The Transition Committee shall have the authority to (a) establish one or more subcommittees from time to time as it deems appropriate or as may be described in any Ancillary Agreements, with each such subcommittee comprised of one or more members of the Transition Committee or one or more employees of either Party or any member of its respective Group, and each such subcommittee having such scope of responsibility as may be determined by the Transition Committee from time to time; (b) delegate to any such committee any of the powers of the Transition Committee; (c) combine, modify the scope of responsibility of, and disband any such subcommittees; and (d) modify or reverse any such delegations. The Transition Committee shall establish general procedures for managing the responsibilities delegated to it under this Section  2.15 , and may modify such procedures from time to time. All decisions by the Transition Committee or any subcommittee thereof shall be effective only if mutually agreed by both Parties. The Parties shall utilize the procedures set forth in Article  VII to resolve any matters as to which the Transition Committee is not able to reach a decision.

2.16     CoalCo Financing Arrangements .

(a)    Prior to the Effective Time and pursuant to the Plan of Reorganization, (i) CoalCo or other member(s) of the CoalCo Group shall enter into one or more financing arrangements and agreements pursuant to which it or they shall, prior to the Effective Time, borrow a principal amount of $800 million, consisting of (A) a revolving credit facility with commitments up to $300 million, (B) a Term Loan A Facility of up to $100 million, (C) a Term Loan B Facility of up to $400 million (collectively the “ CoalCo Senior Credit Facility ”), and (D) an offering of up to $300 million aggregate principal amount of senior secured second lien debt instruments (the “ Notes ”, and together with the CoalCo Senior Credit Facility, the “ CoalCo Financing Arrangements ”) and (ii) in connection with the Separation, Contribution and Distribution, CoalCo shall (A) in partial consideration for the assets to be transferred to CoalCo pursuant to the Contribution, transfer $425 million of net proceeds from the CoalCo Senior Credit Facility and the Notes to Parent (the “ Cash Transfer ”), and (B) utilize a portion of the proceeds from the CoalCo Senior Credit Facility and Notes to refinance as an intercompany loan the existing indebtedness of CNX Coal Resources under its then existing revolving credit facility (together with the Cash Transfer the “ Partial Use of Proceeds ”). Parent shall use the proceeds from the Cash Transfer to make payments to third party creditors or stockholders in a manner that is consistent with the terms of the private letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service described in Section  3.3(a)(iii) .

(b)    Parent and CoalCo agree to take all necessary actions to assure the full release and discharge of Parent and the other members of the Parent Group from all obligations pursuant to the CoalCo Financing Arrangements as of no later than the Effective Time. The parties agree that CoalCo or another member of the CoalCo Group, as the case may be, and not Parent or any member of the Parent Group, are and shall be responsible for all costs and expenses incurred in connection with the CoalCo Financing Arrangements.

 

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(c)    Prior to the Effective Time, Parent and CoalCo shall cooperate in the preparation of all materials as may be necessary or advisable to execute the CoalCo Financing Arrangements and implement the Partial Use of Proceeds.

2.17     Parent Financing Arrangements.

(a)    Parent and CoalCo agree to take all necessary actions to assure the release and discharge of CoalCo and the other members of the CoalCo Group under Parent’s existing credit facility as of no later than the Effective Time. The parties agree that Parent or another member of the Parent Group, as the case may be, and not CoalCo or any member of the CoalCo Group, are and shall be responsible for all costs and expenses incurred in connection with any revisions required to Parent’s existing credit facility as a result of or otherwise in connection with, the Separation and Distribution.

ARTICLE III

THE DISTRIBUTION

3.1     Sole and Absolute Discretion; Cooperation.

(a)    Parent shall, in its sole and absolute discretion, determine the terms of the Distribution, including the form, structure and terms of any transaction(s) and/or offering(s) to effect the Distribution and the timing and conditions to the consummation of the Distribution. In addition, Parent may, at any time and from time to time until the consummation of the Distribution, modify or change the terms of the Distribution, including by accelerating or delaying the timing of the consummation of all or part of the Distribution. Nothing shall in any way limit Parent’s right to terminate this Agreement or not to complete the Distribution as set forth in Article  IX or, prior to the Distribution, alter the consequences of any such termination from those specified in Article  IX .

(b)    CoalCo shall cooperate with Parent to accomplish the Distribution and shall, at Parent’s direction, promptly take any and all actions necessary or desirable to effect the Distribution, including in respect of the registration under the Exchange Act of CoalCo Shares on the Form 10. Parent shall select any investment bank or manager in connection with the Distribution, as well as any financial printer, solicitation and/or exchange agent and financial, legal, accounting and other advisors for Parent. CoalCo and Parent, as the case may be, will provide to the Agent any information required in order to complete the Distribution.

3.2     Actions Prior to the Distribution . Prior to the Effective Time and subject to the terms and conditions set forth herein, the Parties shall take, or cause to be taken, the following actions in connection with the Distribution:

(a)     Notice to NYSE . Parent shall, to the extent possible, give the NYSE not less than ten (10) days’ advance notice of the Record Date in compliance with Rule 10b-17 under the Exchange Act.

(b)     CoalCo Certificate of Incorporation and CoalCo Bylaws. On or prior to the Distribution Date, Parent and CoalCo shall take all necessary actions so that, as of the Effective Time, the CoalCo Certificate of Incorporation and the CoalCo Bylaws shall become the certificate of incorporation and bylaws of CoalCo, respectively.

(c)     CoalCo Directors and Officers. On or prior to the Distribution Date, Parent and CoalCo shall take all necessary actions so that as of the Effective Time: (i) the directors and executive officers of CoalCo shall be those set forth in the Information Statement made available to the Record Holders prior to the Distribution Date, unless otherwise agreed by the Parties; (ii) each individual referred to in clause (i) shall have resigned from his or her position, if any, as a member of the Parent Board and/or as an executive officer of Parent; and (iii) CoalCo shall have such other officers as CoalCo shall appoint. The parties agree to work collaboratively as it relates to any commensurate changes to the board of directors, board committees or executive officer designations as it relates to CNX Coal Resources GP or any other member of the CoalCo Group or Parent Group, including as it relates to any filings or disclosures that may be triggered in respect thereof.

 

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(d)     NYSE Listing. CoalCo shall prepare and file, and shall use its reasonable best efforts to have approved, an application for the listing of the CoalCo Shares to be distributed in the Distribution on the NYSE, subject to official notice of distribution.

(e)     Securities Law Matters. CoalCo shall file any amendments or supplements to the Form 10 as may be necessary or advisable in order to cause the Form 10 to become and remain effective as required by the SEC or federal, state or other applicable securities Laws. Parent and CoalCo shall cooperate in preparing, filing with the SEC and causing to become effective registration statements or amendments thereof which are required to reflect the establishment of, or amendments to, any employee benefit and other plans necessary or advisable in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements. Parent and CoalCo shall prepare, and CoalCo shall, to the extent required under applicable Law, file with the SEC any such documentation and any requisite no-action letters that Parent determines are necessary or desirable to effectuate the Distribution, and Parent and CoalCo shall each use reasonable best efforts to obtain all necessary approvals from the SEC with respect thereto as soon as practicable. Parent and CoalCo shall take all such action as may be necessary or appropriate under the securities or blue sky laws of the United States (and any comparable Laws under any foreign jurisdiction) in connection with the Distribution.

(f)     Availability of Information Statement. Parent shall, as soon as is reasonably practicable after the Form 10 is declared effective under the Exchange Act and the Parent Board has approved the Distribution, cause the Information Statement to be mailed to the Record Holders, or, in connection with the delivery of a notice of Internet availability of the Information Statement to such holders, posted on the Internet.

(g)     The Distribution Agent. Parent shall enter into a distribution agent agreement with the Agent or otherwise provide instructions to the Agent regarding the Distribution.

(h)     Awards Under Equity Incentive Plans. Parent and CoalCo shall take all actions as may be necessary to approve the grants of adjusted equity awards by Parent (in respect of Parent shares) and CoalCo (in respect of CoalCo shares) in connection with the Distribution in order to satisfy the requirements of Rule 16b-3 under the Exchange Act.

(i)     Name Changes . (i) Parent and CoalCo shall take all actions necessary such that coincident with the Distribution, (A) CoalCo will change its name to CONSOL Energy Inc. and (B) Parent will change its name to CNX Resources Corporation, and (ii) Parent shall prepare and file, and shall use its reasonable best efforts to have approved, a supplemental listing application with the NYSE to facilitate its name change.

3.3     Conditions to the Distribution .

(a)    The consummation of the Distribution shall be subject to the satisfaction, or waiver by Parent in its sole and absolute discretion, of the following conditions:

(i)    The SEC shall have declared effective the Form 10; no order suspending the effectiveness of the Form 10 shall be in effect; and no proceedings for such purposes shall have been instituted or threatened by the SEC.

(ii)    The Information Statement shall have been mailed to the Record Holders or a notice of Internet availability of the Information Statement shall have been delivered to the Record Holders.

(iii)    The private letter ruling, received by Parent on October 16, 2017 from the Internal Revenue Service regarding the federal income tax treatment of the Contribution and the Distribution, shall not have been revoked or modified in any material respect and Parent shall have received one or more opinions from Parent’s tax advisors satisfactory to the Parent Board, including the opinion of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to the effect that the Distribution will be a transaction described in Section 355(a) of the Code, regarding the federal income tax treatment of the Contribution and the Distribution.

(iv)    The transfer of the Coal Assets (other than any Delayed Coal Asset) and Coal Liabilities (other than any Delayed Coal Liability) contemplated to be transferred from Parent (or a member of Parent Group) to CoalCo (or a member of CoalCo Group) on or prior to the Distribution shall have occurred as contemplated by Section  2.1 , and the transfer of the Parent Assets (other than any Delayed Parent Asset) and Parent Liabilities (other than any Delayed Parent Liability) contemplated to be transferred from CoalCo (or a member of CoalCo Group) to Parent (or a member of Parent Group) on or prior to the Distribution Date shall have occurred as contemplated by Section  2.1 , in each case pursuant to the Plan of Reorganization.

 

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(v)    An independent appraisal firm acceptable to Parent shall have delivered one or more opinions to the Parent Board confirming the solvency and financial viability of Parent immediately prior to the Distribution and (ii) of Parent and CoalCo after consummation of the Distribution, and such opinions shall be acceptable to Parent in form and substance in Parent’s sole discretion and such opinions shall not have been withdrawn or rescinded.

(vi)    The actions and filings necessary or appropriate under applicable U.S. federal, U.S. state or other securities Laws or blue sky Laws and the rules and regulations thereunder shall have been taken or made, and, where applicable, have become effective or been accepted by the applicable Governmental Authority.

(vii)    Each of the Ancillary Agreements shall have been duly executed and delivered by the applicable parties thereto.

(viii)    No order, injunction or decree issued by any Governmental Authority of competent jurisdiction or other legal restraint or prohibition preventing the consummation of the Separation, the Distribution or any of the transactions related thereto shall be in effect.

(ix)    The CoalCo Shares to be distributed to the Parent stockholders in the Distribution shall have been accepted for listing on the NYSE, subject to official notice of distribution.

(x)    CoalCo, or members of the CoalCo Group, shall have entered into the CoalCo Financing Arrangements as contemplated in Section  2.16 , Parent shall have received the Cash Transfer, the Partial Use of Proceeds shall have been effectuated, and Parent shall be satisfied in its sole and absolute discretion that, as of the Effective Time, neither Parent or any member of Parent Group shall have any further Liability under the CoalCo Financing Arrangements.

(xi)    No other events or developments shall exist or shall have occurred that, in the judgment of the Parent Board, in its sole and absolute discretion, makes it inadvisable to effect the Separation, the Distribution or the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement.

(b)    The foregoing conditions are for the sole benefit of Parent and shall not give rise to or create any duty on the part of Parent or the Parent Board to waive or not waive any such condition or in any way limit Parent’s right to terminate this Agreement as set forth in Article  IX or alter the consequences of any such termination from those specified in Article  IX . Any determination made by the Parent Board prior to the Distribution concerning the satisfaction or waiver of any or all of the conditions set forth in Section  3.3(a) shall be conclusive and binding on the Parties. If Parent waives any material condition, it shall promptly issue a press release disclosing such fact and file a Current Report on Form 8-K with the SEC describing such waiver.

3.4     The Distribution .

(a)    Subject to Section  3.3 , on or prior to the Effective Time, CoalCo shall deliver to the Agent, for the benefit of the Record Holders, book-entry transfer authorizations for such number of the outstanding CoalCo Shares as is necessary to effect the Distribution, and shall cause the transfer agent for the Parent Shares to instruct the Agent to distribute at the Effective Time the appropriate number of CoalCo Shares to each such Record Holder or designated transferee or transferees of thereof by way of direct registration in book-entry form. CoalCo shall not issue paper stock certificates in respect of the CoalCo Shares. The Distribution shall be effective at the Effective Time.

(b)    Subject to Sections  3.3 and 3.4(c) , each Record Holder will be entitled to receive in the Distribution a number of whole CoalCo Shares equal to the number of Parent Shares held by such Record Holder on the Record Date multiplied by the Distribution Ratio, rounded down to the nearest whole number.

(c)    No fractional shares shall be distributed or credited to book-entry accounts in connection with the Distribution, and any such fractional share interests to which a Record Holder would otherwise be entitled shall not entitle such Record Holder to vote or to any other rights as a stockholder of CoalCo. In lieu of any such fractional shares, each Record Holder who, but for the provisions of this Section  3.4(c) , would be entitled

 

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to receive a fractional share interest of a CoalCo Share pursuant to the Distribution, shall be paid cash, without any interest thereon, as hereinafter provided. As soon as practicable after the Effective Time, Parent shall direct the Agent to determine the number of whole and fractional CoalCo Shares allocable to each Record Holder, to aggregate all such fractional shares into whole shares, and to sell the whole shares obtained thereby in the open market at the then-prevailing prices on behalf of each Record Holder who otherwise would be entitled to receive fractional share interests (with the Agent, in its sole and absolute discretion, determining when, how and through which broker-dealer and at what price to make such sales), and to cause to be distributed to each such Record Holder, in lieu of any fractional share, such Record Holder’s or owner’s ratable share of the total proceeds of such sale, after deducting any Taxes required to be withheld and applicable transfer Taxes, and after deducting the costs and expenses of such sale and distribution, including brokers fees and commissions. None of Parent, CoalCo or the Agent shall be required to guarantee any minimum sale price for the fractional CoalCo Shares sold in accordance with this Section  3.4(c) . Neither Parent nor CoalCo shall be required to pay any interest on the proceeds from the sale of fractional shares. Neither the Agent nor the broker-dealers through which the aggregated fractional shares are sold shall be Affiliates of Parent or CoalCo. Solely for purposes of computing fractional share interests pursuant to this Section  3.4(c) and Section  3.4(d) , the beneficial owner of Parent Shares held of record in the name of a nominee in any nominee account shall be treated as the Record Holder with respect to such shares.

(d)    Any CoalCo Shares or cash in lieu of fractional shares with respect to CoalCo Shares that remain unclaimed by any Record Holder one hundred and eighty (180) days after the Distribution Date shall be delivered to CoalCo, and CoalCo or its transfer agent shall hold such CoalCo Shares and cash, if any, for the account of such Record Holder, and the Parties agree that all obligations to provide such CoalCo Shares and cash, if any, in lieu of fractional share interests shall be obligations of CoalCo, subject in each case to applicable escheat or other abandoned property Laws, and Parent shall have no Liability with respect thereto.

(e)    Until the CoalCo Shares are duly transferred in accordance with this Section  3.4 and applicable Law, from and after the Effective Time, CoalCo shall regard the Persons entitled to receive such CoalCo Shares as record holders of CoalCo Shares in accordance with the terms of the Distribution without requiring any action on the part of such Persons. CoalCo agrees that, subject to any transfers of such shares, from and after the Effective Time, (i) each such holder shall be entitled to receive all dividends, if any, payable on, and exercise voting rights and all other rights and privileges with respect to, the CoalCo Shares then held by such holder, and (ii) each such holder will be entitled, without any action on the part of such holder, to receive evidence of ownership of the CoalCo Shares then held by such holder.

ARTICLE IV

MUTUAL RELEASES; INDEMNIFICATION

4.1     Release of Pre-Distribution Claims .

(a)     CoalCo Release of Parent . Except as provided in Sections  4.1(c) and (d) , effective as of the Effective Time, CoalCo does hereby, for itself and each other member of the CoalCo Group, and their respective successors and assigns, and, to the extent permitted by Law, all Persons who at any time prior to the Effective Time have been stockholders, directors, officers, agents or employees of any member of the CoalCo Group (in each case, in their respective capacities as such), remise, release and forever discharge (i) Parent and the members of the Parent Group, and their respective successors and assigns, (ii) all Persons who at any time prior to the Effective Time have been stockholders, directors, officers, agents or employees of any member of the Parent Group (in each case, in their respective capacities as such), and their respective heirs, executors, administrators, successors and assigns, and (iii) all Persons who at any time prior to the Effective Time are or have been stockholders, directors, officers, agents or employees of a Transferred Entity and who are not, as of immediately following the Effective Time, directors, officers or employees of CoalCo or a member of the CoalCo Group, in each case from: (A) all Coal Liabilities, (B) all Liabilities arising from or in connection with the transactions and all other activities to implement the Separation and the Distribution (for the avoidance of doubt this clause (B) shall not limit or affect indemnification obligations of the Parties set forth in this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement) and (C) all Liabilities arising from or in connection with actions, inactions, events, omissions, conditions, facts or circumstances occurring or existing prior to the Effective Time (whether or not such Liabilities cease being contingent, mature, become known, are asserted or foreseen, or accrue, in each case before, at or after the Effective Time), in each case to the extent relating to, arising out of or resulting from the Coal Business, the Coal Assets or the Coal Liabilities.

 

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(b)     Parent Release of CoalCo . Except as provided in Sections  4.1(c) and (d) , effective as of the Effective Time, Parent does hereby, for itself and each other member of the Parent Group and their respective successors and assigns, and, to the extent permitted by Law, all Persons who at any time prior to the Effective Time have been stockholders, directors, officers, agents or employees of any member of the Parent Group (in each case, in their respective capacities as such), remise, release and forever discharge (i) CoalCo and the members of the CoalCo Group and their respective successors and assigns, and (ii) all Persons who at any time prior to the Effective Time have been stockholders, directors, officers, agents or employees of any member of the CoalCo Group (in each case, in their respective capacities as such), and their respective heirs, executors, administrators, successors and assigns, from: (A) all Parent Liabilities, (B) all Liabilities arising from or in connection with the transactions and all other activities to implement the Separation and the Distribution (for the avoidance of doubt this clause (B) shall not limit or affect indemnification obligations of the Parties set forth in this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement) and (C) all Liabilities arising from or in connection with actions, inactions, events, omissions, conditions, facts or circumstances occurring or existing prior to the Effective Time (whether or not such Liabilities cease being contingent, mature, become known, are asserted or foreseen, or accrue, in each case before, at or after the Effective Time), in each case to the extent relating to, arising out of or resulting from the Parent Business, the Parent Assets or the Parent Liabilities.

(c)     Obligations Not Affected . Nothing contained in Section  4.1(a) or (b)  shall impair any right of any Person to enforce this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement, or any agreements, arrangements, commitments or understandings which Section  2.9(b) or the applicable Schedules thereto provide shall not terminate as of the Effective Time, in each case in accordance with their respective terms. Nothing contained in Section  4.1(a) or (b)  shall release any Person from:

(i)    any Liability provided in or resulting from any agreement among any members of the Parent Group or the CoalCo Group which Section  2.9(b) or the applicable Schedules thereto provide shall not terminate as of the Effective Time, or any other Liability which Section  2.9(b) provides shall not terminate as of the Effective Time [or any intercompany account that is not settled as of the Effective Time];

(ii)    any Liability assumed, transferred, assigned or allocated to the Group of which such Person is a member in accordance with, or any other Liability of any member of any Group under, this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement;

(iii)    any Liability for the sale, lease, construction or receipt of goods, property or services purchased, obtained or used in the ordinary course of business by a member of one Group from a member of the other Group prior to the Effective Time;

(iv)    any Liability provided in or resulting from any Contract or understanding that is entered into after the Effective Time between any Party (and/or a member of such Party’s Group), on the one hand, and any other Party (and/or a member of the other Party’s Group), on the other hand;

(v)    any Liability that the Parties may have with respect to indemnification or contribution pursuant to this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement;

(vi)    any Liability that the Parties may have with respect to indemnification or contribution for claims brought against the Parties by Third Parties, which Liability shall be governed by the provisions of this Article  IV and Article  V and, if applicable, the appropriate provisions of the Ancillary Agreements; or

(vii)    any Liability the release of which would result in the release of any Person other than a Person released pursuant to this Section  4.1 .

In addition, nothing contained in Section  4.1(a) shall release any member of the Parent Group from honoring its existing obligations to indemnify any director, officer or employee of a member of the CoalCo Group who was a director, officer or employee of any member of the Parent Group on or prior to the Effective Time, to the extent such director, officer or employee becomes a named defendant in any Action with respect to which such director, officer

 

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or employee was entitled to such indemnification pursuant to such existing obligations; it being understood that, if the underlying obligation giving rise to such Action is a Coal Liability, CoalCo shall indemnify Parent for such Liability (including Parent’s costs to indemnify the director, officer or employee) in accordance with the provisions set forth in this Article  IV .

(d)     No Claims . CoalCo shall not make, and shall not permit any other member of the CoalCo Group to make, any claim or demand, or commence any Action asserting any claim or demand, including any claim of contribution or any indemnification, against Parent or any other member of the Parent Group, or any other Person released pursuant to Section  4.1(a) , with respect to any Liabilities released pursuant to Section  4.1(a) . Parent shall not make, and shall not permit any other member of the Parent Group to make, any claim or demand, or commence any Action asserting any claim or demand, including any claim of contribution or any indemnification against CoalCo or any other member of the CoalCo Group, or any other Person released pursuant to Section  4.1(b ), with respect to any Liabilities released pursuant to Section  4.1(b) .

(e)     Execution of Further Releases . At any time at or after the Effective Time, at the request of either Party, the other Party shall cause each member of its Group to execute and deliver releases reflecting the provisions of this Section  4.1 .

4.2     Indemnification by CoalCo . Except as otherwise specifically set forth in this Agreement or in any Ancillary Agreement, to the fullest extent permitted by Law, CoalCo shall, and shall cause the other members of the CoalCo Group to, indemnify, defend and hold harmless Parent, each member of the Parent Group and each of their respective past, present and future directors, officers, employees and agents, in each case in their respective capacities as such, and each of the heirs, executors, successors and assigns of any of the foregoing (collectively, the “ Parent Indemnitees ”), from and against any and all Liabilities of the Parent Indemnitees relating to, arising out of or resulting from, directly or indirectly, any of the following items (without duplication):

(a)    any Coal Liability;

(b)    any failure of CoalCo, any other member of the CoalCo Group or any other Person to pay, perform or otherwise promptly discharge any Coal Liabilities in accordance with their terms, whether prior to, on or after the Effective Time;

(c)    any breach by CoalCo or any other member of the CoalCo Group of this Agreement or any of the Ancillary Agreements;

(d)    except to the extent it relates to a Parent Liability, any guarantee, indemnification or contribution obligation, surety bond or other credit support agreement, arrangement, commitment or understanding (i) for the benefit of any member of the CoalCo Group made or given by any member of the Parent Group, which survives following the Distribution or (ii) which is set forth on Schedule 4.2(d) ; and

(e)    any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or omission or alleged omission to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, with respect to all information contained in the Form 10, the Information Statement or any other Disclosure Document (other than the matters described in clause (e) of Section  4.3) .

4.3     Indemnification by Parent . Except as otherwise specifically set forth in this Agreement or in any Ancillary Agreement, to the fullest extent permitted by Law, Parent shall, and shall cause the other members of the Parent Group to, indemnify, defend and hold harmless CoalCo, each member of the CoalCo Group and each of their respective past, present and future directors, officers, employees or agents, in each case in their respective capacities as such, and each of the heirs, executors, successors and assigns of any of the foregoing (collectively, the “ CoalCo Indemnitees ”), from and against any and all Liabilities of the CoalCo Indemnitees relating to, arising out of or resulting from, directly or indirectly, any of the following items (without duplication):

(a)    any Parent Liability;

(b)    any failure of Parent, any other member of the Parent Group or any other Person to pay, perform or otherwise promptly discharge any Parent Liabilities in accordance with their terms, whether prior to, on or after the Effective Time;

(c)    any breach by Parent or any other member of the Parent Group of this Agreement or any of the Ancillary Agreements;

 

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(d)    except to the extent it relates to a Coal Liability, any guarantee, indemnification or contribution obligation, surety bond or other credit support agreement, arrangement, commitment or understanding (i) for the benefit of any member of the Parent Group made or given by any member of the CoalCo Group, which survives following the Distribution or (ii) which is set forth on Schedule  4.3(d) ; and

(e)    any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or omission or alleged omission to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, with respect to statements made explicitly in Parent’s name in the Form 10, the Information Statement or any other Disclosure Document; it being agreed that the statements set forth on Schedule  4.3(e) shall be the only statements made explicitly in Parent’s name in the Form 10, the Information Statement or any other Disclosure Document, and all other information contained in the Form 10, the Information Statement or any other Disclosure Document shall be deemed to be information supplied by CoalCo.

4.4     Indemnification Obligations Net of Insurance Proceeds and Other Amounts .

(a)    The Parties intend that any Liability subject to indemnification, contribution or reimbursement pursuant to this Article  IV or Article  V will be net of Insurance Proceeds or other amounts actually recovered (net of any out-of-pocket costs or expenses incurred in the collection thereof) from any Person by or on behalf of the Indemnitee in respect of any indemnifiable Liability. Accordingly, the amount that either Party (an “ Indemnifying Party ”) is required to pay to any Person entitled to indemnification or contribution hereunder (an “ Indemnitee ”) shall be reduced by any Insurance Proceeds or other amounts actually recovered (net of any out-of-pocket costs or expenses incurred in the collection thereof) from any Person by or on behalf of the Indemnitee in respect of the related Liability. If an Indemnitee receives a payment (an “ Indemnity Payment ”) required by this Agreement from an Indemnifying Party in respect of any Liability and subsequently receives Insurance Proceeds or any other amounts in respect of such Liability, then, within ten (10) calendar days of receipt of such Insurance Proceeds, the Indemnitee shall pay to the Indemnifying Party an amount equal to the excess of the Indemnity Payment received over the amount of the Indemnity Payment that would have been due if the Insurance Proceeds or such other amounts (net of any out-of-pocket costs or expenses incurred in the collection thereof) had been received, realized or recovered before the Indemnity Payment was made.

(b)    It is expressly agreed and understood that all rights to indemnification, contribution and reimbursement pursuant to this Article IV are in excess of all available insurance. Without limiting the foregoing, the Parties agree that an insurer that would otherwise be obligated to pay any claim shall not be relieved of the responsibility with respect thereto or, solely by virtue of any provision contained in this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement, have any subrogation rights with respect thereto, it being understood that no insurer or any other Third Party shall be entitled to a “windfall” ( i.e. , a benefit they would not be entitled to receive in the absence of the indemnification provisions) by virtue of the indemnification and contribution provisions hereof. Accordingly, any provision herein that could have the result of giving any insurer or other Third Party such a “windfall” shall be suspended or amended to the extent necessary to not provide such “windfall.” Each Party shall, and shall cause the members of its Group to, use commercially reasonable efforts (taking into account the probability of success on the merits and the cost of expending such efforts, including attorneys’ fees and expenses) to collect or recover, or allow the Indemnifying Party to collect or recover, any Insurance Proceeds that may be collectible or recoverable respecting the Liabilities for which indemnification or contribution may be available under this Article  IV . Notwithstanding the foregoing, an Indemnifying Party may not delay making any indemnification payment required, or otherwise satisfy any indemnification obligation, under the terms of this Agreement pending the outcome of any Action to collect or recover Insurance Proceeds, and an Indemnitee need not attempt to collect any Insurance Proceeds prior to making a claim for indemnification or contribution or receiving any Indemnity Payment otherwise owed to it under this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement.

4.5     Procedures for Indemnification of Third-Party Claims .

(a)     Notice of Claims . If, at or following the date of this Agreement, an Indemnitee shall receive notice or otherwise learn of the assertion by a Person (including any Governmental Authority) who is not a member of the Parent Group or the CoalCo Group of any claim or of the commencement by any such Person of any Action (collectively, a “ Third-Party Claim ”) with respect to which an Indemnifying Party may be obligated to provide indemnification to such Indemnitee pursuant to Section  4.2 or 4.3 , or any other Section of this

 

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Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement, such Indemnitee shall give such Indemnifying Party written notice thereof as soon as practicable, but in any event within fourteen (14) days (or sooner if the nature of the Third-Party Claim so requires) after becoming aware of such Third-Party Claim. Any such notice shall describe the Third-Party Claim in reasonable detail, to the extent set forth in or readily apparent from the notices and documents received by the Indemnified Party, including the facts and circumstances giving rise to such claim for indemnification, and include copies of all notices and documents (including court papers) received by the Indemnitee relating to the Third-Party Claim. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the failure of an Indemnitee to provide notice in accordance with this Section  4.5(a) shall not relieve an Indemnifying Party of its indemnification obligations under this Agreement, except to the extent to which the Indemnifying Party is actually prejudiced by the Indemnitee’s failure to provide notice in accordance with this Section  4.5(a) .

(b)     Control of Defense . An Indemnifying Party may elect to defend (and seek to settle or compromise), at its own expense and with its own counsel, any Third-Party Claim; provided that, prior to the Indemnifying Party assuming and controlling the defense of such Third-Party Claim, it shall first confirm to the Indemnitee in writing that, assuming the facts presented to the Indemnifying Party by the Indemnitee are true, the Indemnifying Party shall indemnify the Indemnitee for any such Losses to the extent resulting from, or arising out of, such Third-Party Claim. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Indemnifying Party assumes such defense and, in the course of defending such Third-Party Claim, (i) the Indemnifying Party discovers that the facts presented at the time the Indemnifying Party acknowledged its indemnification obligation in respect of such Third-Party Claim were not true and (ii) such untruth provides a reasonable basis for asserting that the Indemnifying Party does not have an indemnification obligation in respect of such Third-Party Claim, then (A) the Indemnifying Party shall not be bound by such acknowledgment, (B) the Indemnifying Party shall promptly thereafter provide the Indemnitee written notice of its assertion that it does not have an indemnification obligation in respect of such Third-Party Claim and (C) the Indemnitee shall have the right to assume the defense of such Third-Party Claim. Within thirty (30) days after the receipt of a notice from an Indemnitee in accordance with Section  4.5(a) (or sooner, if the nature of the Third-Party Claim so requires), the Indemnifying Party shall provide written notice to the Indemnitee indicating whether the Indemnifying Party shall assume responsibility for defending the Third-Party Claim. If an Indemnifying Party elects not to assume responsibility for defending any Third-Party Claim or fails to notify an Indemnitee of its election within thirty (30) days after receipt of the notice from an Indemnitee as provided in Section  4.5(a) , then the Indemnitee that is the subject of such Third-Party Claim shall be entitled to continue to conduct and control the defense of such Third-Party Claim.

(c)     Allocation of Defense Costs . If an Indemnifying Party has elected to assume the defense of a Third-Party Claim, then such Indemnifying Party shall be solely liable for all fees and expenses incurred by it in connection with the defense of such Third-Party Claim and shall not be entitled to seek any indemnification or reimbursement from the Indemnitee for any such fees or expenses incurred by the Indemnifying Party during the course of the defense of such Third-Party Claim by such Indemnifying Party, regardless of any subsequent decision by the Indemnifying Party to reject or otherwise abandon its assumption of such defense. If an Indemnifying Party elects not to assume responsibility for defending any Third-Party Claim or fails to notify an Indemnitee of its election within thirty (30) days after receipt of a notice from an Indemnitee as provided in Section  4.5(a) , and the Indemnitee conducts and controls the defense of such Third-Party Claim and the Indemnifying Party has an indemnification obligation with respect to such Third-Party Claim, then the Indemnifying Party shall be liable for all reasonable fees and expenses incurred by the Indemnitee in connection with the defense of such Third-Party Claim.

(d)     Right to Monitor and Participate . An Indemnitee that does not conduct and control the defense of any Third-Party Claim, or an Indemnifying Party that has failed to elect to defend any Third-Party Claim as contemplated hereby, nevertheless shall have the right to employ separate counsel (including local counsel as necessary) of its own choosing to monitor and participate in (but not control) the defense of any Third-Party Claim for which it is a potential Indemnitee or Indemnifying Party, as applicable, but the fees and expenses of such counsel shall be at the expense of such Indemnitee or Indemnifying Party, as the case may be, and the provisions of Section  4.5(c) shall not apply to such fees and expenses. Notwithstanding the foregoing, but subject to Sections  6.7 and 6.8 , such Party shall cooperate with the Party entitled to conduct and control the defense of such Third-Party Claim in such defense and make available to the controlling Party, at the non-controlling Party’s expense, all witnesses, information and materials in such Party’s possession or under such Party’s control relating thereto as are reasonably required by the controlling Party (with the reasonable out-of-

 

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pocket costs associated with such cooperation being at the expense of the non-controlling party). In addition to the foregoing, if any Indemnitee shall in good faith determine that such Indemnitee and the Indemnifying Party have actual or potential differing defenses or conflicts of interest between them that make joint representation in connection with a Third-Party Claim inappropriate, then the Indemnitee shall have the right to employ separate counsel (including local counsel as necessary) and to participate in (but not control) the defense, compromise, or settlement thereof, and the Indemnifying Party shall bear the reasonable fees and expenses of such counsel for all Indemnitees.

(e)     No Settlement . Neither Party may settle or compromise any Third-Party Claim for which either Party is seeking to be indemnified hereunder without the prior written consent of the other Party, which consent may not be unreasonably withheld, unless such settlement or compromise is solely for monetary damages that are fully payable by the settling or compromising Party, does not involve any admission, finding or determination of wrongdoing or violation of Law by the other Party and provides for a full, unconditional and irrevocable release of the other Party from all Liability in connection with the Third-Party Claim. The Parties hereby agree that if a Party presents the other Party with a written notice containing a proposal to settle or compromise a Third-Party Claim for which either Party is seeking to be indemnified hereunder and the Party receiving such proposal does not respond in any manner to the Party presenting such proposal within twenty (20) days or such longer period, not to exceed thirty (30) days, as may be agreed by the Parties (or within any such shorter time period that may be required by applicable Law or court order) of receipt of such proposal, then the Party receiving such proposal shall be deemed to have consented to the terms of such proposal.

(f)     Tax Matters Agreement Coordination. The provisions of Section  4.2 through Section  4.10 hereof (other than this Section  4.5(f) ) do not apply with respect to Taxes or Tax matters (it being understood and agreed that Taxes and Tax matters, including the control of Tax-related proceedings, shall be governed by the Tax Matters Agreement). In the case of any conflict or inconsistency between this Agreement and the Tax Matters Agreement in relation to any matters addressed by the Tax Matters Agreement, the Tax Matters Agreement shall prevail.

4.6     Additional Matters .

(a)     Timing of Payments . Indemnification or contribution payments in respect of any Liabilities for which an Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification or contribution under this Article  IV shall be paid reasonably promptly (but in any event within thirty (30) days of the final determination of the amount that the Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification or contribution under this Article  IV ) by the Indemnifying Party to the Indemnitee as such Liabilities are incurred upon demand by the Indemnitee, including reasonably satisfactory documentation setting forth the basis for the amount of such indemnification or contribution payment, including documentation with respect to calculations made and consideration of any Insurance Proceeds that actually reduce the amount of such Liabilities. The indemnity and contribution provisions contained in this Article  IV shall remain operative and in full force and effect, regardless of (i) any investigation made by or on behalf of any Indemnitee, and (ii) the knowledge by the Indemnitee of Liabilities for which it might be entitled to indemnification hereunder.

(b)     Notice of Direct Claims . Any claim for indemnification or contribution under this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement that does not result from a Third-Party Claim shall be asserted by written notice given by the Indemnitee to the applicable Indemnifying Party. Such Indemnifying Party shall have a period of thirty (30) days after the receipt of such notice within which to respond thereto. If such Indemnifying Party does not respond within such thirty (30)-day period, such specified claim shall be conclusively deemed a Liability of the Indemnifying Party under this Section  4.6(b) or, in the case of any written notice in which the amount of the claim (or any portion thereof) is estimated, on such later date when the amount of the claim (or such portion thereof) becomes finally determined. If such Indemnifying Party does not respond within such thirty (30)-day period or rejects such claim in whole or in part, such Indemnitee shall, subject to the provisions of Article  VII , be free to pursue such remedies as may be available to such party as contemplated by this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements, as applicable, without prejudice to its continuing rights to pursue indemnification or contribution hereunder.

(c)     Pursuit of Claims Against Third Parties . If (i) a Party incurs any Liability arising out of this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement; (ii) an adequate legal or equitable remedy is not available for any

 

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reason against the other Party to satisfy the Liability incurred by the incurring Party; and (iii) a legal or equitable remedy may be available to the other Party against a Third Party for such Liability, then the other Party shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to cooperate with the incurring Party, at the incurring Party’s expense, to permit the incurring Party to obtain the benefits of such legal or equitable remedy against such Third Party.

(d)     Subrogation . In the event of payment by or on behalf of any Indemnifying Party to any Indemnitee in connection with any Third-Party Claim, such Indemnifying Party shall be subrogated to and shall stand in the place of such Indemnitee as to any events or circumstances in respect of which such Indemnitee may have any right, defense or claim relating to such Third-Party Claim against any claimant or plaintiff asserting such Third-Party Claim or against any other Person. Such Indemnitee shall cooperate with such Indemnifying Party in a reasonable manner, and at the cost and expense of such Indemnifying Party, in prosecuting any subrogated right, defense or claim.

(e)     Substitution . In the event of an Action for which a Party is entitled to indemnification hereunder and in which the Indemnifying Party is not a named defendant, if either the Indemnitee or Indemnifying Party shall so request, the Parties shall endeavor to substitute the Indemnifying Party for the named defendant. If such substitution or addition cannot be achieved for any reason or is not requested, the named defendant shall allow the Indemnifying Party to manage the Action as set forth in Section  4.5 and this Section  4.6 , and the Indemnifying Party shall fully indemnify the named defendant against all costs of defending the Action (including court costs, sanctions imposed by a court, attorneys’ fees, experts fees and all other external expenses), the costs of any judgment or settlement and the cost of any interest or penalties relating to any judgment or settlement.

4.7     Right of Contribution .

(a)     Contribution . If any right of indemnification contained in Section  4.2 or 4.3 is held unenforceable or is unavailable for any reason, or is insufficient to hold harmless an Indemnitee in respect of any Liability for which such Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification hereunder, then the Indemnifying Party shall contribute to the amounts paid or payable by the Indemnitees (including any costs, expenses, attorneys’ fees, disbursements and expenses of counsel, expert and consulting fees and costs related thereto or to the investigation or defense thereof) as a result of such Liability (or actions in respect thereof) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative fault of the Indemnifying Party and the members of its Group, on the one hand, and the Indemnitees entitled to contribution, on the other hand, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations.

(b)     Allocation of Relative Fault . Solely for purposes of determining relative fault pursuant to this Section  4.7 : (i) any fault associated with the business conducted with the Delayed Coal Assets or Delayed Coal Liabilities (except for the gross negligence or intentional misconduct of a member of the Parent Group) or with the ownership, operation or activities of the Coal Business prior to the Effective Time shall be deemed to be the fault of CoalCo and the other members of the CoalCo Group, and no such fault shall be deemed to be the fault of Parent or any other member of the Parent Group; (ii) any fault associated with the business conducted with Delayed Parent Assets or Delayed Parent Liabilities (except for the gross negligence or intentional misconduct of a member of the CoalCo Group) shall be deemed to be the fault of Parent and the other members of the Parent Group, and no such fault shall be deemed to be the fault of CoalCo or any other member of the CoalCo Group; and (iii) any fault associated with the ownership, operation or activities of the Parent Business prior to the Effective Time shall be deemed to be the fault of Parent and the other members of the Parent Group, and no such fault shall be deemed to be the fault of CoalCo or any other member of the CoalCo Group.

4.8     Covenant Not to Sue . Each Party hereby covenants and agrees that none of it, the members of its Group or any Person claiming through it or them shall bring suit or otherwise assert any claim against any Indemnitee, or assert a defense against any claim asserted by any Indemnitee, before any court, arbitrator, mediator or administrative agency anywhere in the world, alleging that: (a) the assumption of any Coal Liabilities by CoalCo or a member of the CoalCo Group on the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements is void or unenforceable for any reason; (b) the retention of any Parent Liabilities by Parent or a member of the Parent Group on the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements is void or unenforceable for any reason, or (c) the provisions of this Article  IV are void or unenforceable for any reason.

 

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4.9     Remedies Cumulative . The remedies provided in this Article  IV shall be cumulative and, subject to the provisions of Article  VIII , shall not preclude assertion by any Indemnitee of any other rights or the seeking of any and all other remedies against any Indemnifying Party.

4.10     Survival of Indemnities . The rights and obligations of each of Parent and CoalCo and their respective Indemnitees under this Article  IV shall survive (a) the sale or other transfer by either Party or any member of its Group of any assets or businesses or the assignment by it of any liabilities; or (b) any merger, consolidation, business combination, sale of all or substantially all of its Assets, restructuring, recapitalization, reorganization or similar transaction involving either Party or any member of its Group.

4.11     Real Property Transfer Documents . Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any of the Transfer Documents entered into in connection with the transfer of real property, no warranty or any other provision contained therein shall act to increase either Party’s Liability beyond as set forth in this Agreement. The terms of, and all covenants and agreements contained in, this Agreement, shall survive any execution and delivery of any Ancillary Agreements (including any deeds) and shall not be merged into any such instruments.

ARTICLE V

CERTAIN OTHER MATTERS

5.1     Cooperation With Respect to Insurance Matters . Parent and CoalCo agree to cooperate in good faith to provide for an orderly transition of insurance coverage from the date hereof through the Effective Time. In no event shall any member of the Parent Group or any Parent Indemnitee have Liability or obligation whatsoever to any member of the CoalCo Group in the event that any insurance policy or other contract or policy of insurance shall be terminated or otherwise cease to be in effect for any reason, shall be unavailable or inadequate to cover any Liability of any member of the CoalCo Group for any reason whatsoever or shall not be renewed or extended beyond the current expiration date of any such insurance policy or other contract of insurance.

5.2     Access to Insurance Policies .

(a)    From and after the Effective Time, with respect to any actions, inactions, events, omissions, conditions, facts, circumstances, losses, damages and Liability which occurred or are alleged to have occurred, or were incurred or claimed to have been incurred by any member of either Group prior to the Effective Time, the other Party will provide the requesting Party with access to, and such requesting Party may, upon ten (10) days’ prior written notice to the other Party, make claims under, the other Party’s insurance policies in place immediately prior to the Effective Time and the other Party’s historical policies of insurance, but solely to the extent that such policies provided coverage for members of the requesting Party prior to the Effective Time; provided that such access to, and the right to make claims under, such insurance policies, shall be subject to the terms and conditions of such insurance policies, including but not limited to any limits on coverage or scope, and any deductibles, self-insured retentions, retrospectively rated insurance plans and other fees, costs and expenses, and shall be subject to the following additional conditions:

(i)    The requesting Party shall report any claim to the other Party as promptly as reasonably practicable, and in any event in sufficient time so that such claim may be made in accordance with the policies’ terms and conditions;

(ii)    The requesting Party and the other members of its Group shall be responsible for making payments directly to insurers where possible, and shall indemnify, hold harmless and reimburse the other Party and the members of its Group for any deductibles, self-insured retention, retrospective premium payments, and fees and expenses incurred by any member of such Group to the extent resulting from any access to, or any claims made by the requesting Party or any other members of its Group under, any insurance provided pursuant to this Section  5.2 , including claims previously reported and any indemnity payments, settlements, judgments, legal fees and allocated claims expenses and claim handling fees, whether such claims are made by a member of the requesting Party’s Group, employees or Third Parties; and

 

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(iii)    The requesting Party shall exclusively bear (and no member of the other Party’s Group shall have any obligation to repay or reimburse any member of the such requesting Party’s Group for) and shall be liable for all uninsured, uncovered, unavailable or uncollectible amounts of all such claims made by any member of the requesting Party’s Group under the policies as provided for in this Section  5.2 . In the event an insurance policy aggregate limit is exhausted, or believed likely to be exhausted, due to noticed claims, the requesting Party’s Group, on the one hand, and the other Party’s Group, on the other hand, shall be responsible for their pro rata portion of the reinstatement premium, if any, based upon the losses of such Group submitted to the other Party’s insurance carrier(s) (including any submissions prior to the Effective Time). To the extent that either Group is allocated more than its pro rata portion of such premium due to the timing of losses submitted to the other Party’s insurance carrier(s), the other Party shall promptly pay the first Party an amount so that each Group has been properly allocated its pro rata portion of the reinstatement premium. Subject to the following sentence, the other Party may elect not to reinstate the policy aggregate. In the event that the other Party elects not to reinstate the policy aggregate, it shall provide prompt written notice to the requesting Party, and the requesting Party may direct the other Party in writing to, and the other Party shall, in such case, reinstate the policy aggregate; provided that the requesting Party shall be responsible for all reinstatement premiums and other costs associated with such reinstatement.

(b)    No member of the requesting Party’s Group, in connection with making a claim under any insurance policy of any member of the other Party’s Group pursuant to this Section  5.2 , shall take any action that would be reasonably likely to (i) have an adverse impact on the then-current relationship between any member of the other Party’s Group, on the one hand, and the applicable insurance company, on the other hand; (ii) result in the applicable insurance company terminating or reducing coverage, or increasing the amount of any premium owed by any member of the other Party’s Group under the applicable insurance policy or (iii) otherwise compromise, jeopardize or interfere with the rights of any member of the other Party’s Group under the applicable insurance policy, provided that, for avoidance of doubt that this Section  5.2(b) shall not preclude or otherwise restrict any member of the requesting Party’s Group from reporting claims to insurers in the ordinary course of business.

(c)    This Agreement shall not be considered as an attempted assignment of any policy of insurance or as a contract of insurance and shall not be construed to waive any right or remedy of any member of the other Party’s Group in respect of any insurance policy or any other contract or policy of insurance.

(d)    Each Party does hereby, for itself and each other member of the its Group, agree that no member of the other Group shall have any Liability whatsoever as a result of the insurance policies and practices of the members of the other Party’s Group as in effect at any time, including as a result of the level or scope of any such insurance, the creditworthiness of any insurance carrier, the terms and conditions of any policy, the adequacy or timeliness of any notice to any insurance carrier with respect to any claim or potential claim or otherwise.

5.3     CoalCo Insurance Policies . Except as provided in Section 5.2, from and after the Effective Time, no member of the CoalCo Group shall have any rights to or under any of the insurance policies of any member of the Parent Group. At the Effective Time, the members of the CoalCo Group shall have in effect all insurance programs required to comply with the CoalCo Group’s contractual obligations and such other insurance policies required by Law or as reasonably necessary or appropriate for companies operating a business similar to the Coal Business. Such insurance programs shall include, among other programs: general liability, excess liability, all risk property damage (including equipment breakdown), marine and excess marine liability, commercial automobile liability, workers compensation and employers liability, excess workers compensation and employers liability, excess U.S. longshore and harbor workers, jurisdictional boiler inspection, director and officer, fiduciary liability, special risk coverage, blanket crime, employment practices, excess employment practices and surety.

5.4     Payments and Reimbursements . All payments and reimbursements by the requesting Party pursuant to Section  5.2 will be made within fifteen (15) days after the requesting Party’s receipt of an invoice therefor from the other Party. In the event that the requesting Party makes payments to insurance companies directly, then the requesting Party shall make payments in compliance with the requirements and policies and procedures with respect

 

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to insurance payments in effect prior to the Effective Time. If the other Party incurs costs to enforce the requesting Party’s obligations herein, the requesting Party agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the other Party for such enforcement costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees pursuant to Section  4.8 . The other Party shall retain the exclusive right to control its insurance policies and programs, including the right to exhaust, settle, release, commute, buy back or otherwise resolve disputes with respect to any of its insurance policies and programs and to amend, modify or waive any rights under any such insurance policies and programs, notwithstanding whether any such policies or programs apply to any Liabilities and/or claims the requesting Party has made or could make in the future. No member of the requesting Party’s Group shall, without the prior consent of the other Party or otherwise as expressly permitted under this Agreement, erode, exhaust, settle, release, commute, buyback or otherwise resolve disputes with such other Party’s insurers with respect to any of such other Party’s insurance policies and programs, or amend, modify or waive any rights under any such insurance policies and programs. The requesting Party shall cooperate with the other Party and share such information as is reasonably necessary in order to permit the other Party to manage and conduct its insurance matters as it deems appropriate. No member of the other Party’s Group shall have any obligation to secure extended reporting for any claims under any Liability policies of any member of such Group for any acts or omissions by any member of the requesting Party’s Group incurred prior to the Effective Time.

5.5     Directors and Officers Policies . Prior to the Distribution Date, Parent may obtain “tail” directors and officers liability insurance policies having a policy period of six years from and after the Distribution Date with respect to acts or omissions that were committed prior to the Effective Time (“ D&O Tail Program ”). Such D&O Tail Program shall be consistent in all material respects and shall have material terms and conditions no less favorable than those contained in the policies comprising the Parent Directors and Officers liability insurance program in effect prior to the Effective Time (except for policy period, premium and provisions excluding coverage for wrongful acts post-dating the Effective Time). Each of the Parent Group and the CoalCo Group shall be responsible for obtaining its own Directors and Officers liability insurance policy for acts or omissions occurring on or after the Distribution Date.

ARTICLE VI

EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION; CONFIDENTIALITY

6.1     Agreement for Exchange of Information and Cooperation .

(a)    Subject to Section  6.9 and any other applicable confidentiality obligations, each of Parent and CoalCo, on behalf of itself and each member of its respective Group, agrees to use commercially reasonable efforts to provide or make available, or cause to be provided or made available, to the other Party and the members of such other Party’s Group, at any time before, on or after the Effective Time, as soon as reasonably practicable after written request therefor, any information and documents or other materials (or a copy thereof) in the possession or under the control of such Party or its Group that the requesting Party or its Group requests to the extent that (i) such information relates to the Coal Business, or any Coal Asset or Coal Liability, if CoalCo is the requesting Party, or to the Parent Business, or any Parent Asset or Parent Liability, if Parent is the requesting Party; (ii) such information is reasonably requested in connection with the requesting Party’s compliance with its obligations under this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement, or under any contract, agreement, obligation, indenture, bond, instrument, lease, promise, arrangement, release, warranty, commitment, guaranty or undertaking to which it or any member of its Group is a party or by which any of their respective properties or assets are bound; or (iii) such information is reasonably requested in connection with the requesting Party’s compliance with any obligation imposed by any Governmental Authority or under any applicable Law or securities exchange rule; provided , however , that, in the event that the Party to whom the request has been made determines that any such provision of information could be commercially detrimental to the Party providing the information, violate any Law or agreement, or waive any privilege available under applicable Law, including any attorney-client privilege, then the Parties shall use commercially reasonable efforts to permit compliance with such obligations to the extent and in a manner that avoids any such harm or consequence. The Party providing information pursuant to this Section  6.1 shall only be obligated to provide such information in the form, condition and format in which it then exists, and in no event shall such Party be required to perform any improvement, modification, conversion, updating or reformatting of any such information, and nothing in this Section  6.1 shall expand the obligations of a Party under Section  6.4 .

 

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(b)    Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, following the Effective Time and until the first CoalCo fiscal year end occurring after the Effective Time (and for a reasonable period of time afterwards as required for each Party to prepare consolidated financial statements or complete a financial statement audit for the fiscal year during which the Distribution Date occurs), each Party shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to cooperate, and to cause its Representatives to cooperate, with the other Party in its information requests and other reasonable requests to enable (i) the other Party to meet its applicable financial reporting and related obligations under applicable Laws and securities exchange rules and timetable for dissemination of its earnings releases, financial statements, periodic reports, and management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its disclosure controls and procedures and its internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Items 307 and 308, respectively, of Regulation S-K promulgated under the Exchange Act; (ii) the other Party’s accountants to timely complete their review of the quarterly financial statements and audit of the annual financial statements, including, to the extent applicable to such Party, its auditor’s audit of its internal control over financial reporting and management’s assessment thereof in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the SEC’s and Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s rules and auditing standards thereunder and any other applicable Laws; and (iii) the other Party to meet its other applicable obligations imposed by any Governmental Authority or under any applicable Law or securities exchange rule.

6.2     Ownership of Information . The provision of any information pursuant to Section  6.1 or 6.7 shall not affect the ownership of such information (which shall be determined solely in accordance with the terms of this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements), or constitute a grant of rights in or to any such information.

6.3     Compensation for Providing Information . A Party requesting information shall reimburse the other Party for any non-de minimis , reasonable costs, if any, of creating, gathering, copying, transporting and otherwise complying with the request with respect to such information (including any reasonable costs and expenses incurred in any review of information for purposes of protecting the Privileged Information of the providing Party or in connection with the restoration of backup media for purposes of providing the requested information). Except as may be otherwise specifically provided elsewhere in this Agreement, any Ancillary Agreement or any other agreement between the Parties, such costs shall be computed in good faith in accordance with the providing Party’s standard methodology and procedures.

6.4     Record Retention . To facilitate the possible exchange of information pursuant to this Article  VI and other provisions of this Agreement after the Effective Time, each Party agrees to use reasonable best efforts, which shall be no less rigorous than those used for retention of such Party’s own information, to retain (and not destroy) all information in its possession or control at the Effective Time in accordance with the policies of Parent as in effect at the Effective Time or such other policies as may be adopted by Parent after the Effective Time ( provided that Parent notifies CoalCo in writing of any such change); provided , however , that in the case of any information relating to Taxes, employee benefits or Environmental Liabilities, such retention period shall be extended to the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations (giving effect to any extensions thereof). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Tax Matters Agreement shall exclusively govern the retention of Tax-related records and the exchange of Tax-related information, and the Employee Matters Agreement shall exclusively govern the retention of employment and benefits related records.

6.5     Limitations of Liability . Neither Party shall have any Liability to the other Party in the event that any information exchanged or provided pursuant to this Agreement is found to be inaccurate in the absence of gross negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct by the Party providing such information. Neither Party shall have any Liability to any other Party if any information is destroyed after commercially reasonable efforts by such Party to comply with the provisions of Section  6.4 .

6.6     Other Agreements Providing for Exchange of Information .

(a)    The rights and obligations granted under this Article  VI are subject to any specific limitations, qualifications or additional provisions on the sharing, exchange, retention or confidential treatment of information set forth in any Ancillary Agreement.

(b)    Any party that receives, pursuant to a request for information in accordance with this Article  VI , Tangible Information that is not relevant to its request shall, at the request of the providing Party, (i) return it to the providing Party or destroy it, at the providing Party’s election; and (ii) deliver to the providing Party a written confirmation that such Tangible Information was returned or destroyed, as the case may be, which confirmation shall be signed by an authorized representative of the requesting Party.

 

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6.7     Production of Witnesses; Records; Cooperation .

(a)    After the Effective Time, except in the case of an adversarial Action or Dispute between Parent and CoalCo, or any members of their respective Groups, each Party shall use commercially reasonable efforts to make available to the other Party, upon written request, the former, current and future directors, officers, employees, other personnel and agents of the members of its Group as witnesses and any books, records or other documents within its control or which it otherwise has the ability to make available without unreasonable burden, to the extent that any such person (giving consideration to business demands of such directors, officers, employees, other personnel and agents) or books, records or other documents may reasonably be required in connection with any Action in which the requesting Party (or member of its Group) may from time to time be involved, regardless of whether such Action is a matter with respect to which indemnification may be sought hereunder. The requesting Party shall bear all costs and expenses in connection therewith.

(b)    If an Indemnifying Party elects to defend or to seek to compromise or settle any Third-Party Claim, the other Party shall make available to such Indemnifying Party, upon written request, the former, current and future directors, officers, employees, other personnel and agents of the members of its respective Group as witnesses and any books, records or other documents within its control or which it otherwise has the ability to make available without unreasonable burden, to the extent that any such person (giving consideration to business demands of such directors, officers, employees, other personnel and agents) or books, records or other documents may reasonably be required in connection with such defense or any related settlement or compromise, or such prosecution, evaluation or pursuit, as the case may be, and shall otherwise cooperate in such defense or any related settlement or compromise, or such prosecution, evaluation or pursuit, as the case may be.

(c)    Without limiting the foregoing, the Parties shall cooperate and consult to the extent reasonably necessary with respect to any Actions.

(d)    Without limiting any provision of this Section  6.7 , each Party agrees to cooperate, and to cause the members of its Group to cooperate, with the other Party and the members of its Group in the defense of any infringement or similar claim with respect to any Intellectual Property, and each Party agrees not to, and not to permit any member of its respective Group to, claim to acknowledge, the validity or infringing use of any Intellectual Property of a Third Parties in a manner that would hamper or undermine the defense of such infringement or similar claim.

(e)    The obligation of the Parties to provide witnesses pursuant to this Section  6.7 is intended to be interpreted in a manner so as to facilitate cooperation and shall include the obligation to provide as witnesses directors, officers, employees, other personnel and agents without regard to whether such person could assert a possible business conflict (subject to the exception set forth in the first sentence of Section  6.7(a) ).

6.8     Privileged Matters .

(a)    The Parties recognize that legal and other professional services that have been and will be provided prior to the Effective Time have been and will be rendered for the collective benefit of each of the members of the Parent Group and the CoalCo Group, and that each of the members of the Parent Group and the CoalCo Group should be deemed to be the client with respect to such services for the purposes of asserting all privileges and immunities that may be asserted under applicable Law in connection therewith. The Parties recognize that legal and other professional services will be provided following the Effective Time, which services shall be rendered solely for the benefit of the Parent Group or the CoalCo Group, as the case may be. In furtherance of the foregoing, each Party shall authorize the delivery to and/or retention by the other Party of materials existing as of the Effective Time that are necessary for such other Party to perform such services.

 

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(b)    The Parties agree as follows:

(i)    Parent shall be entitled, in perpetuity, to control the assertion or waiver of all privileges and immunities in connection with any Privileged Information that relates solely to the Parent Business and not to the Coal Business, whether or not the Privileged Information is in the possession or under the control of any member of the Parent Group or any member of the CoalCo Group. Parent shall also be entitled, in perpetuity, to control the assertion or waiver of all privileges and immunities in connection with any Privileged Information that relates solely to any Parent Liabilities resulting from any Actions that are now pending or may be asserted in the future, whether or not the Privileged Information is in the possession or under the control of any member of the Parent Group or any member of the CoalCo Group.

(ii)    CoalCo shall be entitled, in perpetuity, to control the assertion or waiver of all privileges and immunities in connection with any Privileged Information that relates solely to the Coal Business and not to the Parent Business, whether or not the Privileged Information is in the possession or under the control of any member of the CoalCo Group or any member of the Parent Group. CoalCo shall also be entitled, in perpetuity, to control the assertion or waiver of all privileges and immunities in connection with any Privileged Information that relates solely to any Coal Liabilities resulting from any Actions that are now pending or may be asserted in the future, whether or not the privileged Information is in the possession or under the control of any member of the CoalCo Group or any member of the Parent Group.

(iii)    If the Parties do not agree as to whether certain information is Privileged Information, then such information shall be treated as Privileged Information, and the Party that believes that such information is Privileged Information shall be entitled to control the assertion or waiver of all privileges and immunities in connection with any such information until such time as it is finally judicially determined that such information is not Privileged Information or unless the Parties otherwise agree. The Parties shall use the procedures set forth in Article  VII to resolve any disputes as to whether any information relates solely to the Parent Business, solely to the Coal Business, or to both the Parent Business and the Coal Business.

(c)    Subject to the remaining provisions of this Section  6.8 , the Parties agree that they shall have a shared privilege or immunity with respect to all privileges and immunities not allocated pursuant to Section  6.8(b) and all privileges and immunities relating to any Actions or other matters that involve both Parties (or one or more members of their respective Groups) and in respect of which both Parties have Liabilities under this Agreement, and that no such shared privilege or immunity may be waived by either Party without the consent of the other Party.

(d)    If any dispute arises between the Parties or any members of their respective Groups regarding whether a privilege or immunity should be waived to protect or advance the interests of either Party and/or any member of its Group, each Party agrees that it shall (i) negotiate with the other Party in good faith; (ii) endeavor to minimize any prejudice to the rights of the other Party; and (iii) not unreasonably withhold consent to any request for waiver by the other Party. In addition, each Party specifically agrees that it shall not withhold its consent to the waiver of a privilege or immunity for any purpose except to protect its own legitimate interests.

(e)    In the event of any adversarial Action between Parent and CoalCo, or any members of their respective Groups, either Party may waive a privilege in which the other Party or member of such other Party’s Group has a shared privilege, without obtaining consent pursuant to Section  6.8(c ); provided that such waiver of a shared privilege shall be effective only as to the use of information with respect to the Action between the Parties and/or the applicable members of their respective Groups, and shall not operate as a waiver of the shared privilege with respect to any Third Party.

(f)    Upon receipt by either Party, or by any member of its Group, of any subpoena, discovery or other request that may reasonably be expected to result in the production or disclosure of Privileged Information subject to a shared privilege or immunity or as to which the other Party has the sole right hereunder to assert a privilege or immunity, or if either Party obtains knowledge that any of its, or any member of its respective Group’s, current or former directors, officers, agents or employees has received any subpoena, discovery or other request that may reasonably be expected to result in the production or disclosure of such Privileged

 

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Information, such Party shall promptly notify the other Party of the existence of the request (which notice shall be delivered to such other Party no later than five (5) business days following the receipt of any such subpoena, discovery or other request) and shall provide the other Party a reasonable opportunity to review the Privileged Information and to assert any rights it or they may have under this Section  6.8 or otherwise to prevent the production or disclosure of such Privileged Information.

(g)    Any furnishing of, or access or transfer of, any information pursuant to this Agreement is made in reliance on the agreement of Parent and CoalCo set forth in this Section  6.8 and in Section  6.9 to maintain the confidentiality of Privileged Information and to assert and maintain all applicable privileges and immunities. The Parties agree that (i) their respective rights to any access to information, witnesses and other Persons, the furnishing of notices and documents and other cooperative efforts between the Parties contemplated by this Agreement, and the transfer of Privileged Information between the Parties and members of their respective Groups pursuant to this Agreement, shall not be deemed a waiver of any privilege or immunity that has been or may be asserted under this Agreement or otherwise, and (ii) in the event of any exchange by one Party to the other Party of any Privileged Information that should not have been transferred pursuant to the terms of this Article  VI , the Party receiving such Privileged Information shall promptly return such Privileged Information to and at the request of the Party that has the right to assert the privilege or immunity.

(h)    In connection with any matter contemplated by Section  6.7 or this Section  6.8 , the Parties agree to, and to cause the applicable members of their Group to, use reasonable efforts to maintain their respective separate and joint privileges and immunities, including by executing joint defense and/or common interest agreements to implement and/or supersede the provisions of Section  6.7 or this Section  6.8 where necessary or useful for this purpose.

6.9     Confidentiality .

(a)     Confidentiality . Subject to Section  6.10 and, and without prejudice to any longer period that may be provided for in any of the Ancillary Agreements, from and after the Effective Time until the five-year anniversary of the Effective Time, each of Parent and CoalCo, on behalf of itself and each member of its Group, agrees to hold, and to cause its respective Representatives to hold, in strict confidence, with at least the same degree of care that applies to Parent’s confidential and proprietary information pursuant to policies in effect as of the Effective Time, all confidential and proprietary information concerning the other Party or any member of the other Party’s Group or their respective businesses that is either in its possession (including confidential and proprietary information in its possession prior to the date hereof) or furnished by any such other Party or any member of such other Party’s Group or their respective Representatives at any time pursuant to this Agreement, any Ancillary Agreement or otherwise, and shall not use such confidential and proprietary information other than for such purposes as shall be expressly permitted hereunder or thereunder, except, in each case, to the extent that such confidential and proprietary information has been (i) in the public domain or generally available to the public, other than as a result of a disclosure by such Party or any member of such Party’s Group or any of their respective Representatives in violation of this Agreement, (ii) later lawfully acquired from other sources by such Party (or any member of such Party’s Group) which sources are not themselves bound by a confidentiality obligation or other contractual, legal or fiduciary obligation of confidentiality with respect to such confidential and proprietary information, or (iii) independently developed or generated without reference to or use of any proprietary or confidential information of such other Party or any member of such other Party’s Group. If any confidential and proprietary information of one Party or any member of its Group is disclosed to the other Party or any member of such other Party’s Group in connection with providing services to such first Party or any member of its Group under this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement, then such disclosed confidential and proprietary information shall be used only as required to perform such services.

(b)     No Release; Return or Destruction . Each Party agrees not to release or disclose, or permit to be released or disclosed, any information addressed in Section  6.9(a) to any other Person, except its Representatives who need to know such information in their capacities as such (who shall be advised of their obligations hereunder with respect to such information), and except in compliance with Section  6.10 . Without limiting the foregoing, when any such information is no longer needed for the purposes contemplated by this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement, and is no longer subject to any legal hold or other document preservation obligation, each Party shall promptly, at the request of the other Party, either return to the other

 

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Party all such information in a tangible form (including all copies thereof and all notes, extracts or summaries based thereon) or notify the other Party in writing that it has destroyed such information (and such copies thereof and such notes, extracts or summaries based thereon); provided , that the Parties and its Representatives may retain electronic back-up versions of such information maintained on routine computer system backup tapes, disks or other backup storage devices or as otherwise (and to the extent) required by applicable Law; provided further , that any such information so retained shall remain subject to the confidentiality provisions of this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement.

(c)     Third-Party Information; Privacy or Data Protection Laws . Each Party acknowledges that it and the members of its Group may presently have and, following the Effective Time, may gain access to or possession of confidential or proprietary information of, or legally-protected personal information relating to, Third Parties (i) that was received under privacy policies and/or confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements entered into between such Third Parties, on the one hand, and the other Party or members of such other Party’s Group, on the other hand, prior to the Effective Time; or (ii) that, as between the two Parties, was originally collected by the other Party or members of such other Party’s Group and that may be subject to and protected by privacy policies, as well as privacy, data protection or other applicable Laws. Each Party agrees that it shall hold, protect and use, and shall cause the members of its Group and its and their respective Representatives to hold, protect and use, in strict confidence the confidential and proprietary information of, or legally-protected personal information relating to, Third Parties in accordance with privacy policies and privacy, data protection or other applicable Laws and the terms of any agreements that were either entered into before the Effective Time or affirmative commitments or representations that were made before the Effective Time by, between or among the other Party or members of the other Party’s Group, on the one hand, and such Third Parties, on the other hand.

(d)     Residual Information . Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, each Party and the members of such Party’s Group shall be free to use for any purpose the Residual Information resulting from access Representatives of such Party or the members of its Group have had to confidential and proprietary information concerning the other Party or any member of the other Party’s Group. The Parties acknowledge and understand that the foregoing does not constitute a license under any Intellectual Property.

6.10     Protective Arrangements . In the event that a Party or any member of its Group either determines on the advice of its counsel that it is required to disclose any information pursuant to applicable Law or receives any request or demand under lawful process or from any Governmental Authority to disclose or provide information of the other Party (or any member of the other Party’s Group) that is subject to the confidentiality provisions hereof, such Party shall notify the other Party (to the extent legally permitted) as promptly as practicable under the circumstances prior to disclosing or providing such information and shall cooperate, at the expense of the other Party, in seeking any appropriate protective order requested by the other Party. In the event that such other Party fails to receive such appropriate protective order in a timely manner and the Party receiving the request or demand reasonably determines that its failure to disclose or provide such information shall actually prejudice the Party receiving the request or demand, then the Party that received such request or demand may thereafter disclose or provide information to the extent required by such Law (as so advised by its counsel) or by lawful process or such Governmental Authority, and the disclosing Party shall promptly provide the other Party with a copy of the information so disclosed, in the same form and format so disclosed, together with a list of all Persons to whom such information was disclosed, in each case to the extent legally permitted.

ARTICLE VII

DISPUTE RESOLUTION

7.1     Good-Faith Officer Negotiation . Subject to Section  7.4 and except as otherwise provided in any Ancillary Agreement, either Party seeking resolution of any dispute, controversy or claim arising out of or relating to this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement (including regarding whether any Assets are Coal Assets, any Liabilities are Coal Liabilities or the validity, interpretation, breach or termination of this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement) (a “ Dispute ”), shall provide written notice thereof to the other Party (the “ Initial Notice ”), and within thirty (30) days of the delivery of the Initial Notice, the Parties shall attempt in good faith to negotiate a resolution of the Dispute. The negotiations shall be conducted by executives who hold, at a minimum, the title of vice president and who have authority to settle the Dispute. All such negotiations shall be confidential and shall be

 

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treated as compromise and settlement negotiations for purposes of applicable rules of evidence. If the Parties are unable for any reason to resolve a Dispute within thirty (30) days after the delivery of such notice or if a Party reasonably concludes that the other Party is not willing to negotiate as contemplated by this Section  7.1 , the Dispute shall be submitted to mediation in accordance with Section  7.2 .

7.2     Mediation . Any Dispute not resolved pursuant to Section  7.1 shall, at the written request of a Party (a “ Mediation Notice ”), be submitted to nonbinding mediation in accordance with the then current International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (“ CPR ”) Mediation Procedure, except as modified herein. The mediation shall be held in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania or such other place as the Parties may mutually agree in writing. The Parties shall have twenty (20) days from receipt by a Party of a Mediation Notice to agree on a mediator. If no mediator has been agreed upon by the Parties within twenty (20) days of receipt by a party of a Mediation Notice, then a Party may request (on written notice to the other Party), that CPR appoint a mediator in accordance with the CPR Mediation Procedure. All mediation pursuant to this clause shall be confidential and shall be treated as compromise and settlement negotiations for purposes of applicable rules of evidence, and no oral or documentary representations made by the Parties during such mediation shall be admissible for any purpose in any subsequent proceedings. No Party shall disclose or permit the disclosure of any information about the evidence adduced or the documents produced by the other Party in the mediation proceedings or about the existence, contents or results of the mediation without the prior written consent of such other Party, except in the course of a judicial or regulatory proceeding or as may be required by Law or requested by a Governmental Authority or securities exchange. Before making any disclosure permitted by the preceding sentence, the Party intending to make such disclosure shall, to the extent reasonably practicable, give the other Party reasonable written notice of the intended disclosure and afford the other Party a reasonable opportunity to protect its interests.

7.3     Arbitration .

(a)    In the event that a Dispute relating primarily to a claim for monetary damages has not been resolved within sixty (60) days of the appointment of a mediator in accordance with Section  7.2 , or within ninety (90) days after receipt by a Party of a Mediation Notice (whichever occurs sooner), or within such longer period as the Parties may agree to in writing, then such Dispute shall, upon the written request of a Party (the “ Arbitration Request ”) and subject to the exceptions set forth in Section  7.4 below, be submitted to be finally resolved by binding arbitration pursuant to the CPR arbitration procedure; provided, however, that no demand for arbitration may be made after the date when the institution of legal or equitable proceedings based on the claim or dispute would be barred by the applicable statute of limitations. The arbitration shall be held in the same location as the mediation pursuant to Section  7.2 . In all arbitration proceedings conducted pursuant to this Section  7.3 , the arbitrator(s) shall require exchange by the parties of (i) the names, addresses and phone numbers of each person likely to have knowledge of relevant information, identifying the subjects of the information.

(b)    Unless otherwise agreed by the Parties in writing, any Dispute to be decided pursuant to this Section  7.3 shall be decided (i) before a sole arbitrator if the amount in dispute, inclusive of all claims and counterclaims, totals less than $3 million; or (ii) by a panel of three (3) arbitrators if the amount in dispute, inclusive of all claims and counterclaims, totals at least $3 million but less than $20 million. In the event that the Parties are unable to agree, after at least ten (10) days of good faith discussion, as to whether the amount in controversy hereunder is greater or less than the applicable thresholds, then the good faith determination of the party bringing the claim shall control.

(c)    The panel of three (3) arbitrators will be chosen as follows: (i) within fifteen (15) days from the date of the receipt of the Arbitration Request, each Party shall name an arbitrator; and (ii) the two (2) Party-appointed arbitrators shall thereafter, within thirty (30) days from the date on which the second of the two (2) arbitrators was named, name a third, independent arbitrator who shall act as chairperson of the arbitral tribunal. In the event that either Party fails to name an arbitrator within fifteen (15) days from the date of receipt of the Arbitration Request, then upon written application by either Party, that arbitrator shall be appointed pursuant to the CPR arbitration procedure. In the event that the two (2) Party-appointed arbitrators fail to appoint the third, then the third, independent arbitrator shall be appointed pursuant to the CPR arbitration procedure. If the arbitration shall be before a sole independent arbitrator, then the sole independent arbitrator shall be appointed by agreement of the Parties within fifteen (15) days of the date of receipt of the Arbitration Request. If the Parties cannot agree to a sole independent arbitrator during such fifteen (15)-day period, then upon written application by either Party, the sole independent arbitrator shall be appointed pursuant to the CPR arbitration procedure.

 

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(d)    In the case of arbitration before a single arbitrator (in matters less than $3 million), the Parties shall produce non-privileged documents that are relevant to the issues raised by any claim, defense or counterclaim or on which the producing party may rely in support or in opposition to any claim, defense or counterclaim, and the arbitrator shall limit such production based on considerations of unreasonable expense, duplication and undue burden. As it relates to arbitration before a panel of three arbitrators (in matters greater than $3 million), the Parties shall produce non-privileged documents that are relevant to the issues raised by any claim, defense or counterclaim or on which the producing party may rely in support or in opposition to any claim, defense or counterclaim, including the disclosure of active electronic information maintained by no more than five custodians per party, from primary storage facilities (excluding backup facilities and tapes). The arbitrators shall limit such production based on considerations of unreasonable expense, duplication and undue burden. A maximum of three depositions per party, each for a maximum of four hours duration may be taken. The panel may allow such additional other discovery as it determines is reasonably necessary for a fair determination of the dispute. Any disputes or objections regarding discovery or the relevance of evidence shall be determined by the panel. All discovery shall be completed within 120 days of the appointment of the panel, unless the panel shall otherwise determine.

(e)    The arbitrator(s) shall issue a reasoned award. The arbitrator(s) have the right to award, on an interim basis, or include in the final award, money damages which it deems proper in the circumstances (with interest on unpaid amounts from the due date); provided that the arbitrator(s) shall not award any relief not specifically requested by the Parties and, in any event, shall not award any injunctive relief or specific performance, or any indirect, punitive, exemplary, remote, speculative or similar damages in excess of compensatory damages of the other arising in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby (other than any such Liability with respect to a Third-Party Claim); and provided further that each party shall bear its own respective attorneys’ fees and costs. The award of the arbitrator(s) shall be final and binding on the Parties, and may be enforced in any court of competent jurisdiction. The initiation of mediation or arbitration pursuant to this Article VII shall toll the applicable statute of limitations for the duration of any such proceedings.

7.4     Injunctive Relief; Litigation .

(a)    Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Article  VII , the following categories of Disputes shall not be submitted to arbitration pursuant to Section  7.3 , but instead may be pursued through the initiation of litigation in the Delaware Court of Chancery or a federal court in the District of Delaware:

(i)    any Dispute in which the claimed monetary damages exceed $20 million, or

(ii)    any Dispute which involves primarily non-monetary or injunctive relief;

(b)    Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Article VII , a Party may seek preliminary provisional or injunctive judicial relief with respect to a Dispute without first complying with the procedures set forth in Sections  7.1 , or 7.2 if such action is reasonably necessary to avoid irreparable damage;

(c)    each Party agrees that it shall bring any action or proceeding in respect of any claim arising out of or related to this Agreement, whether in tort or contract or at law or in equity, in accordance with the provisions of Section  10.2(b) .

(d)    In the event that the Parties are unable to agree, after at least ten (10) days of good faith discussion, as to whether the amount in controversy pursuant to this Section 7.4 is greater or less than the applicable thresholds or whether the claim involves primarily non-monetary or injunctive relief, then the good faith determination of the Party bringing the claim shall control.

7.5     Conduct During Dispute Resolution Process . Unless otherwise agreed in writing, the Parties shall, and shall cause the respective members of their Groups to, continue to honor all commitments under this Agreement and each Ancillary Agreement to the extent required by such agreements during the course of dispute resolution pursuant to the provisions of this Article  VII unless such commitments are the specific subject of the Dispute at issue.

 

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ARTICLE VIII

FURTHER ASSURANCES AND ADDITIONAL COVENANTS

8.1     Further Assurances .

(a)    In addition to the actions specifically provided for elsewhere in this Agreement, each of the Parties shall use its reasonable best efforts, prior to, on and after the Effective Time, to take, or cause to be taken, all actions, and to do, or cause to be done, all things, reasonably necessary, proper or advisable under applicable Laws, regulations and agreements to consummate and make effective the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements.

(b)    Without limiting the foregoing, prior to, on and after the Effective Time, each Party shall cooperate with the other Party, and without any further consideration, but at the expense of the requesting Party, to execute and deliver, or use its reasonable best efforts to cause to be executed and delivered, all instruments, including instruments of conveyance, assignment and transfer, and to make all filings with, and to obtain all Approvals or Notifications of, any Governmental Authority or any other Person under any permit, license, agreement, indenture or other instrument (including any consents or Governmental Approvals), and to take all such other actions as such Party may reasonably be requested to take by the other Party from time to time, consistent with the terms of this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements, in order to effectuate the provisions and purposes of this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements and the transfers of the Coal Assets and the Parent Assets and the assignment and assumption of the Coal Liabilities and the Parent Liabilities and the other transactions contemplated hereby and thereby. Without limiting the foregoing, each Party shall, at the reasonable request, cost and expense of the other Party, take such other actions as may be reasonably necessary to vest in such other Party good and marketable title to the Assets allocated to such Party under this Agreement or any of the Ancillary Agreements, free and clear of any Security Interest, if and to the extent it is practicable to do so.

(c)    On or prior to the Effective Time, Parent and CoalCo in their respective capacities as direct and indirect stockholders of the members of their Groups, shall each ratify any actions that are reasonably necessary or desirable to be taken by Parent, CoalCo or any of the members of their respective Groups, as the case may be, to effectuate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements.

(d)    Parent and CoalCo, and each of the members of their respective Groups, waive (and agree not to assert against any of the others) any claim or demand that any of them may have against any of the others for any Liabilities or other claims relating to or arising out of: (i) the failure of CoalCo or any other member of the CoalCo Group, on the one hand, or of Parent or any other member of the Parent Group, on the other hand, to provide any notification or disclosure required under any state Environmental Law in connection with the Separation or the other transactions contemplated by this Agreement, including the transfer by any member of any Group to any member of the other Group of ownership or operational control of any Assets not previously owned or operated by such transferee; or (ii) any inadequate, incorrect or incomplete notification or disclosure under any such state Environmental Law by the applicable transferor. To the extent any Liability to any Governmental Authority or any Third Party arises out of any action or inaction described in clause (i) or (ii) of the preceding sentence, the transferee of the applicable Asset hereby assumes and agrees to pay any such Liability.

(e)    To the extent required and permitted by applicable law, this Agreement shall also constitute a “deed,” “bill of sale,” or “assignment” of the Assets and Liabilities referenced herein.

8.2     Non-Solicitation; No Hire; Non-Compete; Options .

(a)    From the Effective Time until the date that is 18 months after the Effective Time, each Party shall not, and shall cause the members of its Group not to, without the prior written consent of the other Party (which consent may be withheld for any reason), directly or indirectly, (i) hire or solicit for employment any employee of such other Party or (ii) induce or encourage any such employee to no longer be employed by such

 

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other Party; provided , however , that nothing in this Section shall prohibit a Party or the members of its Group from (A) engaging in general solicitations to the public or general advertising not targeted at employees of the other Party, (B) soliciting or hiring any employee whose employment has been terminated by the other Party following the Effective Time or (C) soliciting or hiring any employee whose employment with the other Party has been terminated by the employee following the Effective Time (but only after at least ninety (90) days have passed since the date of termination of employment).

(b)    From the Effective Time until the date that is 30 months after the Effective Time, each Party shall not, and shall cause the members of its Group not to, without the prior written consent of the other Party (which consent may be withheld for any reason), directly or indirectly, (i) engage in a Competing Business anywhere in the Restricted Territory, (ii) own any equity interest, or operate, control or participate (including as a joint venture partner, agent, representative, consultant or lender) in any Person that engages directly or indirectly in a Competing Business in the Restricted Territory (subject to any such relationship existing on the date of this Agreement); provided , however , that this Section  8.2(b) shall not apply to Leatherwood, LLC as long as Leatherwood, LLC’s operations remain substantially similar to its operations as of the Effective Date, with the primary purpose of such operations being the acquisition and maintenance of shallow oil and natural gas (including coalbed methane and natural gas liquids and any other constituents) wells for the ultimate purpose of plugging such wells for mine through.

(c)    Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the prohibitions in Section  8.2 shall not apply to:

(i)    any acquisition (whether through the acquisition of assets, securities or other ownership interests or a merger, consolidation, share exchange, business combination, reorganization, recapitalization or other similar transaction) by a Party or any member of its Group of all or any part of a business or Person that is engaged in a Competing Business where the revenues of the acquired Competing Business represent no more than ten percent (10%) of the aggregate consolidated revenues of such acquired business or Person, as applicable, for such business’s or Person’s most recently completed fiscal year; or

(ii)    the ownership by a Party or any member of its Group, directly or indirectly, of less than five percent (5%) of any class of the securities of any Person traded on a national or international securities exchange;

(d)    In the event that a Party or any of its successors or assigns (i) consolidates with or merges into any other Person and is not the continuing or surviving corporation or entity of such consolidation or merger or (ii) transfers or conveys all or substantially all of its properties and other assets to any Person, then, and in each such case, such Party shall cause proper provision to be made so that such successor or assign shall expressly assume the obligations set forth in this Section.

(e)    Each Party acknowledges that (i) the covenants set forth in this Section  8.2 are an essential element of this Agreement and that, but for these covenants, the Parties would not have entered into this Agreement, and (ii) this Section  8.2 constitutes an independent covenant and shall not be affected by performance or nonperformance of any other provision of this Agreement, any Ancillary Agreement or any other document contemplated by this Agreement.

(f)    It is the intention of the Parties that if any restriction or covenant contained in this Section  8.2 is held to cover a geographic area or to be for a length of time which is not permitted by applicable Law, or in any way construed to be too broad or to any extent invalid, such restriction or covenant shall not be construed to be null, void and of no effect, but to the extent such restriction or covenant would be valid or enforceable under applicable Law, a court of competent jurisdiction shall construe and interpret or reform this Section  8.2 to provide for a covenant having the maximum enforceable geographic area, time period and other provisions (not greater than those contained in this Section  8.2 ) that would be valid and enforceable under such applicable Law.

(g)    Subject to, or to the extent restricted or limited by, or to the extent not prohibited by existing permits or agreements, the CoalCo Group members grant to Parent the sole, exclusive, and irrevocable right and option (“ Parent Option ”) to purchase and acquire, or cause a member of the Parent Group to purchase and acquire, any and all oil and natural gas interests (including natural gas liquids and any other constituents), and all associated rights to produce, that are purchased, leased, or otherwise acquired or controlled by any such CoalCo Group member via an express grant thereof within the 30 month period after the Effective Date in the

 

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Restricted Territory; provided, however, for the avoidance of doubt, that the Parent Option set forth herein does not give Parent (or member of Parent Group) any rights to purchase and acquire coalbed methane contained in any coal seam. Subject to, or to the extent not restricted by or limited to, or to the extent not prohibited by existing permits or agreements, the Parent Group members grant to CoalCo the sole, exclusive, and irrevocable right and option (“ CoalCo Option ,” and together with the Parent Option, the “ Options ”) to purchase and acquire, or to cause a member of the CoalCo Group to purchase and acquire, any and all coal interests (excluding coalbed methane), and all associated mining rights, that are purchased, leased, or otherwise acquired or controlled by any such Parent Group member via an express grant thereof within the 30 month period after the Effective Date in the Restricted Territory. The CoalCo Group members (or any of them, as applicable), with respect to the Parent Option, and the Parent Group members (or any of them, as applicable), with respect to the CoalCo Option, shall be referred to herein as the “ Optionor ,” and Parent, with respect to the Parent Option, and CoalCo, with respect to the CoalCo Option, shall be referred to as the “ Optionee .” The applicable Optionor shall provide written notice to the applicable Optionee not more than thirty (30) Business Days after such Optionor’s purchase, lease, or other acquisition of any interest subject to the relevant Option (each, an “ Option Notice ”), and, at such Optionee’s written election delivered to the applicable Optionor within thirty (30) Business Days after the Optionee’s receipt of such Option Notice, the relevant Optionor and Optionee, or Optionee’s designee, shall enter into an agreement for the purchase of such covered interests in a mutually agreeable form. The purchase price to be paid to the relevant Optionor shall be determined by a good faith allocation of the consideration paid by the pertinent Optionor(s) for each of the estates purchased, leased, or otherwise acquired as part of the same transaction, and the amount of consideration allocated to the interests that are subject to the relevant Option shall be the purchase price; provided , however , that if no consideration is paid, a good faith estimate of fair market value shall be utilized in the allocation; provided further , that to the extent the interests that are subject to the relevant Option are not freely conveyable, assignable, or transferrable, the applicable Optionor shall promptly offer to provide the beneficial ownership of such interests to the Optionee or its designee, and the Optionor and Optionee, or its designee, agree to attempt to negotiate in good faith a mutually acceptable means by which the Optionee, or its designee, will reimburse the applicable Optionor for not more than such Optionor’s fair share of the costs associated with obtaining such interests. For the avoidance of doubt, the Parent Option shall not apply to any interests purchased, leased or otherwise acquired or controlled by any CoalCo Group member after the thirtieth (30th) month following the Effective Date and shall expire and be of no further force and effect sixty (60) Business Days after such thirty (30) month period, and the CoalCo Option shall not apply to any interests purchased, leased or otherwise acquired or controlled by any Parent Group member after the thirtieth (30th) month following the Effective Date and shall expire and be of no further force and effect sixty (60) Business Days after such thirty (30) month period. This Parent Option is personal to Parent and may not be assigned by Parent, and this CoalCo Option is personal to CoalCo and may not be assigned by CoalCo, except to the extent that Parent and CoalCo may designate a designee to take title to interests acquired pursuant to the Options.

8.3     Late Payments . Except as expressly provided to the contrary in this Agreement or in any Ancillary Agreement, any amount not paid when due pursuant to this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement (and any amounts billed or otherwise invoiced or demanded and properly payable that are not paid within thirty (30) days of such bill, invoice or other demand) shall accrue interest at a rate per annum equal to Prime Rate plus two (2%) percent, compounded semiannually, from such due date to the date paid.

8.4     Inducement . Each of CoalCo and Parent acknowledges and agrees that the other’s willingness to cause, effect and consummate the Separation and the Distribution has been conditioned upon and induced by its covenants and agreements in this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements, including its assumption and/or retention of the Coal Liabilities or the Parent Liabilities, as applicable, pursuant to the Separation and the provisions of this Agreement and its covenants and agreements contained in Article  IV .

8.5     Post-Effective Time Conduct . The Parties acknowledge that, after the Effective Time, each Party shall be independent of the other Party, with responsibility for its own actions and inactions and its own Liabilities relating to, arising out of or resulting from the conduct of its business, operations and activities following the Effective Time, except as may otherwise be provided in any Ancillary Agreement, and each Party shall (except as otherwise provided in Article  IV ) use commercially reasonable efforts to prevent such Liabilities from being inappropriately borne by the other Party.

 

49


ARTICLE IX

TERMINATION

9.1     Termination . This Agreement and all Ancillary Agreements (except as otherwise provided therein), may be terminated and the Distribution may be amended, modified or abandoned at any time prior to the Effective Time by Parent, in its sole and absolute discretion, without the approval or consent of any other Person, including CoalCo or Parent’s stockholders. After the Effective Time, this Agreement may not be terminated except by an agreement in writing signed by a duly authorized officer of each of the Parties.

9.2     Effect of Termination . In the event of any termination of this Agreement prior to the Effective Time, no Party (nor any of its directors, officers or employees) shall have any Liability or further obligation to the other Party by reason of this Agreement.

ARTICLE X

MISCELLANEOUS

10.1     Counterparts; Entire Agreement; Corporate Power .

(a)    This Agreement and (except as otherwise provided therein) all Ancillary Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts, all of which shall be considered one and the same agreement, and shall become effective when one or more counterparts have been signed by each of the Parties hereto or the parties thereto, respectively, and delivered to the other Party hereto or parties thereto, respectively or when otherwise deemed effective as provided therein.

(b)    This Agreement, the Ancillary Agreements and the Exhibits, Schedules and appendices hereto and thereto contain the entire agreement between the Parties with respect to the subject matter hereof, and supersede all previous agreements, negotiations, discussions, writings, understandings, commitments and conversations with respect to such subject matter, and there are no agreements or understandings between the Parties other than those set forth or referred to herein or therein. This Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements together govern the arrangements in connection with the Separation and Distribution and would not have been entered into independently.

(c)    Parent represents on behalf of itself and each other member of the Parent Group, and CoalCo represents on behalf of itself and each other member of the CoalCo Group, as follows:

(i)    each such Person has the requisite corporate or other power and authority and has taken all corporate or other action necessary in order to execute, deliver and perform this Agreement and each Ancillary Agreement to which it is a party and to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby; and

(ii)    this Agreement and each Ancillary Agreement to which it is a party has been duly executed and delivered by it and constitutes a valid and binding agreement of it enforceable in accordance with the terms thereof.

(d)    Each Party acknowledges that it and each other Party is executing certain of the Ancillary Agreements by facsimile, stamp or mechanical signature, and that delivery of an executed counterpart of a signature page to this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement (whether executed by manual, stamp or mechanical signature) by facsimile or by e-mail in portable document format (PDF) shall be effective as delivery of such executed counterpart of this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement. Each Party expressly adopts and confirms each such facsimile, stamp or mechanical signature (regardless of whether delivered in person, by mail, by courier, by facsimile or by e-mail in portable document format (PDF)) made in its respective name as if it were a manual signature delivered in person, agrees that it shall not assert that any such signature or delivery is not adequate to bind such Party to the same extent as if it were signed manually and delivered in person and agrees that, at the reasonable request of the other Party at any time, it shall as promptly as reasonably practicable cause each such Ancillary Agreement to be manually executed (any such execution to be as of the date of the initial date thereof) and delivered in person, by mail or by courier.

 

50


10.2     Governing Law; Consent to Jurisdiction; WAIVER OF JURY TRIAL .

(a)    This Agreement and, unless expressly provided therein, each Ancillary Agreement (and any claims or disputes arising out of or related hereto or thereto or to the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby or to the inducement of any party to enter herein and therein, whether for breach of contract, tortious conduct or otherwise and whether predicated on common law, statute or otherwise) shall be governed by and construed and interpreted in accordance with the Laws of the State of Delaware irrespective of the choice of laws principles of the State of Delaware including all matters of validity, construction, effect, enforceability, performance and remedies.

(b)    Subject to the provisions of Article  VII , each of the Parties hereto hereby irrevocably and unconditionally submits, for itself and its property, to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, or, if (and only if) such court finds it lacks subject matter jurisdiction, the Federal court of the United States of America sitting in Delaware, and appellate courts thereof, in any action or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement for recognition or enforcement of any judgment relating hereto, and each of the Parties hereby irrevocably and unconditionally (i) agrees not to commence any such action or proceeding except in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, or, if (and only if) such court finds it lacks subject matter jurisdiction, the Federal court of the United States of America sitting in Delaware, and appellate courts thereof, (ii) agrees that any claim in respect of any such action or proceeding may be heard and determined in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, or, if (and only if) such court finds it lacks subject matter jurisdiction, the Federal court of the United States of America sitting in Delaware, and appellate courts thereof, (iii) waives, to the fullest extent it may legally and effectively do so, any objection that it may now or hereafter have to the laying of venue of any such action or proceeding in such courts and (iv) waives, to the fullest extent permitted by Law, the defense of an inconvenient forum to the maintenance of such action or proceeding in such courts.

(c)    EACH PARTY UNCONDITIONALLY WAIVES ANY RIGHT IT MAY HAVE TO TRIAL BY JURY IN CONNECTION WITH ANY DISPUTE ARISING UNDER THIS AGREEMENT OR ANY ANCILLARY AGREEMENT.

10.3     Assignability . Except as set forth in any Ancillary Agreement, this Agreement and each Ancillary Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the Parties hereto and the parties thereto, respectively, and their respective successors and permitted assigns; provided , however , that neither Party nor any such party thereto may assign its rights or delegate its obligations under this Agreement without the express prior written consent of the other Party hereto or other parties thereto, as applicable. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no such consent shall be required for the assignment of a Party’s rights and obligations under this Agreement and under all Ancillary Agreements (unless and except to the extent specifically provided for in such Ancillary Agreement) in whole (i.e., the assignment of a party’s rights and obligations under this Agreement and all Ancillary Agreements all at the same time) in connection with a change of control of a Party so long as the resulting, surviving or transferee Person assumes all the obligations of the relevant party thereto by operation of Law or pursuant to an agreement in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the other Party. Nothing herein is intended to, or shall be construed to, prohibit either Party or any member of its Group from being party to or undertaking a change of control.

10.4     Third-Party Beneficiaries . Except for any Parent Indemnitee or CoalCo Indemnitee (in their respective capacities as such) expressly entitled to indemnification rights under this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement, (a) the provisions of this Agreement and each Ancillary Agreement are solely for the benefit of the Parties hereto and parties thereto, respectively, and are not intended to confer upon any other Person any rights or remedies hereunder, and (b) there are no third-party beneficiaries of this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement and neither this Agreement nor any Ancillary Agreement shall provide any Third Party with any remedy, claim, Liability, reimbursement, claim of action or other right in excess of those existing without reference to this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement.

 

51


10.5     Notices . All notices, requests, claims, demands or other communications under this Agreement and, to the extent, applicable and unless otherwise provided therein, under each of the Ancillary Agreements shall be in writing and shall be given or made (and shall be deemed to have been duly given or made upon receipt) by delivery in person, by overnight courier service or by registered or certified mail postage prepaid, return receipt requested, by facsimile or electronic transmission with receipt confirmed (followed by delivery of an original via overnight courier service or by registered or certified mail postage prepaid, return receipt requested) to the respective Parties at the following addresses (or at such other address for a Party as shall be specified in a notice given in accordance with this Section  10.5 ):

If to Parent, to:

CONSOL Energy Inc.

Attention: Chief Legal Officer

Facsimile:                                              

If to CoalCo, to:

CONSOL Mining Corporation

Attn: Chief Legal Officer

Facsimile:                                              

A Party may, by notice to the other Party, change the address to which such notices are to be given.

10.6     Severability . If any provision of this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement or the application thereof to any Person or circumstance is determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, void or unenforceable, the remaining provisions hereof or thereof, or the application of such provision to Persons or circumstances or in jurisdictions other than those as to which it has been held invalid or unenforceable, shall remain in full force and effect and shall in no way be affected, impaired or invalidated thereby. Upon such determination, the Parties shall negotiate in good faith in an effort to agree upon such a suitable and equitable provision to effect the original intent of the Parties.

10.7     Force Majeure . No Party shall be deemed in default of this Agreement or, unless otherwise expressly provided therein, any Ancillary Agreement for any delay or failure to fulfill any obligation (other than a payment obligation) hereunder or thereunder so long as and to the extent to which any delay or failure in the fulfillment of such obligation is prevented, frustrated, hindered or delayed as a consequence of circumstances of Force Majeure. In the event of any such excused delay, the time for performance of such obligations (other than a payment obligation) shall be extended for a period equal to the time lost by reason of the delay unless this Agreement has previously been terminated under Article  IX . A Party claiming the benefit of this provision shall, as soon as reasonably practicable after the occurrence of any such event, (a) provide written notice to the other Party of the nature and extent of any such Force Majeure condition; and (b) use commercially reasonable efforts to remove any such causes and resume performance under this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements, as applicable, as soon as reasonably practicable.

10.8     No Set-Off . Except as expressly set forth in any Ancillary Agreement or as otherwise mutually agreed to in writing by the Parties, neither Party nor any member of such Party’s Group shall have any right of set-off or other similar rights with respect to (a) any amounts received pursuant to this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement; or (b) any other amounts claimed to be owed to the other Party or any member of its Group arising out of this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement.

10.9     Publicity . Prior to the Effective Time, each of CoalCo and Parent shall consult with each other prior to issuing any press releases or otherwise making public statements with respect to the Separation, the Distribution or any of the other transactions contemplated hereby or under any Ancillary Agreement and prior to making any filings with any Governmental Authority with respect thereto, and shall not issue any such press release or make any such public statement prior to such consultation, except as may be required by applicable Law, court process or by obligations pursuant to any listing agreement with any national securities exchange or national securities quotation system, or except as in the common course of placing transfer documents and other instruments of record in the applicable county or state real property records systems.

 

52


10.10     Expenses . Except as otherwise expressly set forth in this Agreement (including Section  2.16(b) ) or any Ancillary Agreement, or as otherwise agreed to in writing by the Parties, all fees, costs and expenses incurred (a) on or prior to the Effective Time in connection with the preparation, execution, delivery and implementation of this Agreement and any Ancillary Agreement, the Separation, the Distribution, the Form 10 and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby (including third party fees and expenses incurred on a non-recurring basis as a result of such transactions) and (b) after the Effective Time, in each case, shall be borne by the Party or its applicable Subsidiary incurring such fees, costs or expenses; provided , that the costs and expenses set forth on Schedule  10.10 shall be allocated between the Parties as set forth therein.

10.11     Headings . The article, section and paragraph headings contained in this Agreement and in the Ancillary Agreements are for reference purposes only and shall not affect in any way the meaning or interpretation of this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement.

10.12     Survival of Covenants . Except as expressly set forth in this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement, the covenants, representations and warranties contained in this Agreement and each Ancillary Agreement, and Liability for the breach of any obligations contained herein, shall survive the Separation and the Distribution and shall remain in full force and effect in accordance with their terms.

10.13     Waivers of Default . Waiver by a Party of any default by the other Party of any provision of this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement must be in writing and shall not be deemed a waiver by the waiving Party of any subsequent or other default, nor shall it prejudice the rights of the other Party. No failure or delay by a Party in exercising any right, power or privilege under this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement shall operate as a waiver thereof, nor shall a single or partial exercise thereof prejudice any other or further exercise thereof or the exercise of any other right, power or privilege.

10.14     Specific Performance . Subject to the provisions of Article  VII , in the event of any actual or threatened default in, or breach of, any of the terms, conditions and provisions of this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement, the Party hereto or parties thereto, respectively, who are, or are to be, thereby aggrieved shall have the right to specific performance and injunctive or other equitable relief in respect of their respective rights under this Agreement or such Ancillary Agreement, as applicable, in addition to any and all other rights and remedies at law or in equity, and all such rights and remedies shall be cumulative. The Parties agree that the remedies at law for any breach or threatened breach, including monetary damages, are inadequate compensation for any loss and that any defense in any action for specific performance that a remedy at law would be adequate is waived. Any requirements for the securing or posting of any bond with such remedy are waived by each of the Parties.

10.15     Amendments . No provisions of this Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement shall be deemed waived, amended, supplemented or modified by a Party, unless such waiver, amendment, supplement or modification is in writing and signed by the authorized representative of the Party against whom it is sought to enforce such waiver, amendment, supplement or modification.

10.16     Interpretation . In this Agreement and any Ancillary Agreement, (a) words in the singular shall be deemed to include the plural and vice versa and words of one gender shall be deemed to include the other genders as the context requires; (b) the terms “hereof,” “herein,” and “herewith” and words of similar import shall, unless otherwise stated, be construed to refer to this Agreement (or the applicable Ancillary Agreement) as a whole (including all of the Schedules, Exhibits and Appendices hereto and thereto) and not to any particular provision of this Agreement (or such Ancillary Agreement); (c) Article, Section, Schedule, Exhibit and Appendix references are to the Articles, Sections, Schedules, Exhibits and Appendices to this Agreement (or the applicable Ancillary Agreement) unless otherwise specified; (d) unless otherwise stated, all references to any agreement (including this Agreement and each Ancillary Agreement) shall be deemed to include the exhibits, schedules and annexes to such agreement (including all Schedules, Exhibits and Appendixes); (e) the word “including” and words of similar import when used in this Agreement (or the applicable Ancillary Agreement) shall mean “including, without limitation,” unless otherwise specified; (f) the word “or” shall not be exclusive; (g) unless otherwise specified in a particular case, the word “days” refers to calendar days; (h) references to “business day” shall mean any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday or a day on which banking institutions are generally authorized or required by law to close in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania or New York, New York; (i) references herein to this Agreement or any other agreement contemplated herein shall be deemed to refer to this Agreement or such other agreement as of the date on which it is executed and as it may be amended, modified or supplemented thereafter, unless otherwise specified; (j) the word “extent” in the phrase “to the extent” shall mean the degree to which a subject or other thing extends, and such phrase shall not mean simply “if” ; and (k) unless expressly stated to the contrary in this Agreement, all references to “the date hereof,” “the date of this Agreement,” “hereby” and “hereupon” and words of similar import shall all be references to the date set forth on the cover page of this Agreement.

 

53


10.17     Limitations of Liability . Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, neither CoalCo or any member of the CoalCo Group, on the one hand, nor Parent or any member of the Parent Group, on the other hand, shall be liable under this Agreement to the other for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, punitive, exemplary, remote, speculative or similar damages in excess of compensatory damages of the other (including lost profits or lost revenues) arising in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby (other than any such Liability to the extent awarded to a Third Party with respect to a Third-Party Claim).

10.18     Performance . Parent shall cause to be performed, and hereby guarantees the performance of, all actions, agreements and obligations set forth in this Agreement or in any Ancillary Agreement to be performed by any member of the Parent Group. CoalCo shall cause to be performed, and hereby guarantees the performance of, all actions, agreements and obligations set forth in this Agreement or in any Ancillary Agreement to be performed by any member of the CoalCo Group. Each Party (including its permitted successors and assigns) further agrees that it shall (a) give timely notice of the terms, conditions and continuing obligations contained in this Agreement and any applicable Ancillary Agreement to all of the other members of its Group and (b) cause all of the other members of its Group not to take any action or fail to take any such action inconsistent with such Party’s obligations under this Agreement, any Ancillary Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby.

10.19     Mutual Drafting . This Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements shall be deemed to be the joint work product of the Parties and any rule of construction that a document shall be interpreted or construed against a drafter of such document shall not be applicable.

[Remainder of page intentionally left blank]

 

54


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have caused this Separation and Distribution Agreement to be executed by their duly authorized representatives as of the date first written above.

 

CONSOL ENERGY INC.

By:

 

/s/ Stephen W. Johnson

Name:   Stephen W. Johnson
Title:   Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer
CONSOL MINING CORPORATION
By:  

/s/ James A. Brock

Name:   James A. Brock
Title:   Chief Executive Officer

[Signature Page to Separation and Distribution Agreement]

Exhibit 2.2

TAX MATTERS AGREEMENT

BY AND BETWEEN

CONSOL ENERGY INC.

AND

CONSOL MINING CORPORATION

DATED AS OF NOVEMBER 28, 2017


TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

Section 1.

 

Definition of Terms.

     2  

Section 2.

 

Allocation of Tax Liabilities.

     9  
 

Section 2.01 General Rule

     9  
 

Section 2.02 Allocation of United States Federal Income Tax

     10  
 

Section 2.03 Allocation of State Income and State Other Taxes

     10  
 

Section 2.04 Allocation of Foreign Taxes

     10  
 

Section 2.05 Certain Transaction and Other Taxes

     11  

Section 3.

 

Proration of Taxes for Straddle Periods and Certain Other Periods.

     11  

Section 4.

 

Preparation and Filing of Tax Returns.

     13  
 

Section 4.01 General

     13  
 

Section 4.02 Parent’s Responsibility

     13  
 

Section 4.03 CoalCo’s Responsibility

     13  
 

Section 4.04 Tax Accounting Practices

     13  
 

Section 4.05 Consolidated or Combined Tax Returns

     13  
 

Section 4.06 Right to Review Tax Returns

     14  
 

Section 4.07 CoalCo Carryback Items and Claims for Refund

     14  
 

Section 4.08 Apportionment of Earnings and Profits and Tax Attributes

     14  

Section 5.

 

Tax Payments.

     15  
 

Section 5.01 Payment of Taxes with Respect to Parent Federal Consolidated Income Tax Returns and Parent State Combined Income Tax Returns

     15  
 

Section 5.02 Payment of Taxes with Respect to Joint Returns (Other Than a Parent Federal Consolidated Income Tax Return or Parent State Combined Income Tax Return) and Certain Returns of Other Taxes

     15  
 

Section 5.03 Payment of Separate Company Taxes

     16  
 

Section 5.04 Indemnification Payments

     16  

Section 6.

 

Tax Benefits.

     16  
 

Section 6.01 Tax Benefits

     16  
 

Section 6.02 Parent and CoalCo Income Tax Deductions in Respect of Certain Equity Awards and Incentive Compensation

     16  

Section 7.

 

Tax-Free Status.

     17  
 

Section 7.01 Representations

     17  
 

Section 7.02 Restrictions on CoalCo

     17  
 

Section 7.03 Restrictions on Parent

     18  
 

Section 7.04 Procedures Regarding Opinions and Post-Distribution Rulings

     18  
 

Section 7.05 Liability for Tax-Related Losses

     19  
 

Section 7.06 Section 336(e) Election

     20  

 

i


Section 8.

 

Assistance and Cooperation.

     20  
 

Section 8.01 Assistance and Cooperation

     20  
 

Section 8.02 Income Tax Return Information

     21  
 

Section 8.03 Reliance by Parent

     21  
 

Section 8.04 Reliance by CoalCo

     21  

Section 9.

 

Tax Records.

     21  
 

Section 9.01 Retention of Tax Records

     21  
 

Section 9.02 Access to Tax Records

     21  
 

Section 9.03 Preservation of Privilege

     22  

Section 10.

 

Tax Contests.

     22  
 

Section 10.01 Notice

     22  
 

Section 10.02 Control of Tax Contests

     22  

Section 11.

 

Effective Date; Termination of Prior Intercompany Tax Allocation Agreements.

     24  

Section 12.

 

Survival of Obligations.

     24  

Section 13.

 

Treatment of Payments; Tax Gross Up.

     24  
 

Section 13.01 Treatment of Tax Indemnity and Tax Benefit Payments

     24  
 

Section 13.02 Tax Gross Up

     24  
 

Section 13.03 Interest

     24  

Section 14.

 

Disagreements.

     24  
 

Section 14.01 Interaction with Article VII of the Separation and Distribution Agreement

     24  
 

Section 14.02 Dispute Resolution

     25  

Section 15.

 

Late Payments.

     25  

Section 16.

 

Expenses.

     25  

Section 17.

 

General Provisions.

     25  
 

Section 17.01 Addresses and Notices

     25  
 

Section 17.02 Assignability

     26  
 

Section 17.03 Waiver

     26  
 

Section 17.04 Severability

     26  
 

Section 17.05 Authority

     26  
 

Section 17.06 Further Action

     26  
 

Section 17.07 Integration

     26  
 

Section 17.08 Construction

     26  
 

Section 17.09 No Double Recovery

     26  

 

ii


 

Section 17.10 Counterparts

    27  
 

Section 17.11 Governing Law

    27  
 

Section 17.12 Jurisdiction

    27  
 

Section 17.13 Amendment

    27  
 

Section 17.14 CoalCo Subsidiaries

    27  
 

Section 17.15 Successors

    27  
 

Section 17.16 Injunctions

    27  

 

iii


TAX MATTERS AGREEMENT

This TAX MATTERS AGREEMENT (this “ Agreement ”) is entered into as of November 28, 2017, by and between CONSOL Energy Inc., a Delaware corporation (“ Parent ”), and CONSOL Mining Corporation, a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent (“ CoalCo ”) (collectively, the “ Companies ” and each a “ Company ”).

RECITALS

WHEREAS, Parent and CoalCo have entered into a Separation and Distribution Agreement, dated as of November 28, 2017 (the “ Separation and Distribution Agreement ”), providing for the separation of the Parent Group from the CoalCo Group;

WHEREAS, pursuant to the terms of the Separation and Distribution Agreement, Parent will, among other things, (i) transfer the Coal Assets to CoalCo and its Subsidiaries, in actual or constructive exchange for (a) the issuance by CoalCo to Parent of CoalCo Common Stock, (b) the assumption by CoalCo and its Subsidiaries of the CoalCo Liabilities, and (c) the transfer by CoalCo to Parent of cash in an amount equal to $425 million (the “ Cash Payment ”), (ii) transfer the Cash Payment to third-party creditors or stockholders of Parent in connection with the reorganization and as contemplated by the Ruling Request (the “ Creditor Repayment ”), and (iii) effect the Distribution;

WHEREAS, for U.S. Federal Income Tax purposes, it is intended that the Contribution and Distribution shall qualify as transactions that are generally tax free pursuant to Sections 355(a) and 368(a)(1)(D) of the Code;

WHEREAS, as of the date hereof, Parent is the common parent of an affiliated group (as defined in Section 1504 of the Code) of corporations, including CoalCo, which has elected to file consolidated Federal Income Tax Returns;

WHEREAS, as a result of the Distribution, CoalCo and its subsidiaries will cease to be members of the affiliated group of which Parent is the common parent (the “Deconsolidation” );

WHEREAS, the parties desire to provide for and agree upon the allocation between the parties of liabilities for Taxes arising prior to, as a result of, and subsequent to the Distribution, and to provide for and agree upon other matters relating to Taxes;

NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual agreements contained herein, the parties hereby agree as follows:

Section  1. Definition of Terms. For purposes of this agreement (including the recitals hereof), the following terms have the following meanings, and capitalized terms used but not otherwise defined herein shall have the meaning ascribed to them in the Separation and Distribution Agreement:

“Accounting Cutoff Date” shall mean, with respect to CoalCo, any date as of the end of which there is a closing of the financial accounting records for such entity.

“Adjustment Request” shall mean any formal or informal claim or request filed with any Tax Authority, or with any administrative agency or court, for the adjustment, Refund, or credit of Taxes, including (a) any amended Tax Return claiming adjustment to the Taxes as reported on the Tax Return or, if applicable, as previously adjusted, (b) any claim for equitable recoupment or other offset, and (c) any claim for Refund or credit of Taxes previously paid.

“Affiliate” shall mean, when used with respect to a specified Person, a Person that, directly or indirectly, through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by or is under common control with such specified Person. The status of an Affiliate shall be determined immediately after the Distribution. For the purpose of this definition, “ control ” (including, with correlative meanings, “ controlled by ” and “ under common control with ”), when used with respect to any specified Person shall mean the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of such Person, whether through the ownership of voting securities or other interests, by contract, agreement, obligation, indenture, instrument, lease, promise, arrangement, release, warranty, commitment, undertaking or otherwise. It is expressly agreed that, prior to, at and after the Effective Time, for purposes of this Agreement, (a) no member of the CoalCo Group shall be deemed to be an Affiliate of any member of the Parent Group and (b) no member of the Parent Group shall be deemed to be an Affiliate of any member of the CoalCo Group.

“Agreement” shall mean this Tax Matters Agreement.

“Ancillary Agreements” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

 

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“Approvals or Notifications” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

“business day” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

“CFO Certificate” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 7.02(e) of this Agreement.

“Coal Asset” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

“CoalCo” shall have the meaning set forth in the first sentence of this Agreement, and references herein to CoalCo shall include any entity treated as a successor to CoalCo.

“CoalCo Active Trade or Business” shall mean the active conduct (as defined in Section 355(b)(2) of the Code and the regulations thereunder) of the Coal Active Business by CoalCo’s “separate affiliated group” (as defined in Section 355(b)(3)(B) of the Code) and (in respect of the portion of the Coal Active Business comprising the MLP Business) through CNX Coal Resources (“Coal Active Business” and “MLP Business” each having the meaning set forth with respect to such term in the Representation Letters supporting the opinion of Parent’s Tax Advisors issued in connection with the closing of the Distribution).

“CoalCo Capital Stock” shall mean all classes or series of capital stock of CoalCo, including (i) the CoalCo Common Stock, (ii) all options, warrants and other rights to acquire such capital stock and (iii) all instruments properly treated as stock in CoalCo for U.S. Federal Income Tax purposes.

“CoalCo Carryback Item” shall mean any net operating loss, net capital loss, excess tax credit, or other similar Tax item of any member of the CoalCo Group which may or must be carried from one Tax Period to another prior Tax Period under the Code or other applicable Tax Law.

“CoalCo Common Stock” shall have the meaning ascribed to the term “CoalCo Shares” in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

“CoalCo Federal Consolidated Income Tax Return” shall mean any Federal Income Tax Return for the affiliated group (as that term is defined in Section 1504 of the Code) of which CoalCo is the common parent.

“CoalCo Group” shall mean (a) prior to the Effective Time, CoalCo and each Person that will be an Affiliate of CoalCo as of immediately after the Effective Time, including the Transferred Entities, even if, prior to the Effective Time, such Person is not an Affiliate of CoalCo; and (b) on and after the Effective Time, CoalCo and each Person that is an Affiliate of CoalCo.

“CoalCo Retained Other Taxes” shall mean Other Taxes incurred in the ordinary course of business that have been accrued on the financial statements of any member of the CoalCo Group as of the Distribution Date, excluding, for the avoidance of doubt, Other Taxes imposed with respect to the Transactions.

“CoalCo Separate Return” shall mean any Separate Return of CoalCo or any member of the CoalCo Group.

“Code” shall mean the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

“Combined Tax Ticket” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  3(c)(i) of this Agreement.

“Companies” and “Company” shall have the meaning set forth in the first sentence of this Agreement.

“Compensatory Equity Interests” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  6.02(a) of this Agreement.

“Contribution” shall mean the transfer of Coal Assets by Parent to CoalCo and its Subsidiaries pursuant to the Separation and Distribution Agreement in actual or constructive exchange for (i) the issuance by CoalCo to Parent of shares of CoalCo Common Stock, (ii) the assumption by CoalCo and its Subsidiaries of the CoalCo Liabilities and (iii) the transfer by CoalCo to Parent of the Cash Payment.

“Deconsolidation” shall have the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.

“Deconsolidation Date” shall mean the last date on which CoalCo qualifies as a member of the affiliated group (as defined in Section 1504 of the Code) of which Parent is the common parent.

 

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“DGCL” shall mean the Delaware General Corporation Law.

“Distribution” shall mean the distribution by Parent of all the common stock of CoalCo pro rata to holders of Parent common stock as more fully described in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

“Distribution Date” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

“Distribution-Related Tax Contest ” shall mean any Tax Contest in which the IRS, another Tax Authority or any other party asserts a position that could reasonably be expected to (i) adversely affect the Tax-Free Status of the Contribution and Distribution or (ii) jeopardize or prevent a Separation Transaction having the tax treatment described in the Tax Opinions/Rulings.

Due Date” means with respect to a Tax Return, the date (taking into account all valid extensions) on which such Tax Return is required to be filed under applicable Law.

“Effective Time” shall mean 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on the Distribution Date.

“Employee Matters Agreement ” shall mean the Employee Matters Agreement, dated as of November 28, 2017, by and between Parent and CoalCo.

“Federal Income Tax” shall mean any Tax imposed by Subtitle A of the Code, and any interest, penalties, additions to tax, or additional amounts in respect of the foregoing.

“Federal Income Tax Return” shall mean any Tax Return of (i) any member of the CoalCo Group (including any consolidated, combined or unitary return), or (ii) any member of the Parent Group (including any consolidated, combined or unitary return), in each case, with respect to Federal Income Taxes, including any Parent Federal Consolidated Income Tax Return and any CoalCo Federal Consolidated Income Tax Return.

“Federal Other Tax” shall mean any Tax imposed by the federal government of the United States of America other than any Federal Income Taxes, and any interest, penalties, additions to tax, or additional amounts in respect of the foregoing.

“Federal Tax” shall mean any Federal Income Tax or Federal Other Tax.

“Federal Tax Return” shall mean any Tax Return of (i) any member of the CoalCo Group (including any consolidated, combined or unitary return), or (ii) any member of the Parent Group (including any consolidated, combined or unitary return), in each case, with respect to Federal Taxes.

“Fifty-Percent or Greater Interest” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term for purposes of Sections 355(d) and (e) of the Code.

“Filing Date” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  7.05(d) of this Agreement.

“Final Determination” shall mean the final resolution of liability for any Tax, which resolution may be for a specific issue or adjustment or for a Tax Period, (a) by IRS Form 870 or 870-AD (or any successor forms thereto), on the date of acceptance by or on behalf of the taxpayer, or by a comparable form under the laws of a State, local, or foreign taxing jurisdiction, except that a Form 870 or 870-AD or comparable form shall not constitute a Final Determination to the extent that it reserves (whether by its terms or by operation of law) the right of the taxpayer to file a claim for Refund or the right of the Tax Authority to assert a further deficiency in respect of such issue or adjustment or for such Tax Period (as the case may be); (b) by a decision, judgment, decree, or other order by a court of competent jurisdiction, which has become final and unappealable; (c) by a closing agreement or accepted offer in compromise under Section 7121 or 7122 of the Code, or a comparable agreement under the laws of a State, local, or foreign taxing jurisdiction; (d) by any allowance of a Refund or credit in respect of an overpayment of Income Tax or Other Tax, but only after the expiration of all periods during which such Refund may be recovered (including by way of offset) by the jurisdiction imposing such Income Tax or Other Tax; or (e) by any other final disposition, including by reason of the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations or by mutual agreement of the parties.

“Foreign Income Tax” shall mean any Tax imposed by any foreign country or any possession of the United States, or by any political subdivision of any foreign country or United States possession, which is an income tax as defined in Treasury Regulations Section 1.901-2, and any interest, penalties, additions to tax, or additional amounts in respect of the foregoing.

 

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“Foreign Other Tax” shall mean any Tax imposed by any foreign country or any possession of the United States, or by any political subdivision of any foreign country or United States possession, other than any Foreign Income Taxes, and any interest, penalties, additions to tax, or additional amounts in respect of the foregoing.

“Foreign Tax” shall mean any Foreign Income Taxes or Foreign Other Taxes.

“Foreign Tax Return” shall mean any Tax Return of (i) any member of the CoalCo Group (including any consolidated, combined or unitary return), or (ii) any member of the Parent Group (including any consolidated, combined or unitary return), in each case, with respect to Foreign Taxes.

“Governmental Authority” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

“Group” shall mean the Parent Group or the CoalCo Group, or both, as the context requires.

“Income Tax” shall mean any Federal Income Tax, State Income Tax or Foreign Income Tax.

“Indemnitee” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  13.03 of this Agreement.

“Indemnitor” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  13.03 of this Agreement.

“IRS” shall mean the United States Internal Revenue Service.

“Joint Return” shall mean any Tax Return of a member of the Parent Group or the CoalCo Group that is not a Separate Return.

“Notified Action” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  7.04(a) of this Agreement.

“Other Tax” shall mean any Federal Other Tax, State Other Tax, or Foreign Other Tax.

“Parent” shall have the meaning set forth in the first sentence of this Agreement.

“Parent Adjustment” shall mean any proposed adjustment by a Tax Authority or claim for Refund asserted in a Tax Contest to the extent Parent would be exclusively liable for any resulting Tax under this Agreement or exclusively entitled to receive any resulting Tax Benefit under this Agreement.

“Parent Affiliated Group” shall have the meaning set forth in the definition of “Parent Federal Consolidated Income Tax Return.”

“Parent Asset” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

“Parent Federal Consolidated Income Tax Return” shall mean any Federal Income Tax Return for the affiliated group (as that term is defined in Section 1504 of the Code and the regulations thereunder) of which Parent is the common parent (the “ Parent Affiliated Group ”).

“Parent Foreign Combined Income Tax Return” shall mean a consolidated, combined or unitary or other similar Foreign Income Tax Return or any Foreign Income Tax Return with respect to any profit and/or loss sharing group, group payment or similar group or fiscal unity that actually includes, by election or otherwise, one or more members of the Parent Group together with one or more members of the CoalCo Group.

“Parent Group” shall mean Parent and each Person that is an Affiliate of Parent (other than CoalCo and any other member of the CoalCo Group).

“Parent Separate Return” shall mean any Separate Return of Parent or any member of the Parent Group.

“Parent State Combined Income Tax Return” shall mean a consolidated, combined or unitary or other similar State Income Tax Return that actually includes, by election or otherwise, one or more members of the Parent Group together with one or more members of the CoalCo Group.

“Party” shall mean any party to this Agreement as the context requires.

 

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“Past Practices” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  4.02(a) of this Agreement.

“Payment Date” shall mean (i) with respect to any Parent Federal Consolidated Income Tax Return, the Due Date for any required installment of estimated taxes determined under Section 6655 of the Code, the Due Date (determined without regard to extensions) for filing the return determined under Section 6072 of the Code, and the date the return is filed, and (ii) with respect to any other Tax Return, the corresponding dates determined under the applicable Tax Law.

“Payor” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  5.04(a) of this Agreement.

“Person” shall mean any individual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, association, joint stock company, trust, joint venture, unincorporated organization or a governmental entity or any department, agency or political subdivision thereof, without regard to whether any entity is treated as disregarded for U.S. Federal Income Tax purposes.

“Post-Deconsolidation Period” shall mean any Tax Period beginning after the Deconsolidation Date, and, in the case of any Straddle Period, the portion of such Straddle Period beginning the day after the Deconsolidation Date.

“Post-Distribution Ruling” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  7.02(d) of this Agreement.

“Pre-Deconsolidation Period” shall mean any Tax Period ending on or before the Deconsolidation Date, and, in the case of any Straddle Period, the portion of such Straddle Period ending on the Deconsolidation Date.

“Prime Rate” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

“Privilege” shall mean any privilege that may be asserted under applicable law, including, any privilege arising under or relating to the attorney-client relationship (including the attorney-client and work product privileges), the accountant-client privilege and any privilege relating to internal evaluation processes.

“Proposed Acquisition Transaction” shall mean a transaction or series of transactions (or any agreement, understanding or arrangement, within the meaning of Section 355(e) of the Code and Treasury Regulations Section 1.355-7, or any other regulations promulgated thereunder, to enter into a transaction or series of transactions), whether such transaction is supported by CoalCo management or shareholders, is a hostile acquisition, or otherwise, as a result of which CoalCo would merge or consolidate with any other Person or as a result of which any Person or Persons would (directly or indirectly) acquire, or have the right to acquire, from CoalCo and/or one or more holders of outstanding shares of CoalCo Capital Stock, a number of shares of CoalCo Capital Stock that would, when combined with any other changes in ownership of CoalCo Capital Stock pertinent for purposes of Section 355(e) of the Code, comprise 40% or more of (A) the value of all outstanding shares of stock of CoalCo as of the date of such transaction, or in the case of a series of transactions, the date of the last transaction of such series, or (B) the total combined voting power of all outstanding shares of voting stock of CoalCo as of the date of such transaction, or in the case of a series of transactions, the date of the last transaction of such series. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a Proposed Acquisition Transaction shall not include (A) the adoption by CoalCo of a shareholder rights plan or (B) issuances by CoalCo that satisfy “Safe Harbor VIII” (relating to acquisitions in connection with a person’s performance of services) or “Safe Harbor IX” (relating to acquisitions by a retirement plan of an employer) of Treasury Regulations Section 1.355-7(d). For purposes of determining whether a transaction constitutes an indirect acquisition, any recapitalization resulting in a shift of voting power or any redemption of shares of stock shall be treated as an indirect acquisition of shares of stock by the non-exchanging shareholders. This definition and the application thereof is intended to monitor compliance with Section 355(e) of the Code and shall be interpreted accordingly. Any clarification of, or change in, the statute or regulations promulgated under Section 355(e) of the Code shall be incorporated into this definition and its interpretation.

“Recipient” shall mean, with respect to the transfers occurring pursuant to the Transactions, the Party receiving assets and/or liabilities.

“Refund” shall mean any refund of Taxes, including any refund or reduction in Tax Liabilities by means of a credit or offset.

“Representation Letters” shall mean the statements of facts and representations, officer’s certificates, representation letters and any other materials (including, without limitation, a Ruling Request and any related supplemental submissions to the IRS or other Tax Authority) delivered by, or on behalf of, Parent, CoalCo or others to a Tax Advisor or Tax Authority in connection with the issuance by such Tax Advisor and/or the issuance by the IRS or other Tax Authority of the Tax Opinions/Rulings.

“Required Party” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  5.04(a) of this Agreement.

 

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“Responsible Company” shall mean, with respect to any Tax Return, the Company having responsibility for preparing and filing such Tax Return under this Agreement.

“Restriction Period” shall mean the period beginning on the date hereof and ending on the day after the two-year anniversary of the Distribution Date.

“Retained PAMC Business” shall have the meaning set forth with respect to such term in the Representation Letters supporting the opinion of Parent’s Tax Advisors issued in connection with the closing of the Distribution.

“Retention Date” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  9.01 of this Agreement.

“Ruling Request” shall mean any letter filed by Parent with the IRS or other Tax Authority requesting a ruling regarding certain tax consequences of any of the Separation Transactions (including all attachments, exhibits, and other materials submitted with such ruling request letter) and any amendments or supplements to such ruling request letter.

“Section  336(e) Election” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  7.06 of this Agreement.

“Section  7.02(e) Acquisition Transaction” shall mean any transaction or series of transactions that is not a Proposed Acquisition Transaction but would be a Proposed Acquisition Transaction if the percentage reflected in the definition of Proposed Acquisition Transaction were 25% instead of 40%.

“Separate Return” shall mean (a) in the case of any Tax Return of any member of the CoalCo Group (including any consolidated, combined or unitary return), any such Tax Return that does not include any member of the Parent Group and (b) in the case of any Tax Return of any member of the Parent Group (including any consolidated, combined or unitary return), any such Tax Return that does not include any member of the CoalCo Group.

“Separate Tax Ticket” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  3(c)(i) of this Agreement.

“Separation and Distribution Agreement” shall have the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.

“Separation Transactions” shall mean the Contribution, the Distribution and the other transactions contemplated by the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

“State Income Tax” shall mean any Tax imposed by any State of the United States (or by any political subdivision of any such State) or the District of Columbia, or any city or municipality located therein, which is imposed on or measured by net income, including state and local franchise or similar Taxes measured by net income, and any interest, penalties, additions to tax, or additional amounts in respect of the foregoing.

“State Income Tax Return” shall mean any Tax Return with respect to State Income Taxes.

“State Other Tax” shall mean any Tax imposed by any State of the United States (or by any political subdivision of any such State) or the District of Columbia, or by any city or municipality located therein, other than any State Income Taxes, and any interest, penalties, additions to tax, or additional amounts in respect of the foregoing.

“State Tax” shall mean any State Income Taxes or State Other Taxes.

“State Tax Return” shall mean any Tax Return of (i) any member of the CoalCo Group (including any consolidated, combined or unitary return), or (ii) any member of the Parent Group (including any consolidated, combined or unitary return), in each case, with respect to State Taxes.

“Straddle Period” shall mean any Tax Period that begins on or before and ends after the Deconsolidation Date.

“Subsidiary” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

“Tax” or “Taxes” shall mean any income, gross income, gross receipts, profits, capital stock, franchise, withholding, property, ad valorem , stamp, excise, severance, occupation, service, sales, use, license, lease, transfer, import, export, value added, alternative minimum, estimated or other tax (including any fee, assessment, or other charge in the nature of or in lieu of any tax) imposed by any governmental entity or political subdivision thereof, and any interest, penalties, additions to tax, or additional amounts in respect of the foregoing.

 

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“Tax Advisor” shall mean a United States tax counsel or accountant of recognized national standing.

“Tax Advisor Dispute” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  14 of this Agreement.

“Tax Attribute” or “Attribute” shall mean a net operating loss, net capital loss, unused investment credit, unused foreign tax credit, excess charitable contribution, general business credit or any other Tax Item that could reduce a Tax.

“Tax Authority” shall mean, with respect to any Tax, the governmental entity or political subdivision thereof that imposes such Tax, and the agency (if any) charged with the collection of such Tax for such entity or subdivision.

“Tax Benefit” shall mean any loss, deduction, Refund, credit, or other item reducing Taxes otherwise payable.

“Tax Contest” shall mean an audit, review, examination, or any other administrative or judicial proceeding with the purpose or effect of redetermining Taxes (including any administrative or judicial review of any claim for Refund).

“Tax-Free Status” shall mean the qualification of the Contribution and Distribution, taken together, (a) as a transaction described in Sections 355 and 368(a)(1)(D) of the Code, (b) as a transaction in which the stock distributed thereby is “qualified property” for purposes of Sections 355(c)(2) and 361(c)(2) of the Code, and (c) as a transaction in which Parent, CoalCo and the members of their respective Groups recognize no income or gain for U.S. Federal Income Tax purposes pursuant to Sections 355, 361 and 1032 of the Code, other than (x) gain recognized pursuant to Section 361(b) with respect to any portion of the Cash Payment that is not transferred to shareholders or creditors of Parent in connection with the Contribution and Distribution or (y) intercompany items or excess loss accounts taken into account pursuant to the Treasury Regulations promulgated pursuant to Section 1502 of the Code.

“Tax Item” shall mean, with respect to any Income Tax, any item of income, gain, loss, deduction, or credit.

“Tax Law” shall mean the law of any governmental entity or political subdivision thereof relating to any Tax.

“Tax Opinions/Rulings” shall mean each opinion of a Tax Advisor and/or the rulings by the IRS or other Tax Authorities delivered to Parent in connection with and regarding the Federal Income Tax treatment of the Contribution and the Distribution, or otherwise with respect to the Separation Transactions.

“Tax Period” shall mean, with respect to any Tax, the period for which the Tax is reported as provided under the Code or other applicable Tax Law.

“Tax Records” shall mean any Tax Returns, Tax Return workpapers, documentation relating to any Tax Contests, and any other books of account or records (whether or not in written, electronic or other tangible or intangible forms and whether or not stored on electronic or any other medium) required to be maintained under the Code or other applicable Tax Laws or under any record retention agreement with any Tax Authority.

“Tax-Related Losses” shall mean (i) all federal, state, local and foreign Taxes (including interest and penalties thereon) imposed pursuant to any settlement, Final Determination, judgment or otherwise; (ii) all reasonable accounting, legal and other professional fees, and court costs incurred in connection with such Taxes; and (iii) all reasonable costs and expenses and any damages associated with stockholder litigation or controversies and any amount required to be paid by Parent (or any Parent Affiliate) or CoalCo (or any CoalCo Affiliate) in respect of the liability of shareholders, whether paid to shareholders or to the IRS or any other Tax Authority, in each case, resulting from (x) the failure of the Contribution and the Distribution to have Tax-Free Status or (y) the failure of any Separation Transaction to have the tax treatment described in the Tax Opinions/Rulings; provided , that amounts shall be treated as having been required to be paid for purposes of clause (iii) of this definition to the extent they are paid in a good faith compromise of an asserted claim.

“Tax Return” or “Return” shall mean any report of Taxes due, any claim for Refund of Taxes paid, any information return with respect to Taxes, or any other similar report, statement, declaration, or document filed or required to be filed under the Code or other Tax Law, including any attachments, exhibits, or other materials submitted with any of the foregoing, and including any amendments or supplements to any of the foregoing. A Tax Return shall not be construed to include a Separate Tax Ticket, a Combined Tax Ticket or any other tax ticket described in Section  3(c) of this Agreement.

“Transactions” shall mean the Contribution, the Distribution, the Creditor Repayment, and the other transactions contemplated by the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

 

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“Transferee Party” shall mean (i) CoalCo or the applicable member(s) of the CoalCo Group to which Coal Assets are contributed, assigned, transferred, conveyed or delivered by Parent or applicable members of the Parent Group, pursuant to the Plan of Reorganization set forth in Section 2.1(a) of the Separation and Distribution Agreement, and (ii) Parent or the applicable member(s) of the Parent Group to which Parent Assets are contributed, assigned, transferred, conveyed or delivered by CoalCo or applicable members of the CoalCo Group, pursuant to such Plan of Reorganization; in each case, as applicable.

“Transferor” shall mean, with respect to the transfers occurring pursuant to the Transactions, the Party transferring assets and/or liabilities.

“Transferred Assets” shall mean (i) the Coal Assets that are contributed, assigned, transferred, conveyed or delivered to CoalCo, or the applicable member(s) of the CoalCo Group, by Parent or applicable members of the Parent Group, pursuant to the Plan of Reorganization set forth in Section 2.1(a) of the Separation and Distribution Agreement, and (ii) the Parent Assets that are contributed, assigned, transferred, conveyed or delivered to Parent, or member(s) of the Parent Group designated by Parent, by CoalCo or the applicable members of the CoalCo Group, pursuant to such Plan of Reorganization; in each case, as applicable. “Transferred Asset” shall be accordingly construed to mean each of the Transferred Assets, individually. For the absence of doubt, any entity (and the equity interests in any entity) shall not be construed to be a “Transferred Asset.”

“Transferred Entities” shall have the meaning in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

“Transferring Party” shall mean (i) the Parent or applicable member(s) of the Parent Group that contribute, assign, transfer, convey or deliver one or more Coal Assets to CoalCo or applicable members of the CoalCo Group, pursuant to the Plan of Reorganization set forth in Section 2.1(a) of the Separation and Distribution Agreement, and (ii) CoalCo or applicable member(s) of the CoalCo Group that contribute, assign, transfer, convey or deliver one or more Parent Assets to Parent or the applicable member(s) of the Parent Group, pursuant to such Plan of Reorganization; in each case, as applicable.

“Treasury Regulations” shall mean the regulations promulgated from time to time under the Code as in effect for the relevant Tax Period.

“Unqualified Tax Opinion” shall mean an unqualified opinion of a Tax Advisor on which Parent may rely to the effect that a transaction (i) will not affect the Tax-Free Status of the Contribution and the Distribution, and (ii) will not adversely affect any of the conclusions set forth in the Tax Opinions/Rulings; provided, that any tax opinion obtained in connection with a proposed acquisition of CoalCo Capital Stock entered into during the Restriction Period shall not qualify as an Unqualified Tax Opinion unless such tax opinion concludes that such proposed acquisition will not be treated as “part of a plan (or series of related transactions),” within the meaning of Section 355(e) of the Code and the Treasury Regulations promulgated thereunder, that includes the Distribution. Any such opinion must assume that the Contribution and Distribution would have qualified for Tax-Free Status if the transaction in question did not occur.

Section 2. Allocation of Tax Liabilities.

Section 2.01 General Rule.

(a) Parent Liability . Parent shall be liable for, and shall indemnify and hold harmless the CoalCo Group from and against any liability for, Taxes that are allocated to Parent, or for which Parent is responsible, under this Section  2 .

(b) CoalCo Liability . CoalCo shall be liable for, and shall indemnify and hold harmless the Parent Group from and against any liability for, Taxes that are allocated to CoalCo, or for which CoalCo is responsible, under this Section  2 .

(c) Costs and Expenses . The amounts for which Parent or CoalCo, as applicable, is liable pursuant to Sections 2.01(a) and (b) , respectively, or for which either Company or a member of its Group is liable pursuant to Section  2.05 , shall include all accounting, legal and other professional fees, and court costs incurred in connection with the relevant Taxes.

(d) Final Determination Taxes . For the avoidance of doubt, any reference to any Taxes due with respect to, attributable to or required to be reported on any Tax Return contained in Section  2.02 , Section  2.03 or Section  2.04 , and any reference to any Taxes in Section  2.05 , shall include, unless specifically excluded, a reference to any such Taxes imposed or payable as a result of a Final Determination.

 

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Section  2.02 Allocation of United States Federal Income Tax and Federal Other Tax . Except as otherwise provided in Section  2.05 , Federal Income Tax and Federal Other Tax shall be allocated as follows:

(a) Allocation of Tax Relating to Parent Federal Consolidated Income Tax Returns . With respect to any Parent Federal Consolidated Income Tax Return, Parent shall be responsible for any and all Federal Income Taxes due with respect to or required to be reported on any such Income Tax Return (including any increase in such Tax as a result of a Final Determination).

(b) Allocation of Tax Relating to Federal Separate Income Tax Returns . (i) Parent shall be responsible for any and all Federal Income Taxes due with respect to or required to be reported on any Parent Separate Return (and any and all Federal Income Tax of Parent or any member of the Parent Group imposed by way of withholding by a member of the CoalCo Group), including any increase in such Tax as a result of a Final Determination; (ii) CoalCo shall be responsible for any and all Federal Income Taxes due with respect to or required to be reported on any CoalCo Separate Return (and any and all Federal Income Tax of CoalCo or any member of the CoalCo Group imposed by way of withholding by a member of the Parent Group), including any increase in such Tax as a result of a Final Determination.

(c) Allocation of Federal Other Tax . Parent shall be responsible for any and all Federal Other Taxes due with respect to or required to be reported on any Parent Separate Return (including any increase in such Tax as a result of a Final Determination) or otherwise imposed on any member of the Parent Group; (ii) CoalCo shall be responsible for any and all Federal Other Taxes due with respect to or required to be reported on any CoalCo Separate Return (including any increase in such Tax as a result of a Final Determination) or otherwise imposed on any member of the CoalCo Group.

Section  2.03 Allocation of State Income and State Other Taxes . Except as otherwise provided in Section  2.05 , State Income Tax and State Other Tax shall be allocated as follows:

(a) Allocation of Tax Relating to Parent State Combined Income Tax Returns . Parent shall be responsible for any and all State Income Taxes due with respect to or required to be reported on any Parent State Combined Income Tax Return (including any increase in such Tax as a result of a Final Determination).

(b) Allocation of State Income Tax Relating to Separate Returns . (i) Parent shall be responsible for any and all State Income Taxes due with respect to or required to be reported on any Parent Separate Return (and any and all State Income Tax of Parent or any member of the Parent Group imposed by way of withholding by a member of the CoalCo Group), including any increase in such Tax as a result of a Final Determination; (ii) CoalCo shall be responsible for any and all State Income Taxes due with respect to or required to be reported on any CoalCo Separate Return (and any and all State Income Tax of CoalCo or any member of the CoalCo Group imposed by way of withholding by a member of the Parent Group), including any increase in such Tax as a result of a Final Determination.

(c) Allocation of State Other Tax . Parent shall be responsible for any and all State Other Taxes due with respect to or required to be reported on any Parent Separate Return (including any increase in such Tax as a result of a Final Determination) or otherwise imposed on any member of the Parent Group and CoalCo shall be responsible for any and all State Other Taxes due with respect to or required to be reported on any CoalCo Separate Return (including any increase in such Tax as a result of a Final Determination) or otherwise imposed on any member of the CoalCo Group; provided, however , that (i) any sales, use or severance Taxes imposed for any Pre-Deconsolidation Period with respect to any Transferred Assets with respect to which Leatherwood Inc. is the Transferring Party shall be the responsibility of the relevant Transferee Party; (ii) any ad valorem and other property Taxes imposed with respect to a Transferred Asset for a taxable period that includes but does not end on the date of any transfer of such Transferred Asset from the Parent Group to the CoalCo Group (or from the CoalCo Group to the Parent Group, as applicable) in connection with the Separation Transactions (the “Asset Transfer Date”) shall be allocated between the Parent Group and the CoalCo Group pursuant to Section  3(c) below and (iii) any ad valorem and other property Taxes imposed for any taxable period ending on or prior to the relevant Asset Transfer Date with respect to any well property that is a Transferred Asset with respect to which Leatherwood Inc. is the Transferring Party and that have not been paid on or prior to such Asset Transfer Date shall be the responsibility of the relevant Transferee Party with respect to such well property.

Section  2.04 Allocation of Foreign Taxes. Except as otherwise provided in Section  2.05 , Foreign Income Tax and Foreign Other Tax shall be allocated as follows:

(a) Allocation of Tax Relating to Parent Foreign Combined Income Tax Returns . Parent shall be responsible for any and all Foreign Income Taxes due with respect to or required to be reported on any Parent Foreign Combined Income Tax Return (including any increase in such Tax as a result of a Final Determination).

(b) Allocation of Foreign Income Tax Relating to Separate Returns . (i) Parent shall be responsible for any and all Foreign Income Taxes due with respect to or required to be reported on any Parent Separate Return (and any and all Foreign Income Tax of

 

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Parent or any member of the Parent Group imposed by way of withholding by a member of the CoalCo Group), including any increase in such Foreign Income Tax as a result of a Final Determination; (ii) CoalCo shall be responsible for any and all Foreign Income Taxes due with respect to or required to be reported on any CoalCo Separate Return (and any and all Foreign Income Tax of CoalCo or any member of the CoalCo Group imposed by way of withholding by a member of the Parent Group), including any increase in such Foreign Income Tax as a result of a Final Determination.

(c) Allocation of Foreign Other Tax . Parent shall be responsible for any and all Foreign Other Taxes due with respect to or required to be reported on any Parent Separate Return (including any increase in such Tax as a result of a Final Determination) or otherwise imposed on any member of the Parent Group; (ii) CoalCo shall be responsible for any and all Foreign Other Taxes due with respect to or required to be reported on any CoalCo Separate Return (including any increase in such Tax as a result of a Final Determination) or otherwise imposed on any member of the CoalCo Group.

Section 2.05 Certain Transaction and Other Taxes.

(a) CoalCo Liability . CoalCo shall be liable for, and shall indemnify and hold harmless the Parent Group from and against any liability for:

(i) any stamp, sales and use, gross receipts, value-added or other transfer Taxes imposed by any Tax Authority on any member of the CoalCo Group (if such member is primarily liable for such Tax) on the transfers occurring pursuant to the Transactions; provided, however, in the case of any applicable state, county, or other local real estate transfer Tax, grantor Tax, or documentary transfer Tax imposed on the transfer of Transferred Assets, the relevant Transferee Party shall be liable for any such Tax notwithstanding which Party may be primarily liable under the applicable Tax Law;

(ii) any Tax resulting from a breach by CoalCo of any representation or covenant in this Agreement, the Separation and Distribution Agreement, any Ancillary Agreement, any Representation Letters or any Tax Opinions/Rulings; and

(iii) any Tax-Related Losses for which CoalCo is responsible pursuant to Section  7.05 of this Agreement.

(b) Parent Liability . Parent shall be liable for, and shall indemnify and hold harmless the CoalCo Group from and against any liability for:

(i) any stamp, sales and use, gross receipts, value-added or other transfer Taxes imposed by any Tax Authority on any member of the Parent Group (if such member is primarily liable for such Tax) on the transfers occurring pursuant to the Transactions; provided, however , in the case of any applicable state, county, or other local real estate transfer Tax, grantor Tax, or documentary transfer Tax imposed on the transfer of Transferred Assets, the relevant Transferee Party shall be liable for any such Tax notwithstanding which Party may be primarily liable under the applicable Tax Law;

(ii) any Tax resulting from a breach by Parent of any representation or covenant in this Agreement, the Separation and Distribution Agreement, any Ancillary Agreement, any Representation Letters or any Tax Opinions/Rulings; and

(iii) any Tax-Related Losses for which Parent is responsible pursuant to Section  7.05 of this Agreement.

Section 3. Proration of Taxes for Straddle Periods and Certain Other Periods.

(a) General Method of Proration . Except as provided in Section  3(c) below, in the case of any Straddle Period, Tax Items shall be apportioned between Pre-Deconsolidation Periods and Post-Deconsolidation Periods in accordance with the principles of Treasury Regulations Section 1.1502-76(b) as reasonably interpreted and applied by Parent. With respect to the Parent Federal Consolidated Income Tax Return for the taxable year that includes the Distribution, Parent shall determine in its sole discretion whether to make an election under Treasury Regulations Section 1.1502-76(b)(2)(ii). If the Deconsolidation Date is not an Accounting Cutoff Date, the provisions of Treasury Regulations Section 1.1502-76(b)(2)(iii) will be applied to ratably allocate the items (other than extraordinary items) for the month which includes the Deconsolidation Date.

(b) Transactions Treated as Extraordinary Item . In determining the apportionment of Tax Items between Pre-Deconsolidation Periods and Post-Deconsolidation Periods, any Tax Items relating to the Transactions shall be treated as extraordinary items described in Treasury Regulations Section 1.1502-76(b)(2)(ii)(C) and shall (to the extent occurring on or prior to the Deconsolidation Date) be allocated to Pre-Deconsolidation Periods, and any Taxes related to such items shall be treated under Treasury Regulations Section 1.1502-76(b)(2)(iv) as relating to such extraordinary item and shall (to the extent occurring on or prior to the Deconsolidation Date) be allocated to Pre-Deconsolidation Periods.

 

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(c) Ad Valorem and Other Property Taxes . Ad valorem and other property taxes imposed or assessed with respect to a Transferred Asset with respect to the taxable period during which the transfer of such Transferred Asset occurs (the “ Current Property Taxes ”) shall be prorated between the Transferring Party and the Transferee Party with respect to such Transferred Asset based on (x) in the case of a Transferred Asset that, prior to the Asset Transfer Date, (I) was not reflected on a tax bill or (II) formed a part of a Combined Tax Ticket (as defined below) that was subsequently separated into a Transferred Asset and a Parent Asset or a Coal Asset, as applicable, (A) the relative taxable values as of the Asset Transfer Date, of the Transferred Asset, on the one hand, and the Parent Asset or Coal Asset, as applicable, into which such asset was separated as a result of the transfer, on the other hand, and (B) the number of days during such taxable period that such Transferred Asset was owned, respectively, by the Transferring Party and by the Transferee Party, and (y) in the case of a Transferred Asset that, prior to the Asset Transfer Date, had a Separate Tax Ticket (as defined below), the number of days during such taxable period that such Transferred Asset was owned by the Transferring Party and the Transferee Party, respectively. The Transferring Party shall be responsible for the Current Property Taxes to the extent that they are attributable to such Transferred Asset for periods prior to the Asset Transfer Date and the Transferee Party shall be responsible for the Current Property Taxes to the extent that they are attributable to such Transferred Asset for periods on and after the Asset Transfer Date.

(i) Itemization. Within ninety (90) days following the Asset Transfer Date, or at least thirty (30) days prior to the date that the relevant Current Property Taxes become due and payable, whichever is earlier, the Transferring Party shall furnish the Transferee Party with a written list setting out, for each Transferred Asset that such Transferring Party contributed, assigned, transferred, conveyed or delivered unto such Transferee Party, the Transferring Party’s determination regarding whether there is or is not a separate tax ticket or bill that covers such Transferred Asset (each, a “Separate Tax Ticket ”), a tax ticket or bill that covers both the Transferred Asset and a real property interest being retained by the Transferring Party (each, a “Combined Tax Ticket ” that will need to be “split”), or any tax ticket or bill whatsoever that covers the Transferred Asset, and stating for each such Transferred Asset whether the Current Property Taxes have been paid in full as well as, if not paid in full, the amount of such Current Property Taxes that are, at the time, outstanding. The following payment obligations shall apply based upon such determination:

(A) If Separate Tax Ticket Exists . If at the Asset Transfer Date a Separate Tax Ticket exists for the Transferred Asset, the Transferee Party with respect to such Transferred Asset shall timely pay any outstanding, unpaid Current Property Taxes assessed against such Transferred Asset in full, so as to avoid any delinquency, penalty or forfeiture;

(B) If No Tax Ticket Exists . If at the Asset Transfer Date there is no tax ticket or bill that covers the Transferred Asset, the Transferee Party with respect to such Transferred Asset shall (x) cause the Transferred Asset to be entered for assessment of ad valorem or other applicable property taxes, and (y) pay any back ad valorem or other applicable property taxes, fees, penalties or interest relating thereto or necessary in order to preserve the rights of the Transferee Party relative to the Transferred Asset; and

(C) If a Combined Tax Ticket Exists . If at the Asset Transfer Date a Combined Tax Ticket exists with respect to the Transferred Asset, the Transferring Party with respect to such Transferred Asset shall timely pay any outstanding, unpaid Current Property Taxes shown on such Combined Tax Ticket in full, so as to avoid any delinquency, penalty or forfeiture.

(ii) Cooperation . The Transferring Party shall cooperate in good faith with the Transferee Party, including without limitation by furnishing copies of tax tickets, tax account numbers and other relevant tax information requested by the Transferee Party, in order to ensure that the Transferee Party has the information needed to timely pay the Current Property Taxes that the Transferee Party is required to pay pursuant to this Section  3(c) . The Transferring Party and the Transferee Party shall cooperate in good faith with each other (each at its own cost and expense), including without limitation by (1) upon request executing, filing, submitting or delivering to the other Party such Approvals or Notifications, information or applications as are necessary or reasonably required, and (2) participating in and taking such actions as are necessary or reasonably requested, in each case, in order to obtain from any pertinent Tax Authority such Separate Tax Tickets or accounts as are needed for purposes of having any Transferred Asset for which there was no such Separate Tax Ticket at the Asset Transfer Date separately assessed in the name of the Transferee Party for the next taxable period beginning after such Asset Transfer Date or in order to have the Transferred Asset entered for assessment.

(iii) Reimbursement . Indemnity payments required for the payment of Current Property Taxes shall be invoiced and paid in accordance with Section  5.04 . The Transferring Party shall reimburse the Transferee Party for (1) the Transferring Party’s pro rata share of any Current Property Taxes that the Transferee Party is obligated to timely pay pursuant to Section  3(c)(i)(A) hereof, and (2) all amounts paid to any Tax Authority by the Transferee Party pursuant to Section  3(c)(i)(B)(y) hereof, in each case, that are shown on such invoice. The Transferee Party shall reimburse the Transferring Party for (1) the Transferee Party’s pro rata share of any Current Property Taxes that the Transferring Party is obligated to timely pay pursuant to Section  3(c)(i)(C) hereof, and (2) the Transferee Party’s share as determined pursuant to this Section  3(c) of any Current Property Taxes that were paid by Transferring Party prior to the Asset Transfer Date but are attributable to periods on and after that date, in each case, that are shown on such invoice.

 

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Section 4. Preparation and Filing of Tax Returns.

Section  4.01 General . Except as otherwise provided in this Section  4 , Tax Returns shall be prepared and filed when due (taking into account extensions) by the Person obligated to file such Tax Returns under the Code or applicable Tax Law. The Companies shall provide, and shall cause their Affiliates to provide, assistance and cooperation to one another in accordance with Section  8 with respect to the preparation and filing of Tax Returns, including by providing information required to be provided pursuant to Section  8 .

Section  4.02 Parent’s Responsibility . Parent has the exclusive obligation and right to prepare and file, or to cause to be prepared and filed:

(a) Parent Federal Consolidated Income Tax Returns for any Tax Periods ending on, before or after the Deconsolidation Date;

(b) Parent State Combined Income Tax Returns, Parent Foreign Combined Income Tax Returns and any other Joint Returns which Parent reasonably determines are required to be filed (or which Parent chooses to be filed) by the Companies or any of their Affiliates for Tax Periods ending on, before or after the Deconsolidation Date; provided, however , that Parent shall provide advance written notice of such determination to file such Parent State Combined Income Tax Returns, Parent Foreign Combined Income Tax Returns or other Joint Returns to CoalCo if the Tax Returns in such jurisdiction for such type of Tax for the immediately preceding taxable year were not filed on a consolidated, combined, unitary or other joint basis; and

(c) Parent Separate Returns and CoalCo Separate Returns which Parent reasonably determines are required to be filed by the Companies or any of their Affiliates for Tax Periods ending on, before or after the Deconsolidation Date (limited, in the case of CoalCo Separate Returns, to such Returns for which the Due Date is on or before the Deconsolidation Date).

Section  4.03 CoalCo’s Responsibility . CoalCo shall prepare and file, or shall cause to be prepared and filed, all Tax Returns required to be filed by or with respect to members of the CoalCo Group other than those Tax Returns which Parent is required or entitled to prepare and file under Section  4.02 . The Tax Returns required to be prepared and filed by CoalCo under this Section  4.03 shall include (a) any CoalCo Federal Consolidated Income Tax Return for Tax Periods ending after the Deconsolidation Date and (b) CoalCo Separate Returns for which the Due Date is after the Deconsolidation Date.

Section 4.04 Tax Accounting Practices.

(a) General Rule . Except as otherwise provided in Section  4.02(b) , with respect to any Tax Return that CoalCo has the obligation and right to prepare and file, or cause to be prepared and filed, for any Pre-Deconsolidation Period or Straddle Period (or any Tax Period beginning after the Deconsolidation Date to the extent items reported on such Tax Return could reasonably be expected to affect items reported on any Tax Return that Parent has the obligation or right to prepare and file for any Pre-Deconsolidation Period or any Straddle Period), such Tax Return shall be prepared in accordance with past practices, accounting methods, elections or conventions (“ Past Practices ”) used with respect to the Tax Returns in question except to the extent otherwise required by applicable law. Except as otherwise provided in Section  4.02(b) , Parent shall prepare any Tax Return which it has the obligation and right to prepare and file, or cause to be prepared and filed, under Section  4.02 , in accordance with reasonable Tax accounting practices selected by Parent.

(b) Reporting of Transactions . Except to the extent otherwise required by a change in applicable law or as a result of a Final Determination, (A) neither Parent nor CoalCo shall, and shall not permit or cause any member of its respective Group to, take any position that is inconsistent with either (x) the treatment of the Contribution and Distribution, taken together, as having Tax-Free Status (or analogous status under state or local law) or (y) the tax treatment of any of the Separation Transactions as having the treatment described in the Tax Opinions/Rulings and, (B) CoalCo shall not, and shall not permit or cause any member of the CoalCo Group to, take any position with respect to an item of income, deduction, gain, loss, or credit on a Tax Return, or otherwise treat such item in a manner which is inconsistent with the manner such item is reported on a Tax Return required to be prepared or filed by Parent pursuant to Section  4.02 hereof (including, without limitation, the claiming of a deduction previously claimed on any such Tax Return).

Section  4.05 Consolidated or Combined Tax Returns . CoalCo will elect and join, and will cause its respective Affiliates to elect and join, in filing any Parent State Combined Income Tax Returns, Parent Foreign Combined Income Tax Returns and any other Joint Returns that Parent reasonably determines are required to be filed (or that Parent chooses to file) by the Companies or any of their Affiliates for Tax Periods ending on or before the Deconsolidation Date. With respect to any CoalCo Separate Returns relating to any Tax Period (or portion thereof) ending on or prior to the Distribution Date, CoalCo will elect and join, and will cause its respective Affiliates to elect and join, in filing consolidated, unitary, combined, or other similar Joint Returns, to the extent each entity is eligible to join in such Tax Returns, if Parent reasonably determines that the filing of such Tax Returns is consistent with past reporting practices, or, in the absence of applicable past practices, will result in the minimization of the net present value of the aggregate Tax to the entities eligible to join in such Tax Returns.

 

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Section 4.06 Right to Review Tax Returns.

(a) General . The Responsible Company with respect to any material Tax Return shall make such Tax Return (or the relevant portions thereof), related workpapers and other supporting documents available for review by the other Company, to the extent (i) such Tax Return relates to Taxes for which such other Company is or would reasonably be expected to be liable, (ii) such other Company is or would reasonably be expected to be liable in whole or in part for any additional Taxes owing as a result of adjustments to the amount of Taxes reported on such Tax Return, (iii) such Tax Return relates to Taxes for which the other Company would reasonably be expected to have a claim for Tax Benefits under this Agreement, or (iv) reasonably necessary for the other Company to confirm compliance with the terms of this Agreement. The Responsible Company shall use reasonable efforts to make such Tax Return, workpapers and other supporting documents available for review as required under this paragraph promptly once such Tax Return is materially complete, but in any event no later than three (3) weeks in advance of the Due Date for filing of such Tax Return, such that the other Party has a meaningful opportunity to review and comment on such Tax Return, and shall use reasonable efforts to have such Tax Return modified before filing, taking into account the person responsible for payment of the Tax (if any) reported on such Tax Return. The Companies shall attempt in good faith to resolve any disagreement arising out of the review of such Tax Return and, failing such resolution, any disagreement shall be resolved in accordance with the disagreement resolution provisions of Section  14 as promptly as practicable.

(b) Execution of Tax Returns Prepared by Other Party . In the case of any Tax Return which is required to be prepared and filed by one Company under this Agreement and which is required by law to be signed by the other Company (or by its authorized representative), the Company which is legally required to sign such Tax Return shall not be required to sign such Tax Return under this Agreement unless there is at least a greater than 50% likelihood of prevailing on the merits for the Tax treatment of each item reported on the Tax Return.

Section  4.07 CoalCo Carryback Items and Claims for Refund. CoalCo hereby agrees that, unless Parent consents in writing (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld), (i) no Adjustment Request with respect to any Tax Return with respect to which Parent is the Responsible Company (including any Joint Return) or any other Tax Return reflecting Taxes for which Parent is responsible under Section  2 or 3 hereof shall be filed, and (ii) any available elections to waive the right to claim in any Pre-Deconsolidation Period with respect to any Tax Return with respect to which Parent is the Responsible Company (including any Joint Return) or any Tax Return reflecting both Taxes for which Parent is responsible under Section  2 or 3 hereof and Taxes for which CoalCo is responsible under Section  2 or 3 hereof any CoalCo Carryback Item arising in a Post-Deconsolidation Period shall be made by CoalCo and any of its Affiliates, and no affirmative election shall be made by CoalCo or any of its Affiliates to claim any such CoalCo Carryback Item; provided, however, that the parties agree that any such Adjustment Request shall be made with respect to any CoalCo Carryback Item related to U.S. federal or State Income Taxes, upon the reasonable request of CoalCo, if (x) such CoalCo Carryback Item is necessary to prevent the loss of the federal and/or state income Tax Benefit of such CoalCo Carryback Item (including, but not limited to, an Adjustment Request with respect to a CoalCo Carryback Item of a federal or State capital loss arising in a Post-Deconsolidation Period to a Pre-Deconsolidation Period) and (y) such Adjustment Request, based on Parent’s sole, reasonable determination, will cause no Tax detriment to Parent, the Parent Group or any member of the Parent Group. Any Adjustment Request which Parent consents to make under this Section  4.07 shall be prepared and filed by the Responsible Company for the Tax Return to be adjusted; provided , however , that, prior to the filing of any such Adjustment Request, Parent shall have the right to review such Adjustment Request together with any related workpapers and other supporting documentation.

Section 4.08 Apportionment of Earnings and Profits and Tax Attributes.

(a) If the Parent Affiliated Group has a Tax Attribute, the portion, if any, of such Tax Attribute apportioned to CoalCo or the members of the CoalCo Group and treated as a carryover to the first Post-Deconsolidation Period of CoalCo (or such member) shall be determined by Parent in accordance with Treasury Regulations Sections 1.1502-21, 1.1502-21T, 1.1502-22, 1.1502-79 and, if applicable, 1.1502-79A.

(b) No Tax Attribute with respect to consolidated Federal Income Tax of the Parent Affiliated Group, other than those described in Section  4.08(a) , and no Tax Attribute with respect to consolidated, combined or unitary state, local, or foreign Income Tax, in each case, arising in respect of a Joint Return shall be apportioned to CoalCo or any member of the CoalCo Group, except as Parent (or such member of the Parent Group as Parent shall designate) determines is otherwise required under applicable law.

(c) Parent (or its designee) shall determine the portion, if any, of any Tax Attribute which must (absent a Final Determination to the contrary) be apportioned to CoalCo or any member of the CoalCo Group in accordance with this Section  4.08 and applicable law and the amount of tax basis, earnings and profits, and “tax pools” to be apportioned to CoalCo or any member of

 

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the CoalCo Group in accordance with this Section  4.08 and applicable law, and shall provide written supporting documentation of the calculation thereof to CoalCo as soon as reasonably practicable after the information necessary to make such calculation becomes available to Parent. For the avoidance of doubt, Parent shall not be liable to CoalCo or any member of the CoalCo Group for any failure of any determination under this Section  4.08 to be accurate under applicable law.

(d) The written documentation delivered by Parent pursuant to Section  4.08(c) shall be binding on CoalCo and each member of the CoalCo Group and shall not be subject to dispute resolution. Except to the extent otherwise required by applicable law or pursuant to a Final Determination, CoalCo shall not take any position (whether on a Tax Return or otherwise) that is inconsistent with the information contained in such written documentation.

Section 5. Tax Payments.

Section  5.01 Payment of Taxes with Respect to Parent Federal Consolidated Income Tax Returns, Parent State Combined Income Tax Returns and Parent Foreign Combined Income Tax Returns. Parent shall pay (a) to the IRS any Tax due with respect to any Parent Federal Consolidated Income Tax Return (including any Federal Income Tax due from the Parent Affiliated Group that is required to be paid as a result of an adjustment to a Parent Federal Consolidated Income Tax Return) and (b) to the applicable Tax Authority any Tax due with respect to any Parent State Combined Income Tax Return or Parent Foreign Combined Income Tax Returns (including any State Income Tax due that is required to be paid as a result of an adjustment to a Parent State Combined Income Tax Return or Foreign Income Tax due that is required to be paid as a result of an adjustment to a Parent Foreign Combined Income Tax Returns).

Section  5.02 Payment of Taxes with Respect to Joint Returns (Other Than a Parent Federal Consolidated Income Tax Return, Parent State Combined Income Tax Return or Parent Foreign Combined Income Tax Return) and Certain Returns of Other Taxes . In the case of (I) any Joint Return (other than a Parent Federal Consolidated Income Tax Return, Parent State Combined Income Tax Return, or Parent Foreign Combined Income Tax Return) and (II) any Tax Return of Other Taxes reflecting Taxes for which both Parent and CoalCo are responsible under Section  2 (other than Tax Returns described in Section 2.03(c)(ii), which shall be governed by Section 3(c)):

(a) Payment of Tax Due. The Responsible Company shall compute the amount of Tax required to be paid to the applicable Tax Authority (taking into account the requirements of Section  4.04 relating to consistent accounting and reporting practices, as applicable) with respect to any Tax Return on the Payment Date for such Tax Return. The Responsible Company shall pay such amount to such Tax Authority on or before such Payment Date. The Responsible Company shall provide notice to the other Company setting forth such other Company’s responsibility for the amount of Taxes paid to the Tax Authority and provide proof of payment of such Taxes.

(b) Computation and Payment of Liability With Respect To Tax Due. Within 30 days following the earlier of (i) the Due Date for filing any such Tax Return (excluding any Tax Return with respect to payment of estimated Taxes or Taxes due with a request for extension of time to file) or (ii) the date on which such Tax Return is filed, if Parent is the Responsible Company, then CoalCo shall pay to Parent the amount, if any, allocable to the CoalCo Group under the provisions of this Agreement, and if CoalCo is the Responsible Company, then Parent shall pay to CoalCo the amount, if any, allocable to the Parent Group under the provisions of this Agreement, in each case, plus interest computed at the Prime Rate on the amount of the payment based on the number of days from the earlier of (i) the Due Date of the Tax Return or (ii) the date on which such Tax Return is filed, to the date of payment. For the avoidance of doubt, however, (x) the 30-day period described herein shall not commence unless and until the Responsible Company notifies the other Company pursuant to Section  5.02(a) hereof, and (y) interest shall not accrue during any time period where such notification has not been received, unless such notification is received within the 30-day period described herein, in which case interest shall accrue beginning on the earlier of (i) the Due Date of the Tax Return or (ii) the date on which such Tax Return is filed.

(c) Adjustments Resulting in Underpayments. In the case of any adjustment pursuant to a Final Determination with respect to any such Tax Return, the Responsible Company shall pay to the applicable Tax Authority when due any additional Tax due with respect to such Tax Return required to be paid as a result of such adjustment pursuant to such Final Determination. The Responsible Company shall compute the amount attributable to the CoalCo Group or the Parent Group (as the case may be) in accordance with this Agreement and CoalCo shall pay to Parent any amount due Parent (or Parent shall pay CoalCo any amount due CoalCo) under this Agreement within 30 days from the later of (i) the date the additional Tax was paid by the Responsible Company or, in an instance where no cash payment is due to a Tax Authority, the date of such Final Determination, or (ii) the date of receipt of a written notice and demand from the Responsible Company for payment of the amount due, accompanied by evidence of payment and a statement detailing the Taxes paid and describing in reasonable detail the particulars relating thereto. Any payments required under this Section  5.02(c) shall include interest computed at the Prime Rate based on the number of days from the date the additional Tax was paid by the Responsible Company (or, in an instance where no cash payment is due to a Tax Authority, the date of such Final Determination) to the date of the payment under this Section  5.02(c) .

 

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(d) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, if the amount to be paid pursuant to Section  5.02(b) or (c)  (in each case, excluding interest) is in excess of $1 million, then, no later than the later of (i) 5 business days after the date of receipt of a written notice and demand from the Responsible Company for payment of the amount due, accompanied by a statement detailing the Taxes required to be paid and (ii) 3 business days prior to the Due Date for the payment of such Tax, CoalCo shall pay to Parent any amount due Parent (or Parent shall pay CoalCo any amount due CoalCo) under Section  2 hereof.

Section  5.03 Payment of Separate Company Taxes. Each Company shall pay, or shall cause to be paid, to the applicable Tax Authority when due all Taxes owed by such Company or a member of such Company’s Group with respect to a Separate Return of Income Taxes and with respect to a Separate Return of Other Taxes (provided that Separate Returns of Other Taxes described in clause (II) of Section  5.02 shall be governed by Section  5.02 ).

Section 5.04 Indemnification Payments.

(a) If any Company (the “ Payor ”) is required under applicable Tax Law to pay to a Tax Authority a Tax that another Company (the “ Required Party ”) is liable for under this Agreement, the Required Party shall reimburse the Payor within 90 days of delivery by the Payor to the Required Party of an invoice for the amount due, accompanied by evidence of payment and a statement detailing the Taxes paid and describing in reasonable detail the particulars relating thereto. The reimbursement shall include interest on the Tax payment computed at the Prime Rate based on the number of days from the date of the payment to the Tax Authority to the date of reimbursement under this Section  5.04 . Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, if the amount to be paid pursuant to this Section  5.04 excluding interest is in excess of $10 million, then, no later than the later of (i) five business days after delivery by the Payor to the Required Party of an invoice for the amount due, sent by Federal Express or the equivalent with tracking receipt, accompanied by a statement detailing the Taxes required to be paid and describing in reasonable detail the particulars relating thereto, and (ii) three business days prior to the Due Date for the payment of such Tax, the Required Party shall pay the Payor.

(b) All indemnification payments under this Agreement shall be made by Parent directly to CoalCo and by CoalCo directly to Parent; provided, however, that if the Companies mutually agree with respect to any such indemnification payment, any member of the Parent Group, on the one hand, may make such indemnification payment to any member of the CoalCo Group, on the other hand, and vice versa.

Section 6. Tax Benefits.

Section 6.01 Tax Benefits.

(a) Except as set forth below, Parent shall be entitled to any Refund (and any interest thereon received from the applicable Tax Authority) of Income Taxes and Other Taxes for which Parent is liable hereunder, CoalCo shall be entitled to any Refund (and any interest thereon received from the applicable Tax Authority) of Income Taxes and Other Taxes for which CoalCo is liable hereunder and a Company receiving a Refund to which another Company is entitled hereunder in whole or in part shall pay over such Refund (or portion thereof) to such other Company within 90 days after such Refund is received (together with interest computed at the Prime Rate based on the number of days from the date the Refund was received to the date the Refund was paid over).

(b) CoalCo shall be entitled to any Refund that is attributable to, and would not have arisen but for, a CoalCo Carryback Item pursuant to the proviso set forth in Section  4.07 ; provided, however , CoalCo shall indemnify and hold the members of the Parent Group harmless from and against any and all collateral Tax consequences resulting from or caused by any such Carryback, including (but not limited to) the loss or postponement of any benefit from the use of Tax Attributes generated by a member of the Parent Group or an Affiliate thereof if (x) such Tax Attributes expire unutilized, but would have been utilized but for such Carryback, or (y) the use of such Tax Attributes is postponed to a later Tax Period than the Tax Period in which such Tax Attributes would have been utilized but for such Carryback. Any such payment of such Refund made by Parent to CoalCo pursuant to this Section  6.01(b) shall be recalculated in light of any Final Determination (or any other facts that may arise or come to light after such payment is made, such as a carryback of a Parent Group Tax Attribute to a Tax Period in respect of which such Refund is received) that would affect the amount to which CoalCo is entitled, and an appropriate adjusting payment shall be made by CoalCo to Parent such that the aggregate amount paid pursuant to this Section  6.01(b) equals such recalculated amount (with interest computed at the Prime Rate).

Section  6.02 Parent and CoalCo Income Tax Deductions in Respect of Certain Equity Awards and Incentive Compensation. The allocation of Tax deductions and obligations related to Tax reporting and withholding, in each case, with respect to options to purchase Parent or CoalCo stock or settlement of restricted stock awards, restricted stock units or performance stock unit awards, in each case, following the Distribution, with respect to Parent stock or SpinCo stock shall be governed by the Employee Matters Agreement.

 

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Section 7. Tax-Free Status.

Section 7.01 Representations.

(a) Each of Parent and CoalCo hereby represents and warrants that (A) it has reviewed the Ruling Request, the Representation Letters, and the Tax Opinions/Rulings, and (B) subject to any qualifications therein, all information, representations and covenants contained in such Representation Letters that relate to such Company or any member of its Group are true, correct and complete.

(b) Each of Parent and CoalCo hereby represents and warrants that it has no plan or intention of taking any action, or failing to take any action (or causing or permitting any member of its Group to take or fail to take any action), in each case, from and after the Distribution Date that could reasonably be expected to cause any representation or factual statement made in this Agreement, the Separation and Distribution Agreement, the Ruling Request, the Representation Letters or any of the other Ancillary Agreements to be untrue.

(c) CoalCo hereby represents and warrants that, during the two-year period ending on the Distribution Date, there was no “agreement,” “understanding,” “arrangement,” “substantial negotiations” or “discussions” (as such terms are used or defined in Treasury Regulations Section 1.355-7(h)) by any one or more officers or directors of any member of the CoalCo Group or by any other person or persons with the implicit or explicit permission of one or more of such officers or directors regarding an acquisition of all or a significant portion of the CoalCo Capital Stock (or any predecessor); provided , however , that no representation is made regarding any such “agreement,” “understanding,” “arrangement,” “substantial negotiations” or “discussions” (as such terms are used or defined in Treasury Regulations Section 1.355-7(h)) by any one or more officers or directors of Parent.

Section 7.02 Restrictions on CoalCo.

(a) CoalCo agrees that it will not take or fail to take, or cause or permit any member of the CoalCo Group to take or fail to take, any action where such action or failure to act would be inconsistent with or cause to be untrue any material information, covenant or representation in this Agreement, the Separation and Distribution Agreement, any of the other Ancillary Agreements, the Ruling Request, any Representation Letter, or the Tax Opinions/Rulings. CoalCo agrees that it will not take or fail to take, or permit any member of the CoalCo Group to take or fail to take, any action which prevents or could reasonably be expected to prevent (i) Tax-Free Status or (ii) any Separation Transaction from having the tax treatment described in the Tax Opinions/Rulings.

(b) Reserved.

(c) CoalCo agrees that, from the date hereof until the first day after the Restriction Period, it will (i) maintain its status as a company engaged in the CoalCo Active Trade or Business for purposes of Section 355(b)(2) of the Code and (ii) not engage in any transaction that would result in it ceasing to be a company engaged in the CoalCo Active Trade or Business for purposes of Section 355(b)(2) of the Code.

(d) CoalCo agrees that, from the date hereof until the first day after the Restriction Period, it will not (i) enter into any Proposed Acquisition Transaction or, to the extent CoalCo has the right to prohibit any Proposed Acquisition Transaction, permit any Proposed Acquisition Transaction to occur (whether by (a) redeeming rights under a shareholder rights plan, (b) finding a tender offer to be a “permitted offer” under any such plan or otherwise causing any such plan to be inapplicable or neutralized with respect to any Proposed Acquisition Transaction, or (c) approving any Proposed Acquisition Transaction, whether for purposes of Section 203 of the DGCL or any similar corporate statute, any “fair price” or other provision of CoalCo’s charter or bylaws or otherwise), (ii) merge or consolidate with any other Person or liquidate or partially liquidate, (iii) in a single transaction or series of transactions (A) sell or transfer (other than sales or transfers of inventory in the ordinary course of business) all or substantially all of the assets that were transferred to CoalCo pursuant to the Contribution, (B) sell or transfer, or cause or permit to be sold or transferred, 30% or more of the gross assets of the CoalCo Active Trade or Business, (C) sell or transfer 30% or more of the gross assets of the Retained PAMC Business, or (D) sell or transfer 30% or more of the consolidated gross assets of CoalCo and its Affiliates (in each case, such percentages to be measured based on fair market value as of the Distribution Date), (iv) redeem or otherwise repurchase (directly or through a CoalCo Affiliate) any CoalCo stock, or rights to acquire stock, except to the extent such repurchases satisfy Section 4.05(1)(b) of Revenue Procedure 96-30 (as in effect prior to the amendment by Revenue Procedure 2003-48), (v) amend its certificate of incorporation (or other organizational documents), or take any other action, whether through a stockholder vote or otherwise, affecting the voting rights of CoalCo Capital Stock (including, without limitation, through the conversion of one class of CoalCo Capital Stock into another class of CoalCo Capital Stock), or (vi) take any other action or actions (including any action or transaction that would be reasonably likely to be inconsistent with any representation or covenant made in the Ruling Request, the Representation Letters, or the Tax Opinions/Rulings) which in the aggregate (and taking into account any other transactions described in this subparagraph (d)) would be reasonably likely to have the effect of causing or permitting one or more persons to acquire, directly or indirectly, stock representing a Fifty-Percent or Greater Interest in CoalCo or otherwise jeopardize the Tax-Free Status of

 

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the Contribution or the Distribution unless, in each case, prior to taking any such action set forth in the foregoing clauses (i) through (vi), (A) CoalCo shall have requested that Parent obtain a private letter ruling (or, if applicable, a supplemental private letter ruling) from the IRS and/or any other applicable Tax Authority (a “ Post-Distribution Ruling ”) in accordance with Section  7.04(b) and (d)  of this Agreement to the effect that such transaction will not affect the Tax-Free Status and Parent shall have received such a Post-Distribution Ruling in form and substance satisfactory to Parent in its sole and absolute discretion (and in determining whether a Post-Distribution Ruling is satisfactory, Parent may consider, among other factors, the appropriateness of any underlying assumptions and management’s representations made in connection with such Post-Distribution Ruling), or (B) CoalCo shall provide Parent with an Unqualified Tax Opinion in form and substance satisfactory to Parent in its sole and absolute discretion (and in determining whether an opinion is satisfactory, Parent may consider, among other factors, the appropriateness of any underlying assumptions and management’s representations if used as a basis for the opinion and Parent may determine that no opinion would be acceptable to Parent) or (C) Parent shall have waived the requirement to obtain such Post-Distribution Ruling or Unqualified Tax Opinion.

(e) Certain Issuances of CoalCo Capital Stock . If CoalCo proposes to enter into any Section  7.02(e) Acquisition Transaction or, to the extent CoalCo has the right to prohibit any Section  7.02(e) Acquisition Transaction, proposes to permit any Section  7.02(e) Acquisition Transaction to occur, in each case, during the period from the date hereof until the first day after the Restriction Period, CoalCo shall provide Parent, no later than ten days following the signing of any written agreement with respect to the Section  7.02(e) Acquisition Transaction, with a written description of such transaction (including the type and amount of CoalCo Capital Stock to be issued in such transaction) and a certificate of the Chief Financial Officer of CoalCo to the effect that the Section  7.02(e) Acquisition Transaction is not a Proposed Acquisition Transaction or any other transaction to which the requirements of Section  7.02(d) apply (a “ CFO Certificate ”).

Section  7.03 Restrictions on Parent . Parent agrees that it will not take or fail to take, or cause or permit any member of the Parent Group to take or fail to take, any action where such action or failure to act would be inconsistent with or cause to be untrue any material information, covenant or representation in this Agreement, the Separation and Distribution Agreement, any of the other Ancillary Agreements, the Ruling Request, any Representation Letters, or the Tax Opinions/Rulings. Parent agrees that it will not take or fail to take, or cause or permit any member of the Parent Group to take or fail to take, any action which prevents or could reasonably be expected to prevent (i) Tax-Free Status or (ii) any Separation Transaction from having the tax treatment described in the Tax Opinions/Rulings.

Section 7.04 Procedures Regarding Opinions and Post-Distribution Rulings.

(a) If CoalCo notifies Parent that it desires to take one of the actions described in clauses (i) through (vi) of Section  7.02(d) (a “ Notified Action ”), Parent and CoalCo shall reasonably cooperate to attempt to obtain the Post-Distribution Ruling or Unqualified Tax Opinion referred to in Section  7.02(d) , unless Parent shall have waived the requirement to obtain such Post-Distribution Ruling or Unqualified Tax Opinion.

(b) Post-Distribution Rulings or Unqualified Tax Opinions at CoalCo’s Request . At the reasonable request of CoalCo pursuant to Section  7.02(d) , Parent shall cooperate with CoalCo and use its reasonable best efforts to seek to obtain, as expeditiously as possible, a Post-Distribution Ruling from the IRS (and/or any other applicable Tax Authority, or if applicable, a supplemental private letter ruling) or cooperate with CoalCo to enable CoalCo to obtain an Unqualified Tax Opinion for the purpose of permitting CoalCo to take the Notified Action. Further, in no event shall Parent be required to file any request for a Post-Distribution Ruling under this Section  7.04(b) unless CoalCo represents that (A) it has reviewed the request for such Post-Distribution Ruling, and (B) all information and representations, if any, relating to any member of the CoalCo Group, contained in the related Post-Distribution Ruling documents are (subject to any qualifications therein) true, correct and complete. CoalCo shall reimburse Parent for all reasonable costs and expenses incurred by the Parent Group in obtaining a Post-Distribution Ruling or Unqualified Tax Opinion requested by CoalCo within ten business days after receiving an invoice from Parent therefor.

(c) Post-Distribution Rulings or Unqualified Tax Opinions at Parent’s Request . Parent shall have the right to obtain a Post-Distribution Ruling (or, if applicable, a supplemental private letter ruling) from the IRS and/or any other applicable Tax Authority or an Unqualified Tax Opinion at any time in its sole and absolute discretion. If Parent determines to obtain a Post-Distribution Ruling or an Unqualified Tax Opinion, CoalCo shall (and shall cause each Affiliate of CoalCo to) cooperate with Parent and take any and all actions reasonably requested by Parent in connection with obtaining the Post-Distribution Ruling or Unqualified Tax Opinion (including, without limitation, by making any representation or covenant or providing any materials or information requested by the IRS, or other applicable Tax Authority, or Tax Advisor; provided that CoalCo shall not be required to make (or cause any Affiliate of CoalCo to make) any representation or covenant that is inconsistent with historical facts or as to future matters or events over which it has no control). Parent shall reimburse CoalCo for all reasonable costs and expenses incurred by the CoalCo Group in obtaining a Post-Distribution Ruling or Unqualified Tax Opinion requested by Parent within ten business days after receiving an invoice from CoalCo therefor.

 

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(d) CoalCo hereby agrees that Parent shall have sole and exclusive control over the process of obtaining any Post-Distribution Ruling pursuant to Section  7.04(b) or (c) , and that only Parent shall apply for such a Post-Distribution Ruling. In connection with obtaining a Post-Distribution Ruling pursuant to Section  7.04(b) , (A) Parent shall keep CoalCo informed in a timely manner of all material actions taken or proposed to be taken by Parent in connection therewith; (B) Parent shall (1) reasonably in advance of the submission of any related Post-Distribution Ruling documents provide CoalCo with a draft copy thereof, (2) reasonably consider CoalCo’s comments on such draft copy, and (3) provide CoalCo with a final copy; and (C) Parent shall provide CoalCo with notice reasonably in advance of, and CoalCo shall have the right to attend, any formally scheduled meetings with the IRS or other applicable Tax Authority (subject to the approval of the IRS or other applicable Tax Authority) that relate to such Post-Distribution Ruling. Neither CoalCo nor any CoalCo Affiliate directly or indirectly controlled by CoalCo shall seek any guidance from the IRS or any other Tax Authority (whether written, verbal or otherwise) at any time concerning the Contribution or the Distribution (including the impact of any transaction on the Contribution or Distribution, as applicable).

Section 7.05 Liability for Tax-Related Losses.

(a) Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement or the Separation and Distribution Agreement to the contrary, subject to Section  7.05(c) , CoalCo shall be responsible for, and shall indemnify and hold harmless Parent and its Affiliates and each of their respective officers, directors and employees from and against, one hundred percent (100%) of any Tax-Related Losses that are attributable to or result from any one or more of the following: (A) the acquisition (other than pursuant to the Contribution or the Distribution) of all or a portion of CoalCo’s Capital Stock and/or its or its subsidiaries’ assets by any means whatsoever by any Person, (B) any “agreement,” “understanding,” “arrangement,” “substantial negotiations” or “discussions” (as such terms are used or defined in Treasury Regulations Section 1.355-7(h)) by any one or more officers or directors of any member of the CoalCo Group or by any other person or persons with the implicit or explicit permission of one or more of such officers or directors regarding transactions or events that cause the Distribution to be treated as part of a plan pursuant to which one or more Persons acquire, directly or indirectly, stock of CoalCo representing a Fifty-Percent or Greater Interest therein, (C) any action or failure to act by CoalCo after the Distribution (including, without limitation, any amendment to CoalCo’s certificate of incorporation (or other organizational documents), whether through a stockholder vote or otherwise) affecting the voting rights of CoalCo stock (including, without limitation, through the conversion of one class of CoalCo Capital Stock into another class of CoalCo Capital Stock), (D) any act or failure to act by CoalCo or any CoalCo Affiliate described in Section  7.02 (regardless whether such act or failure to act is covered by a Post-Distribution Ruling, Unqualified Tax Opinion or waiver described in clause (A) , (B)  or (C)  of Section  7.02(d) or a CFO Certificate described in Section  7.02(e) ) or (E) any breach by CoalCo of its agreements and representations set forth in Section  7.01 .

(b) Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement or the Separation and Distribution Agreement to the contrary, subject to Section  7.05(c) , Parent shall be responsible for, and shall indemnify and hold harmless CoalCo and its Affiliates and each of their respective officers, directors and employees from and against, one hundred percent (100%) of any Tax-Related Losses that are attributable to, or result from any one or more of the following: (A) the acquisition (other than pursuant to the Contribution or the Distribution) of all or a portion of Parent’s stock and/or its or its subsidiaries’ assets by any means whatsoever by any Person, (B) any “agreement”, “understanding”, “arrangement”, “substantial negotiations” or “discussions” (as such terms are defined in Treasury Regulations Section 1.355-7(h)) by any one or more officers or directors of any member of the Parent Group or by any other person or persons with the implicit or explicit permission of one or more of such officers or directors regarding transactions or events that cause the Distribution to be treated as part of a plan pursuant to which one or more Persons acquire, directly or indirectly, stock of Parent representing a Fifty-Percent or Greater Interest therein, (C) any act or failure to act by Parent or a member of the Parent Group described in Section  7.03 or (D) any breach by Parent of its agreements and representations set forth in Section  7.01(a) .

(c) Miscellaneous .

(i) To the extent that any Tax-Related Loss is subject to indemnity under both Sections 7.05(a) and (b) , responsibility for such Tax-Related Loss shall be shared by Parent and CoalCo according to relative fault.

(ii) Notwithstanding anything in Section  7.05(b) or (c)(i) or any other provision of this Agreement or the Separation and Distribution Agreement to the contrary:

(A) with respect to (I) any Tax-Related Loss resulting from the application of Section 355(e) or Section 355(f) of the Code (other than as a result of an acquisition of a Fifty-Percent or Greater Interest in Parent) and (II) any other Tax-Related Loss resulting, in whole or in part, from an acquisition after the Distribution of any stock or assets of CoalCo (or any CoalCo Affiliate) by any means whatsoever by any Person or any action or failure to act by CoalCo affecting the voting rights of CoalCo (or the application of Section 355(h) by reason of any action or fact relating to CoalCo), CoalCo shall be responsible for, and shall indemnify and hold harmless Parent and its Affiliates and each of their respective officers, directors and employees from and against, one hundred percent (100%) of such Tax-Related Loss;

 

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(B) for purposes of calculating the amount and timing of any Tax-Related Loss for which CoalCo is responsible under this Section  7.05 , Tax-Related Losses shall be calculated by assuming that Parent, the Parent Affiliated Group and each member of the Parent Group (I) pay Tax at the highest marginal corporate Tax rates in effect in each relevant taxable year and (II) have no Tax Attributes in any relevant taxable year; and

(C) for purposes of calculating the amount and timing of any Tax-Related Loss for which Parent is responsible under this Section  7.05 , Tax-Related Losses shall be calculated by assuming that CoalCo, the CoalCo Group and each member of the CoalCo Group (I) pay Tax at the highest marginal corporate Tax rates in effect in each relevant taxable year and (II) have no Tax Attributes in any relevant taxable year.

(d) CoalCo shall pay Parent the amount of any Tax-Related Losses for which CoalCo is responsible under this Section  7.05 : (A) in the case of Tax-Related Losses described in clause (i) of the definition of Tax-Related Losses no later than two business days prior to the date Parent files, or causes to be filed, the applicable Tax Return for the year of the Contribution or Distribution, as applicable (the “ Filing Date ”) ( provided that if such Tax-Related Losses arise pursuant to a Final Determination described in clause (a), (b) or (c) of the definition of “Final Determination,” then CoalCo shall pay Parent no later than two business days prior to the Due Date for making payment with respect to such Final Determination) and (B) in the case of Tax-Related Losses described in clause (ii) or (iii) of the definition of Tax-Related Losses, no later than two business days after the date Parent pays such Tax-Related Losses. Parent shall pay CoalCo the amount of any Tax-Related Losses (described in clause (ii) or (iii) of the definition of Tax-Related Loss) for which Parent is responsible under this Section  7.05 no later than two business days after the date CoalCo pays such Tax-Related Losses. Each Party shall have the right to review the calculation of any Tax-Related Losses prepared by the other Party, including any related workpapers and other supporting documentation.

Section  7.06 Section  336(e) Election. If Parent determines, in its sole discretion, that a protective election under Section 336(e) of the Code (a “Section  336(e) Election” ) shall be made with respect to the Distribution, CoalCo shall (and shall cause the relevant member of the CoalCo Group to) join with Parent or the relevant member of the Parent Group in the making of such election and shall take any action reasonably requested by Parent or that is otherwise necessary to give effect to such election (including making any other related election). If a Section 336(e) Election is made with respect to the Distribution, then this Agreement shall be amended in such a manner as is determined by Parent in good faith to take into account such Section 336(e) Election (including by requiring that, in the event the Contribution and Distribution fail to have Tax-Free Status and Parent is not entitled to indemnification for the Tax-Related Losses arising from such failure, CoalCo shall pay over to Parent any Tax Benefits actually realized in cash by the CoalCo Group or any member of the CoalCo Group arising from the step-up in Tax basis resulting from the Section 336(e) Election); provided , such amounts payable shall be reduced by all reasonable costs incurred by CoalCo to amend any Tax Returns or other governmental filings related to such Section 336(e) Election.

Section 8. Assistance and Cooperation.

Section 8.01 Assistance and Cooperation.

(a) Each of the Companies shall provide (and cause its Affiliates to provide) the other and its agents, including accounting firms and legal counsel, with such cooperation or information as such other Company reasonably requests in connection with Tax matters relating to the Companies and their Affiliates, including (i) preparation and filing of Tax Returns, (ii) determining the liability for and amount of any Taxes due (including estimated Taxes) or the right to and amount of any Refund of Taxes, (iii) examinations of Tax Returns, and (iv) any administrative or judicial proceeding in respect of Taxes assessed or proposed to be assessed. Such cooperation shall include making available, upon reasonable notice, all information and documents in their possession relating to the other Company and its Affiliates as provided in Section  9 . Each of the Companies shall also make available to the other, as reasonably requested and available, personnel (including officers, directors, employees and agents of the Companies or their respective Affiliates) responsible for preparing, maintaining, and interpreting information and documents relevant to Taxes, and personnel reasonably required as witnesses for purposes of providing information or documents in connection with any administrative or judicial proceedings relating to Taxes.

(b) Any information or documents provided under this Section  8 or Section  9 shall be kept confidential by the Company receiving the information or documents, except as may otherwise be necessary in connection with the filing of Tax Returns or in connection with any administrative or judicial proceedings relating to Taxes. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement or any other agreement, (i) neither Parent nor any Parent Affiliate shall be required to provide CoalCo or any CoalCo Affiliate or any other Person access to or copies of any information (including the proceedings of any Tax Contest) other than information that relates solely to CoalCo, the business or assets of CoalCo, or any CoalCo Affiliate and (ii) in no event shall either of the Companies or any of its respective Affiliates be required to provide the other Company or any of its respective Affiliates or any other Person access to or copies of any information if such action could reasonably be expected to result in the waiver of any Privilege. In addition, in the event that either Company determines that the provision of any information to the other Company or its Affiliates could be commercially

 

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detrimental, violate any law or agreement or waive any Privilege, the parties shall use reasonable best efforts to permit compliance with its obligations under this Section  8 or Section  9 in a manner that avoids any such harm or consequence.

Section  8.02 Income Tax Return Information. CoalCo and Parent acknowledge that time is of the essence in relation to any request for information, assistance or cooperation made by Parent or CoalCo pursuant to Section  8.01 or this Section  8.02 . CoalCo and Parent acknowledge that failure to conform to the deadlines set forth herein or reasonable deadlines otherwise set by Parent or CoalCo could cause irreparable harm. Each Company shall provide to the other Company information and documents relating to its Group required by the other Company to prepare Tax Returns. Any information or documents the Responsible Company requires to prepare such Tax Returns shall be provided in such form as the Responsible Company reasonably requests and in sufficient time for the Responsible Company to file such Tax Returns on a timely basis.

Section  8.03 Reliance by Parent . If any member of the CoalCo Group supplies information to a member of the Parent Group in connection with a Tax liability and an officer of a member of the Parent Group signs a statement or other document under penalties of perjury in reliance upon the accuracy of such information, then upon the written request of such member of the Parent Group identifying the information being so relied upon, the chief financial officer of CoalCo (or any officer of CoalCo as designated by the chief financial officer of CoalCo) shall certify in writing that to his or her knowledge (based upon consultation with appropriate employees) the information so supplied is accurate and complete. CoalCo agrees to indemnify and hold harmless each member of the Parent Group and its directors, officers and employees from and against any fine, penalty, or other cost or expense of any kind attributable to a member of the CoalCo Group having supplied, pursuant to this Section  8 , a member of the Parent Group with inaccurate or incomplete information in connection with a Tax liability.

Section  8.04 Reliance by CoalCo. If any member of the Parent Group supplies information to a member of the CoalCo Group in connection with a Tax liability and an officer of a member of the CoalCo Group signs a statement or other document under penalties of perjury in reliance upon the accuracy of such information, then upon the written request of such member of the CoalCo Group identifying the information being so relied upon, the chief financial officer of Parent (or any officer of Parent as designated by the chief financial officer of Parent) shall certify in writing that to his or her knowledge (based upon consultation with appropriate employees) the information so supplied is accurate and complete. Parent agrees to indemnify and hold harmless each member of the CoalCo Group and its directors, officers and employees from and against any fine, penalty, or other cost or expense of any kind attributable to a member of the Parent Group having supplied, pursuant to this Section  8 , a member of the CoalCo Group with inaccurate or incomplete information in connection with a Tax liability.

Section 9. Tax Records.

Section  9.01 Retention of Tax Records . Each Company shall preserve and keep all Tax Records (including emails and other digitally stored materials) exclusively relating to the assets and activities of its Group for Pre-Deconsolidation Periods, and Parent shall preserve and keep all other Tax Records relating to Taxes of the Groups for Pre-Deconsolidation Periods, for so long as the contents thereof may become material in the administration of any matter under the Code or other applicable Tax Law, but in any event until the later of (i) the expiration of any applicable statutes of limitations, or (ii) seven years after the Deconsolidation Date (such later date, the “Retention Date ”). After the Retention Date, each Company may dispose of such Tax Records upon 90 days’ prior written notice to the other Company. If, prior to the Retention Date, a Company reasonably determines that any Tax Records which it would otherwise be required to preserve and keep under this Section  9 are no longer material in the administration of any matter under the Code or other applicable Tax Law and the other Company agrees, then such first Company may dispose of such Tax Records upon 90 days’ prior notice to the other Company. Any notice of an intent to dispose given pursuant to this Section  9.01 shall include a list of the Tax Records to be disposed of describing in reasonable detail the files, books, or other records being disposed. The notified Company shall have the opportunity, at its cost and expense, to copy or remove, within such 90-day period, all or any part of such Tax Records, and the other Company will then dispose of the same Tax Records. If, at any time prior to the Retention Date, a Company determines to decommission or otherwise discontinue any computer program or information technology system used to access or store any Tax Records, then such Company may decommission or discontinue such program or system upon 90 days’ prior notice to the other Company, and the other Company shall have the opportunity, at its cost and expense, to copy, within such 90-day period, all or any part of the underlying data relating to the Tax Records accessed by or stored on such program or system.

Section  9.02 Access to Tax Records . The Companies and their respective Affiliates shall make available to each other for inspection and copying during normal business hours upon reasonable notice all Tax Records (and, for the avoidance of doubt, any pertinent underlying data accessed or stored on any computer program or information technology system) in their possession and shall permit the other Company and its Affiliates, authorized agents and representatives and any representative of a Tax Authority or other Tax auditor direct access during normal business hours upon reasonable notice to any computer program or information technology system used to access or store any Tax Records, in each case, to the extent reasonably required by the other Company in connection with the preparation

 

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of Tax Returns or financial accounting statements, audits, litigation, or the resolution of items under this Agreement. To the extent any Tax Records are required to be or are otherwise transferred by the Companies or their respective Affiliates to any Person other than an Affiliate, the Company or its respective Affiliates shall transfer such records to the other Company at such time.

Section  9.03 Preservation of Privilege . The parties hereto agree to (and to cause the applicable members of their respective Groups to) cooperate and use commercially reasonable efforts to maintain Privilege with respect to any documentation relating to Taxes existing prior to the Distribution Date or Tax-Related Losses to which Privilege may reasonably be asserted (any such documentation, “ Privileged Documentation ”), including by executing joint defense and/or common interest agreements where necessary or useful for this purpose. No member of the CoalCo Group shall provide access to or copies of, or otherwise disclose to any Person, any Privileged Documentation without the prior written consent of Parent, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed. No member of the Parent Group shall provide access to or copies of or otherwise disclose to any Person any Privileged Documentation without the prior written consent of CoalCo, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed. Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, in the event that (x) any Governmental Authority requests, outside of normal working hours, that either Company (or any of its Affiliates) provide to such Governmental Authority access to or copies of or otherwise disclose any Privileged Documentation, (y) immediate compliance with such request is required under applicable Law, and (z) such Company attempts in good faith to obtain the prior written consent of the other Company but is not able to do so, then such Company shall be permitted to comply with such request by such Governmental Authority without obtaining the prior written consent of the other Company and shall as promptly as practicable inform the other Company of such request and the access and/or disclosure provided pursuant thereto.

Section 10. Tax Contests.

Section  10.01 Notice . Each of the Companies shall provide prompt notice, within five business days, by Federal Express or the equivalent with tracking receipt, to the other Company of any written communication from a Tax Authority regarding any pending or threatened Tax audit, assessment or proceeding or other Tax Contest of which it becomes aware related to Taxes for which it may be entitled to indemnification by the other Company hereunder. Such notice shall include copies of the pertinent portion of any written communication from a Tax Authority and contain factual information (to the extent known) describing any asserted Tax liability in reasonable detail and shall be accompanied by copies of any notice and other documents received from any Tax Authority in respect of any such matters. The failure of one Company to notify the other of such communication in accordance with the immediately preceding sentences shall not relieve such other Company of any liability or obligation to pay such Tax or make indemnification payments under this Agreement, except to the extent that the failure timely to provide such notification actually prejudices the ability of such other Company to contest such Tax liability or increases the amount of such Tax liability.

Section 10.02 Control of Tax Contests.

(a) Separate Company Tax Returns .

(i) Pre-Deconsolidation Date and Straddle Period Separate Returns . In the case of any Tax Contest with respect to any Separate Return (including any Separate Return with respect to Other Taxes) for any Tax Period ending on or prior to the Distribution Date or any Straddle Period, Parent (in the case of any such Separate Return filed with respect to any Person that, following the Distribution, is a member of the Parent Group) or CoalCo (in the case of any such Separate Return filed with respect to any Person that, following the Distribution, is a member of the CoalCo group), as applicable, shall have exclusive control over the Tax Contest, including exclusive authority with respect to any settlement of such Tax liability, subject to Sections 10.02(d) , 10.02(e) , and 10.02(f) below. Notwithstanding the foregoing, however, in the case of any Tax Contest with respect to any Separate Return described in the proviso in Section  2.03(c) , if as a result of such Tax Contest, the Party who is not responsible for filing such Separate Return pursuant to Section  4.02(c) or Section  4.03 , as applicable, could reasonably be expected to become liable for an amount of Tax pursuant to Section  2.03(c) or Section  3(c) , then the Party expected to bear the greater Tax liability as a result of the Tax Contest shall have exclusive control over the Tax Contest, including exclusive authority with respect to any settlement of such Tax liability, subject to Sections 10.02(d) and 10.02(e) below.

(ii) Post-Deconsolidation Date Separate Returns . In the case of any Tax Contest with respect to any Separate Return (including any Separate Return with respect to Other Taxes) for any Tax Period beginning after the Distribution Date, the Responsible Company shall have exclusive control over the Tax Contest, including exclusive authority with respect to any settlement of such Tax liability, subject to Section  10.02(e) below.

 

22


(b) Parent Federal Consolidated Income Tax Returns. In the case of any Tax Contest with respect to any Parent Federal Consolidated Income Tax Return, Parent shall have exclusive control over the Tax Contest, including exclusive authority with respect to any settlement of such Tax liability, subject to Sections 10.02(d) and 10.02(f)(i) below.

(c) Parent State Combined Income Tax Returns, Parent Foreign Combined Income Tax Returns, and Other Joint Returns. In the case of any Tax Contest with respect to any Parent State Combined Income Tax Return, any Parent Foreign Combined Income Tax Return or any Joint Return with respect to Other Taxes, Parent shall have exclusive control over the Tax Contest, including exclusive authority with respect to any settlement of such Tax liability, subject to Section  10.02(d) and 10.02(f)(i) below.

(d) CoalCo Rights. In the case of any Tax Contest with respect to any Tax Return described in Section  10.02(a) , (b) , or (c)  (other than any Separate Return described in Section  10.02(a)(ii) ), if (x) as a result of such Tax Contest, CoalCo could reasonably be expected to become liable for an amount of Tax in excess of $1 million and (y) Parent has control of such Tax Contest pursuant to Section  10.02(a) , (b) , or (c) , as applicable, then (i) Parent shall consult with CoalCo reasonably in advance of taking any significant action in connection with such Tax Contest, (ii) Parent shall consult with CoalCo and offer CoalCo a reasonable opportunity to comment before submitting any written materials prepared or furnished in connection with such Tax Contest, (iii) Parent shall defend such Tax Contest diligently and in good faith as if it were the only party in interest in connection with such Tax Contest, and (iv) CoalCo shall be entitled to participate in such Tax Contest and receive copies of any written materials relating to such Tax Contest received from the relevant Tax Authority.

(e) Parent Rights . In the case of any Tax Contest with respect to any Tax Return described in Section  10.02(a) , if (x) as a result of such Tax Contest, Parent could reasonably be expected to become liable for an amount of Tax in excess of $1 million and (y) CoalCo has the right to control such Tax Contest pursuant to Section  10.02(a) , then (i) CoalCo shall consult with Parent reasonably in advance of taking any significant action in connection with such Tax Contest, (ii) CoalCo shall consult with Parent and offer Parent a reasonable opportunity to comment before submitting any written materials prepared or furnished in connection with such Tax Contest, (iii) CoalCo shall defend such Tax Contest diligently and in good faith as if it were the only party in interest in connection with such Tax Contest, (iv) Parent shall be entitled to participate in such Tax Contest and receive copies of any written materials relating to such Tax Contest received from the relevant Tax Authority, and (v) CoalCo shall not settle, compromise or abandon any such Tax Contest without obtaining the prior written consent of Parent, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld.

(f) Distribution-Related Tax Contests.

(i) In the event of any Distribution-Related Tax Contest as a result of which CoalCo could reasonably be expected to become liable for any Tax or Tax-Related Losses and which Parent has the right to administer and control pursuant to Section  10.02(a) , (b) , or (c)  above, (A) Parent shall consult with CoalCo reasonably in advance of taking any significant action in connection with such Tax Contest, (B) Parent shall offer CoalCo a reasonable opportunity to comment before submitting any written materials prepared or furnished in connection with such Tax Contest, (C) Parent shall defend such Tax Contest diligently and in good faith as if it were the only party in interest in connection with such Tax Contest, and (D) Parent shall provide CoalCo copies of any written materials relating to such Tax Contest received from the relevant Tax Authority. Notwithstanding anything in the preceding sentence to the contrary, the final determination of the positions taken, including with respect to settlement or other disposition, in any Distribution-Related Tax Contest shall be made in the sole discretion of Parent and shall be final and not subject to the dispute resolution provisions of Article VII of the Separation and Distribution Agreement or Section  14 hereof.

(ii) In the event of any Distribution-Related Tax Contest with respect to any CoalCo Separate Return, (A) CoalCo shall consult with Parent reasonably in advance of taking any significant action in connection with such Tax Contest, (B) CoalCo shall consult with Parent and offer Parent a reasonable opportunity to comment before submitting any written materials prepared or furnished in connection with such Tax Contest, (C) CoalCo shall defend such Tax Contest diligently and in good faith as if it were the only party in interest in connection with such Tax Contest, (D) Parent shall be entitled to participate in such Tax Contest and receive copies of any written materials relating to such Tax Contest received from the relevant Tax Authority, and (E) CoalCo shall not settle, compromise or abandon any such Tax Contest without obtaining the prior written consent of Parent, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld.

 

23


(g) Power of Attorney .

(i) Each member of the CoalCo Group shall execute and deliver to Parent (or such member of the Parent Group as Parent shall designate) any power of attorney or other similar document reasonably requested by Parent (or such designee) in connection with any Tax Contest (as to which Parent is the Controlling Party) described in this Section  10 .

(ii) Each member of the Parent Group shall execute and deliver to CoalCo (or such member of the CoalCo Group as CoalCo shall designate) any power of attorney or other similar document reasonably requested by CoalCo (or such designee) in connection with any Tax Contest (as to which CoalCo is the Controlling Party) described in this Section  10 .

Section  11. Effective Date; Termination of Prior Intercompany Tax Allocation Agreements . This Agreement shall be effective as of the Effective Time. As of the Effective Time, (i) all prior intercompany Tax allocation agreements or arrangements solely between or among one or more members of the Parent Group, on the one hand, and one or more members of the CoalCo Group, on the other hand, shall be terminated, and (ii) amounts due under such agreements as of the date on which the Effective Time occurs shall be settled as of the Effective Time. Upon such termination and settlement, no further payments by or to any member of the Parent Group or by or to any member of the CoalCo Group, with respect to such agreements shall be made, and all other rights and obligations resulting from such agreements between the Companies and their Affiliates shall cease at such time. Any payments pursuant to such agreements shall be disregarded for purposes of computing amounts due under this Agreement; provided that to the extent appropriate, as determined by Parent, payments made pursuant to such agreements shall be credited to CoalCo or Parent, respectively, in computing their respective obligations pursuant to this Agreement, in the event that such payments relate to a Tax liability that is the subject matter of this Agreement for a Tax Period that is the subject matter of this Agreement.

Section  12. Survival of Obligations. The representations, warranties, covenants and agreements set forth in this Agreement shall be unconditional and absolute and shall remain in effect without limitation as to time.

Section 13. Treatment of Payments; Tax Gross Up.

Section  13.01 Treatment of Tax Indemnity and Tax Benefit Payments. In the absence of any change in Tax treatment under the Code or other applicable Tax Law, for all Income Tax purposes, the Companies agree to treat, and to cause their respective Affiliates to treat, (i) any indemnity payment required by this Agreement or by the Separation and Distribution Agreement as either a contribution by Parent to CoalCo or a distribution by CoalCo to Parent, as the case may be, occurring immediately prior to the Distribution; and (ii) any payment of interest or State Income Taxes by or to a Tax Authority, as taxable or deductible, as the case may be, to the Company entitled under this Agreement to retain such payment or required under this Agreement to make such payment.

Section  13.02 Tax Gross Up. If notwithstanding the manner in which Tax indemnity payments and Tax Benefit payments were reported, there is an adjustment to the Tax liability of a Company as a result of its receipt of a payment pursuant to this Agreement or the Separation and Distribution Agreement, such payment shall be appropriately adjusted so that the amount of such payment, reduced by the amount of all Income Taxes payable with respect to the receipt thereof (but taking into account all correlative Tax Benefits resulting from the payment of such Income Taxes), shall equal the amount of the payment which the Company receiving such payment would otherwise be entitled to receive.

Section  13.03 Interest. Anything herein to the contrary notwithstanding, to the extent one Company ( “Indemnitor” ) makes a payment of interest to another Company (“ Indemnitee ”) under this Agreement with respect to the period from the date that the Indemnitee made a payment of Tax to a Tax Authority to the date that the Indemnitor reimbursed the Indemnitee for such Tax payment, the interest payment shall be treated as interest expense to the Indemnitor (deductible to the extent provided by law) and as interest income by the Indemnitee (includible in income to the extent provided by law). The amount of the payment shall not be adjusted to take into account any associated Tax Benefit to the Indemnitor or increase in Tax to the Indemnitee.

Section 14. Disagreements.

Section  14.01 Interaction with Article VII of the Separation and Distribution Agreement. In the event of any dispute between any member of the Parent Group and any member of the CoalCo Group as to any matter covered by this Agreement, the Companies shall

 

24


agree as to whether such dispute shall be governed by the procedures set forth in Section  14.02 of this Agreement or in Article VII of the Separation and Distribution Agreement. If the Parties cannot agree within thirty (30) days from the time such dispute arises as to which procedure will govern such dispute, such disagreement shall be resolved pursuant to Article VII of the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Section  14.02 Dispute Resolution. With respect to any dispute governed by this Section  14.02 , the Companies shall appoint a nationally recognized “Big Four” independent public accounting firm (other than the current auditing firm of Parent or CoalCo) (the “Accounting Firm”) to resolve such dispute. The Companies shall cooperate in good faith in jointly selecting the Accounting Firm. In this regard, the Accounting Firm shall make determinations with respect to the disputed items based solely on representations made by Parent and CoalCo and their respective Representatives, and not by independent review, shall function only as an expert and not as an arbitrator and shall be required to make a determination in favor of one Company only. The Companies shall require the Accounting Firm to resolve all disputes no later than fifteen (15) days after the submission of such dispute to the Accounting Firm, but in no event later than the relevant Payment Date, and agree that all decisions by the Accounting Firm with respect thereto shall be final and conclusive and binding on the Companies. The Accounting Firm shall resolve all disputes in a manner consistent with this Agreement. To the extent not inconsistent with this Agreement, the Accounting Firm shall resolve all disputes in a manner consistent with the Past Practices of Parent and the members of the Parent Group, except as otherwise required by applicable Law. The Companies shall require the Accounting Firm to render all determinations in writing and to set forth, in reasonable detail, the basis for such determination. The fees and expenses of the Accounting Firm shall be paid by the non-prevailing Company. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Section  14 , a Party may seek preliminary provisional or injunctive judicial relief with respect to any dispute under this Agreement without first complying with the procedures set forth in this Section  14 (or Article VII of the Separation and Distribution Agreement) if such action is reasonably necessary to avoid irreparable damage.

Section  15. Late Payments. Any amount owed by one Party to another Party under this Agreement which is not paid when due shall bear interest at the Prime Rate plus two percent, compounded semiannually, from the due date of the payment to the date paid. To the extent interest required to be paid under this Section  15 duplicates interest required to be paid under any other provision of this Agreement, interest shall be computed at the higher of the interest rate provided under this Section  15 or the interest rate provided under such other provision.

Section  16. Expenses. Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, each Party and its Affiliates shall bear their own expenses incurred in connection with preparation of Tax Returns, Tax Contests, and other matters related to Taxes under the provisions of this Agreement.

Section 17. General Provisions.

Section  17.01 Addresses and Notices. All notices, requests, claims, demands or other communications under this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be given or made (and shall be deemed to have been duly given or made upon receipt) by delivery in person, by overnight courier service, by facsimile or electronic transmission with receipt confirmed (followed by delivery of an original via overnight courier service or by registered or certified mail postage prepaid, return receipt requested) to the respective Parties at the following addresses (or at such other address for a Party as shall be specified in a notice given in accordance with this Section  17.01 ):

If to Parent, to: Stephanie Gill

CONSOL Energy Inc.

1000 CONSOL Energy Drive

Canonsburg, PA 15317

Attention: Chief Legal Officer

Phone: (724) 485-4234

If to CoalCo, to: Martha Wiegand

CONSOL Mining Corporation

1000 CONSOL Energy Drive

Canonsburg, PA 15317

Attn: Chief Legal Officer

Phone: (724) 485-4009

 

25


A Party may, by notice to the other Party, change the address to which such notices are to be given.

Section  17.02 Assignability. This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto and their successors and permitted assigns; provided , that neither Party nor any such Party thereto may assign its rights or delegate its obligations under this Agreement without the express prior written consent of the other Party hereto. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no such consent shall be required for the assignment of a Party’s rights and obligations under this Agreement in whole ( i.e. , the assignment of a Party’s rights and obligations under this Agreement all at the same time) in connection with a change of control of a Party so long as the resulting, surviving or transferee Person assumes all the obligations of the relevant Party thereto by operation of Law or pursuant to an agreement in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the other Party.

Section  17.03 Waiver. Waiver by a Party of any default by the other Party of any provision of this Agreement shall not be deemed a waiver by the waiving Party of any subsequent or other default, nor shall it prejudice the rights of the other Party. No failure or delay by a Party in exercising any right, power or privilege under this Agreement shall operate as a waiver thereof, nor shall a single or partial exercise thereof prejudice any other or further exercise thereof or the exercise of any other right, power or privilege.

Section  17.04 Severability. If any provision of this Agreement or the application thereof to any Person or circumstance is determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, void or unenforceable, the remaining provisions hereof, or the application of such provision to Persons or circumstances or in jurisdictions other than those as to which it has been held invalid or unenforceable, shall remain in full force and effect and shall in no way be affected, impaired or invalidated thereby. Upon such determination, the Parties shall negotiate in good faith in an effort to agree upon such a suitable and equitable provision to effect the original intent of the Parties.

Section  17.05 Authority. Parent represents on behalf of itself and each other member of the Parent Group, and CoalCo represents on behalf of itself and each other member of the CoalCo Group, as follows: (i) each such Person has the requisite corporate or other power and authority and has taken all corporate or other action necessary in order to execute, deliver and perform this Agreement and to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby; and (ii) this Agreement has been duly executed and delivered by it and constitutes a valid and binding agreement of it enforceable in accordance with the terms thereof.

Section  17.06 Further Action. The parties shall execute and deliver all documents, provide all information, and take or refrain from taking action as may be necessary or appropriate to achieve the purposes of this Agreement, including the execution and delivery to the other parties and their Affiliates and representatives of such powers of attorney or other authorizing documentation as is reasonably necessary or appropriate in connection with Tax Contests (or portions thereof) under the control of such other parties in accordance with Section  10 .

Section  17.07 Integration. This Agreement, the other Ancillary Agreements and the Exhibits, Schedules and appendices hereto and thereto contain the entire agreement between the Parties with respect to the subject matter hereof, supersede all previous agreements, negotiations, discussions, writings, understandings, commitments and conversations with respect to such subject matter, and there are no agreements or understandings between the Parties other than those set forth or referred to herein or therein. In the event of any inconsistency between this Agreement, the Separation and Distribution Agreement, or any other agreements relating to the transactions contemplated by the Separation and Distribution Agreement, with respect to matters addressed herein, the provisions of this Agreement shall control.

Section  17.08 Construction. The language in all parts of this Agreement shall in all cases be construed according to its fair meaning and shall not be strictly construed for or against any Party. The captions, titles and headings included in this Agreement are for convenience only, and do not affect this Agreement’s construction or interpretation. Unless otherwise indicated, all “Section” references in this Agreement are to sections of this Agreement.

Section  17.09 No Double Recovery. No provision of this Agreement shall be construed to provide an indemnity or other recovery for any costs, damages, or other amounts for which the damaged Party has been fully compensated under any other provision of this Agreement or under any other agreement or action at law or equity. Unless expressly required in this Agreement, a Party shall not be required to exhaust all remedies available under other agreements or at law or equity before recovering under the remedies provided in this Agreement.

 

26


Section  17.10 Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts, all of which shall be considered one and the same agreement, and shall become effective when one or more counterparts have been signed by each of the Parties and delivered to the other Party. Each Party acknowledges that it and each other Party may be executing this Agreement by facsimile, stamp or mechanical signature, and that delivery of an executed counterpart of a signature page to this Agreement (whether executed by manual, stamp or mechanical signature) by facsimile or by email in portable document format (PDF) shall be effective as delivery of such executed counterpart of this Agreement. Each Party expressly adopts and confirms each such facsimile, stamp or mechanical signature (regardless of whether delivered in person, by mail, by courier, by facsimile or by email in portable document format (PDF)) made in its respective name as if it were a manual signature delivered in person, agrees that it will not assert that any such signature or delivery is not adequate to bind such Party to the same extent as if it were signed manually and delivered in person and agrees that, at the reasonable request of the other Party at any time, it will as promptly as reasonably practicable cause this Agreement to be manually executed (such execution to be as of the date of the initial date thereof) and delivered in person, by mail or by courier.

Section  17.11 Governing Law. This Agreement (and any claims or disputes arising out of or related hereto or to the transactions contemplated hereby or to the inducement of any Party to enter herein, whether for breach of contract, tortious conduct or otherwise and whether predicated on common law, statute or otherwise) shall be governed by and construed and interpreted in accordance with the Laws of the State of Delaware irrespective of the choice of laws principles of the State of Delaware including all matters of validity, construction, effect, enforceability, performance and remedies.

Section  17.12 Jurisdiction. If any dispute arises out of or in connection with this Agreement, except as expressly contemplated by another provision of this Agreement, the parties irrevocably (and the parties will cause each other member of their respective Group to irrevocably) (a) consent and submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of federal and state courts located in Delaware, (b) waive any objection to that choice of forum based on venue or to the effect that the forum is not convenient, and (c) WAIVE TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW ANY RIGHT TO TRIAL OR ADJUDICATION BY JURY.

Section  17.13 Amendment. No provisions of this Agreement shall be deemed waived, amended, supplemented or modified by a Party, unless such waiver, amendment, supplement or modification is in writing and signed by the authorized representative of the Party against whom it is sought to enforce such waiver, amendment, supplement or modification.

Section  17.14 CoalCo Subsidiaries. If, at any time, CoalCo acquires or creates one or more subsidiaries that are includable in the CoalCo Group, they shall be subject to this Agreement and all references to the CoalCo Group herein shall thereafter include a reference to such subsidiaries.

Section  17.15 Successors. This Agreement shall be binding on and inure to the benefit of any successor by merger, acquisition of assets, or otherwise, to any of the parties hereto (including but not limited to any successor of Parent, or CoalCo succeeding to the Tax attributes of either under Section 381 of the Code), to the same extent as if such successor had been an original Party to this Agreement.

Section  17.16 Injunctions. The parties acknowledge that irreparable damage would occur in the event that any of the provisions of this Agreement were not performed in accordance with its specific terms or were otherwise breached. The parties hereto shall be entitled to an injunction or injunctions to prevent breaches of the provisions of this Agreement and to enforce specifically the terms and provisions hereof in any court having jurisdiction, such remedy being in addition to any other remedy to which they may be entitled at law or in equity.

[Remainder of this Page Intentionally Left Blank]

 

27


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, each Party has caused this Agreement to be executed on its behalf by a duly authorized officer on the date first set forth above.

 

CONSOL ENERGY INC.
By:  

/s/ Stephen W. Johnson

Name:   Stephen W. Johnson
Title:   Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer
CONSOL MINING CORPORATION
By:  

/s/ James A. Brock

Name:   James A. Brock
Title:   Chief Executive Officer

[Signature Page to Tax Matters Agreement]

 

28

Exhibit 2.3

EMPLOYEE MATTERS AGREEMENT

BY AND BETWEEN

CONSOL ENERGY INC.

AND

CONSOL MINING CORPORATION

DATED AS OF NOVEMBER 28, 2017


TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

         Page  

Article I DEFINITIONS

     1  

Section 1.01

 

Definitions

     1  

Section 1.02

 

Interpretation

     6  

Article II GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR ALLOCATION OF LIABILITIES

     7  

Section 2.01

 

General Principles

     7  

Section 2.02

 

Transition Services

     8  

Section 2.03

 

Service Credit

     8  

Section 2.04

 

Benefit Plans

     8  

Section 2.05

 

Individual Agreements

     9  

Section 2.06

 

Collective Bargaining

     10  

Article III ASSIGNMENT OF EMPLOYEES

     10  

Section 3.01

 

Active Employees

     10  

Section 3.02

 

Nonsolicitation

     11  

Article IV EQUITY, INCENTIVE AND EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

     12  

Section 4.01

 

Generally

     12  

Section 4.02

 

Equity Incentive Awards

     12  

Section 4.03

 

Nonequity Incentive Plans

     16  

Section 4.04

 

Severance Benefits

     16  

Section 4.05

 

Director Compensation

     16  
Article V QUALIFIED RETIREMENT PLANS      17  

Section 5.01

 

Parent Pension Plan

     17  

Section 5.02

 

CoalCo Investment Plan

     17  

Article VI NONQUALIFIED DEFERRED COMPENSATION PLANS

     18  

Section 6.01

 

CoalCo Nonqualified Plans

     18  

Section 6.02

 

Participation; Distributions

     19  

Article VII WELFARE BENEFIT PLANS

     19  

Section 7.01

 

Welfare Plans

     19  

Section 7.02

 

COBRA

     20  

Section 7.03

 

Vacation, Holidays and Leaves of Absence

     20  

Section 7.04

 

Severance and Unemployment Compensation

     20  

Section 7.05

 

Workers’ Compensation; Black Lung

     20  

 

i


Section 7.06

 

Insurance Contracts

     20  

Section 7.07

 

Third-Party Vendors

     20  

Section 7.08

 

Nondivided Welfare Plans

     20  

Article VIII MISCELLANEOUS

     21  

Section 8.01

 

Employee Records

     21  

Section 8.02

 

Preservation of Rights to Amend

     22  

Section 8.03

 

Fiduciary Matters

     22  

Section 8.04

 

Further Assurances

     22  

Section 8.05

 

Counterparts; Entire Agreement; Corporate Power

     22  

Section 8.06

 

Governing Law

     22  

Section 8.07

 

Assignability

     22  

Section 8.08

 

Third-Party Beneficiaries

     23  

Section 8.09

 

Notices

     23  

Section 8.10

 

Severability

     23  

Section 8.11

 

Force Majeure

     23  

Section 8.12

 

Headings

     23  

Section 8.13

 

Survival of Covenants

     23  

Section 8.14

 

Waivers of Default

     23  

Section 8.15

 

Dispute Resolution

     23  

Section 8.16

 

Specific Performance

     24  

Section 8.17

 

Amendments

     24  

Section 8.18

 

Interpretation

     24  

Section 8.19

 

Mutual Drafting

     24  

Section 8.20

 

Provisions Incorporated by Reference

     24  

 

ii


EMPLOYEE MATTERS AGREEMENT

This EMPLOYEE MATTERS AGREEMENT, dated as of November 28, 2017 (this “ Agreement ”), is by and between CONSOL Energy Inc., a Delaware corporation (“ Parent ”), and CONSOL Mining Corporation, a Delaware corporation (“ CoalCo ”). Capitalized terms used herein and not otherwise defined shall have the respective meanings assigned to them in Article I.

R E C I T A L S:

WHEREAS, the board of directors of Parent (the “ Parent Board ”) has determined that it is in the best interests of Parent and its stockholders to create a new publicly traded company that will operate the Coal Business;

WHEREAS, in furtherance of the foregoing, the Parent Board has determined that it is appropriate and desirable to separate the Coal Business from the Parent Business (the “ Separation ”) and, following the Separation, make a distribution, on a pro rata basis, to holders of Parent Shares on the Record Date of 100% of the outstanding shares of common stock of CoalCo owned by Parent (the “ Distribution ”);

WHEREAS, CoalCo has been incorporated solely for these purposes and has not engaged in activities except in preparation for the Separation and the Distribution;

WHEREAS, to effectuate the Separation and Distribution, Parent and CoalCo have entered into a Separation and Distribution Agreement, dated as of November 28, 2017 (the “ Separation and Distribution Agreement ”); and

WHEREAS, in addition to the matters addressed by the Separation and Distribution Agreement, the Parties desire to enter into this Agreement to set forth the terms and conditions of certain employment, compensation and benefit matters.

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual agreements, provisions and covenants contained in this Agreement, and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the Parties, intending to be legally bound, hereby agree as follows:

ARTICLE I

DEFINITIONS

Section 1.01     Definitions . For purposes of this Agreement, the following terms shall have the meanings set forth below. Capitalized terms used in this Agreement but not otherwise defined herein shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Action ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Affiliate ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Agreement ” shall have the meaning set forth in the preamble to this Agreement and shall include all Schedules hereto and all amendments, modifications, and changes hereto entered into pursuant to Section  8.17 .

Ancillary Agreements ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Assets ” shall mean Coal Assets and Parent Assets.

Benefit Plan ” shall mean any contract, agreement, policy, practice, program, plan, trust, commitment or arrangement providing for benefits, perquisites or compensation of any nature from an employer to any Employee, or to any family member, dependent, or beneficiary of any such Employee, including pension plans, thrift plans,


supplemental pension plans and welfare plans, and contracts, agreements, policies, practices, programs, plans, trusts, commitments and arrangements providing for terms of employment, fringe benefits, severance benefits, change in control protections or benefits, travel and accident, life, accidental death and dismemberment, disability and accident insurance, tuition reimbursement, travel reimbursement, vacation, sick, personal or bereavement days, leaves of absences, shutdown, layoff and holidays; provided , however , that the term “Benefit Plan” does not include any government-sponsored benefits, such as workers’ compensation, unemployment or any similar plans, programs or policies.

Coal Assets ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Coal Business ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Coal Liability ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement, or any of the Liabilities described in Section  2.01(a) .

CoalCo ” shall have the meaning set forth in the preamble to this Agreement.

CoalCo Annual Bonus Plans ” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  4.03(a) .

CoalCo Awards ” shall mean GasCo Options, CoalCo RSU Awards, CoalCo PSU Awards and CoalCo DSU Awards, collectively.

CoalCo Benefit Plan ” shall mean any Benefit Plan established, sponsored, maintained or contributed to by a member of the CoalCo Group as of or after the Distribution Date.

CoalCo Board ” shall mean the Board of Directors of CoalCo.

CoalCo DSU Award ” shall mean a deferred stock unit award granted by CoalCo pursuant to the CoalCo Equity Plan in accordance with Section  4.02(g) .

CoalCo Equity Plan ” shall mean the CONSOL Mining Corporation Omnibus Performance Incentive Plan.

CoalCo Group ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

CoalCo Group Employees ” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  3.01(a) .

CoalCo Investment Plan ” shall mean the CONSOL Pennsylvania Coal Company Investment Plan.

CoalCo Nonemployee Director ” means each member of the CoalCo Board as of immediately prior to the Effective Time who is not a CoalCo Group Employee.

CoalCo Nonqualified Plans ” shall mean the plans established by the CoalCo Group pursuant to Section  6.01(a) that correspond to the Parent Divided Nonqualified Plans.

CoalCo PSU Award ” shall mean a performance share unit award granted pursuant to the CoalCo Equity Plan in accordance with Section  4.02(e) .

CoalCo Ratio ” shall mean the quotient obtained by dividing the Parent Stock Value by the CoalCo Stock Value.

CoalCo RSU Award ” shall mean a restricted stock unit award granted pursuant to the CoalCo Equity Plan in accordance with Section  4.02(c) .

CoalCo Shares ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

 

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CoalCo Stock Value ” shall mean the simple average of the volume weighted average per share price of CoalCo Shares, trading on the New York Stock Exchange during Regular Trading Hours on the first three Trading Days following the Distribution Date.

CoalCo Welfare Plans ” shall mean the Welfare Plans established, sponsored, maintained or contributed to by any member of the CoalCo Group for the benefit of CoalCo Group Employees and Former CoalCo Group Employees, including each such Welfare Plan that corresponds to a Parent Welfare Plan.

COBRA ” shall mean the U.S. Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, as codified in Section 601 et seq . of ERISA and in Section 4980B of the Code.

Code ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Dispute ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Distribution ” shall have the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.

Distribution Date ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Distribution Ratio ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Effective Time ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Employee ” shall mean any GasCo Group Employee or CoalCo Group Employee.

ERISA ” shall mean the U.S. Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, and the regulations promulgated thereunder.

FICA ” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  3.01(e) .

Force Majeure ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Former CoalCo Group Employee ” shall mean (i) any individual who is a former employee of Parent or any of its Subsidiaries or former Subsidiaries as of the Distribution Date, in each case, whose most recent employment with Parent was with a member of the CoalCo Group or the Coal Business, and (ii) any individual who is a former employee of Parent or its Subsidiaries or former Subsidiaries whose most recent employment was at a work location that has been sold or otherwise closed prior to the Distribution Date and who is identified as a Former CoalCo Group Employee on the master list prepared by Parent prior to the Distribution Date. Notwithstanding the foregoing or anything else herein to the contrary, any individual who has received a written communication from the Parent Group prior to the Distribution Date indicating that such individual will be classified as a former employee of the CoalCo Group for purposes of compensation and benefits will be treated as a Former CoalCo Group Employee for purposes of this Agreement.

Former Employees ” shall mean Former GasCo Group Employees and Former CoalCo Group Employees.

Former Nonemployee Director ” shall mean each former member of the Parent Board whose service on the Parent Board ended prior to the Effective Time, other than the Transferred Directors.

Former Parent Group Employee ” shall mean any individual who is a former employee of Parent or any of its Subsidiaries or former Subsidiaries as of the Distribution Date and who is not a Former CoalCo Group Employee, including any individual whose most recent employment was at a location that was sold or otherwise closed prior to the Distribution Date and who is identified as a Former Parent Group Employee on the master list prepared by Parent prior to the Distribution Date. Notwithstanding the foregoing or anything else herein to the contrary, any individual who has received a written communication from the Parent Group prior to the Distribution Date indicating that such individual will be classified as a former employee of the Parent Group for purposes of compensation and benefits will be treated as a Former Parent Group Employee for purposes of this Agreement.

 

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FUTA ” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  3.01(e) .

GasCo ” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  2.01(b) .

GasCo Awards ” shall mean GasCo Options, GasCo RSU Awards, GasCo PSU Awards, and GasCo DSU Awards, collectively.

GasCo DSU Award ” shall mean a Parent DSU Award adjusted as of the Effective Time in accordance with Section  4.02(f) .

GasCo Group Employees ” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  3.01(a) .

GasCo Option ” shall mean a Parent Option adjusted as of the Effective Time in accordance with Section  4.02(a) .

GasCo Nonemployee Director ” shall mean each member of the Parent Board as of immediately after the Effective Time who is not a GasCo Group Employee.

GasCo PSU Award ” shall mean a Parent PSU Award adjusted as of the Effective Time in accordance with Section  4.02(d) .

GasCo Ratio ” shall mean the quotient obtained by dividing the Parent Stock Value by the GasCo Stock Value.

GasCo RSU Award ” shall mean a Parent RSU Award adjusted as of the Effective Time in accordance with Section  4.02(b) .

GasCo Shares ” shall mean the shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, of CONSOL Energy Inc. (to be renamed CNX Resources Corporation) following the Distribution.

GasCo Stock Value ” shall mean the simple average of the volume weighted average per share price of GasCo Shares, trading on the New York Stock Exchange during Regular Trading Hours on the first three Trading Days following the Distribution Date.

Governmental Authority ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

HIPAA ” shall mean the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended, and the regulations promulgated thereunder.

Individual Agreement ” shall mean any individual (i) employment contract, (ii) retention, severance or change of control agreement, or (iii) other agreement containing restrictive covenants (including confidentiality, noncompetition and nonsolicitation provisions) between a member of the Parent Group and a CoalCo Group Employee or GasCo Group Employee, as in effect immediately prior to the Distribution Date.

IRS ” shall mean the Internal Revenue Service.

Law ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Liabilities ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

NYSE ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Parent ” shall have the meaning set forth in the preamble to this Agreement.

 

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Parent Assets ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Parent Awards ” shall mean Parent Options, Parent RSU Awards, Parent PSU Awards and Parent DSU Awards, collectively.

Parent Benefit Plan ” shall mean any Benefit Plan established, sponsored or maintained by Parent or any of its Subsidiaries immediately prior to the Distribution Date, excluding any CoalCo Benefit Plan.

Parent Board ” shall have the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.

Parent Business ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Parent Compensation Committee ” shall mean the Compensation Committee of the Parent Board.

Parent Divided Nonqualified Plans ” shall mean the Retirement Restoration Plan of CONSOL Energy Inc., the CONSOL Energy Inc. Supplemental Retirement Plan, and the CONSOL Energy Inc. Defined Contribution Restoration Plan.

Parent DSU ” shall mean a deferred stock unit award granted pursuant to the Parent Equity Plan that is outstanding as of immediately prior to the Effective Time.

Parent Equity Plan ” shall mean the CONSOL Energy Inc. Equity Incentive Plan, as amended and restated.

Parent Group ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Parent Investment Plan ” shall mean the CONSOL Energy Inc. Investment Plan for Salaried Employees, as amended.

Parent Liability ” shall mean any Parent Liability, as such term is defined in the Separation and Distribution Agreement, or any of the Liabilities described in Section  2.01(b) .

Parent Option ” shall mean an option to purchase Parent Shares granted pursuant to the Parent Equity Plan that is outstanding as of immediately prior to the Effective Time.

Parent Pension Plan ” shall mean the CONSOL Energy Inc. Employee Retirement Plan, as amended.

Parent Pension Trust ” shall mean the CONSOL Energy Inc. Employee Retirement Plan Trust, as amended.

Parent PSU Award ” shall mean a performance share unit award granted pursuant to the Parent Equity Plan that is outstanding as of immediately prior to the Effective Time.

Parent RSU Award ” shall mean a restricted stock unit award granted pursuant to the Parent Equity Plan that is outstanding as of immediately prior to the Effective Time.

Parent Share Fund ” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  5.02(b) .

Parent Shares ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Parent STIC ” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  4.03(a) .

Parent Stock Value ” shall mean the simple average of the volume weighted average per share price of Parent Shares, trading on the New York Stock Exchange on a “regular way” basis during Regular Trading Hours for the three Trading Days ending on the last Trading Day prior to the Distribution Date.

 

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Parent Welfare Plan ” shall mean any Welfare Plan established, sponsored, maintained or contributed to by Parent or any of its Subsidiaries for the benefit of Employees or Former Employees, including the CONSOL Energy Inc. Health and Welfare Plan, but excluding each Welfare Plan identified in Section 7.08 and any CoalCo Welfare Plan.

Party ” shall mean a party to this Agreement.

Person ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Providing Party ” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  2.03(b) .

Record Date ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Regular Trading Hours ” means the period beginning at 9:30 A.M. New York City time and ending at 4:00 P.M. New York City Time.

Requesting Party ” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  2.03(b) .

Securities Act ” shall mean the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, together with the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.

Separation ” shall have the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.

Separation and Distribution Agreement ” shall have the meaning set forth in the recitals to this Agreement.

Severance Benefits ” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  4.04 .

Subsidiary ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Third Party ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Trading Day ” shall mean any day on which the New York Stock Exchange is open for the buying and selling of securities.

Transferred Director ” shall mean a Parent Nonemployee Director who becomes a CoalCo Nonemployee Director immediately prior to the Effective Time.

Transition Services Agreement ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

U.S. ” shall mean the United States of America.

Welfare Plan ” shall mean any “welfare plan” (as defined in Section 3(1) of ERISA) or a “cafeteria plan” under Section 125 of the Code, and any benefits offered thereunder, and any other plan offering health benefits (including medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, mental health, substance abuse and retiree health), disability benefits, or life, accidental death and dismemberment, and business travel insurance, pre-tax premium conversion benefits, dependent care assistance programs, employee assistance programs, paid time-off programs, contribution funding toward a health savings account, flexible spending accounts or cashable credits.

Section 1.02     Interpretation . Section 10.16 of the Separation and Distribution Agreement is hereby incorporated by reference.

 

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ARTICLE II

GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR ALLOCATION OF LIABILITIES

Section 2.01     General Principles .

(a)     Acceptance and Assumption of Coal Liabilities . Except as otherwise noted herein, effective as of the Distribution Date, CoalCo and the applicable members of the CoalCo Group shall accept, assume or retain, as applicable, and agree to faithfully perform, discharge and fulfill all of the following Liabilities in accordance with their respective terms (each of which shall be considered a Coal Liability for purposes of this Agreement):

(i)    any and all wages, salaries, incentive compensation (as the same may be modified by this Agreement), equity compensation (as the same may be modified by this Agreement), commissions, bonuses and any other employee compensation or benefits payable to or on behalf of any CoalCo Group Employees and Former CoalCo Group Employees as of and after the Distribution Date, including as it relates to any payment obligations pursuant to any Individual Agreements that are in place as of the Effective Time with respect to any CoalCo Employee or Former CoalCo Employee, without regard to when such wages, salaries, incentive compensation, equity compensation, commissions, bonuses or other employee compensation, benefits or payments are or may have been awarded or earned;

(ii)    except as expressly provided in the Separation and Distribution Agreement, any and all Liabilities whatsoever with respect to claims made by or with respect to any CoalCo Group Employees or Former CoalCo Group Employees in connection with or otherwise in relation to (A) any Individual Agreements that are in place as of the Effective Time with respect to any CoalCo Employee or Former CoalCo Employee, or (B) Benefit Plan not retained or assumed by any member of the Parent Group pursuant to this Agreement, the Separation and Distribution Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement, including any such Liabilities relating to actions or omissions of or by any member of the CoalCo Group or any officer, director, employee or agent thereof prior to, on or after the Distribution Date; and

(iii)    any and all Liabilities expressly assumed or retained by any member of the CoalCo Group pursuant to this Agreement.

(b)     Acceptance and Assumption of Parent Liabilities . Except as otherwise noted herein, effective as of the Distribution Date, Parent, which shall be renamed CNX Resources Corporation following the Effective Time (“ GasCo ”), and certain members of the Parent Group designated by Parent shall assume or retain, as applicable, and agree to faithfully perform, discharge and fulfill all of the following Liabilities in accordance with their respective terms (each of which shall be considered a Parent Liability for purposes of this Agreement):

(i)    any and all wages, salaries, incentive compensation (as the same may be modified by this Agreement), equity compensation (as the same may be modified by this Agreement), commissions, bonuses and any other employee compensation or benefits payable to or on behalf of any GasCo Group Employees and Former Parent Group Employees as of and after the Distribution Date, including as it relates to any payment obligations pursuant to any Individual Agreements that are in place as of the Effective Date with respect to any GasCo Group Employee or Former Parent Group Employee, without regard to when such wages, salaries, incentive compensation, equity compensation, commissions, bonuses or other employee compensation or benefits are or may have been awarded or earned;

(ii)    any and all Liabilities whatsoever with respect to claims made by or with respect to any GasCo Group Employees or Former Parent Group Employees in connection with or otherwise in

 

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relation to any (A) any Individual Agreements that are in place as of the Effective Time with respect to any GasCo Group Employee or Former Parent Group Employee, or (B) Benefit Plan not retained or assumed by any member of the CoalCo Group pursuant to this Agreement, the Separation and Distribution Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement, including any such Liabilities relating to actions or omissions of or by any member of the Parent Group or any officer, director, employee or agent thereof prior to, on or after the Distribution Date; and

(iii)    any and all Liabilities expressly assumed or retained by any member of the Parent Group pursuant to this Agreement.

(c)     Unaddressed Liabilities. To the extent that this Agreement does not address particular Liabilities under any Benefit Plan and the Parties later determine that they should be allocated in connection with the Distribution, the Parties shall agree in good faith on the allocation, taking into account the handling of comparable Liabilities under this Agreement.

Section 2.02     Transition Services.

The Parties acknowledge that the Parent Group and/or the CoalCo Group may provide administrative services for certain of the other Party’s compensation and benefit programs for a transitional period under the terms of the Transition Services Agreement. The Parties agree to cooperate in good faith to negotiate a business associate agreement (if required by HIPAA or other applicable health information privacy Laws) in connection with such Transition Services Agreement.

Section 2.03     Service Credit .

(a)     Service for Eligibility, Vesting and Benefit Purposes . The CoalCo Benefit Plans shall, and CoalCo shall cause each member of the CoalCo Group to, recognize each CoalCo Group Employee’s and each Former CoalCo Group Employee’s full service with Parent or any of its Subsidiaries or predecessor entities at or before the Distribution Date, to the same extent that such service was credited by Parent or its Subsidiary for similar purposes prior to the Distribution Date as if such full service had been performed for a member of the CoalCo Group, for purposes of eligibility, vesting and determination of level of benefits under any such CoalCo Benefit Plan. The Parent Benefit Plans shall, and GasCo shall cause each member of the Parent Group to, recognize each GasCo Group Employee’s and each Former Parent Group Employee’s full service with CoalCo or any of its Subsidiaries or predecessor entities at or before the Distribution Date, to the same extent that such service was credited by CoalCo or its Subsidiary for similar purposes prior to the Distribution Date as if such full service had been performed for a member of the Parent Group, for purposes of eligibility, vesting and determination of level of benefits under any such Parent Benefit Plan.

(b)     Evidence of Prior Service . Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, but subject to Section  3.02 and applicable Law, upon reasonable request by either Party (the “ Requesting Party ”), the other Party (the “ Providing Party ”) will provide to the Requesting Party copies of any records available to the Providing Party to document the service, plan participation and membership of former Employees of the Providing Party who are then Employees of the Requesting Party, and will cooperate with the Requesting Party to resolve any discrepancies or obtain any missing data for purposes of determining benefit eligibility, participation, vesting and calculation of benefits with respect to any such Employee.

Section 2.04     Benefit Plans .

(a)     Establishment of Plans . As of or prior to the Distribution Date, CoalCo shall, or shall cause an applicable member of the CoalCo Group to, adopt Benefit Plans (and related trusts, if applicable), with terms comparable (or such other standard as is specified in this Agreement with respect to any particular Benefit Plan) to those of the corresponding Parent Benefit Plans; provided , however , that CoalCo may limit participation in any such CoalCo Benefit Plan to CoalCo Group Employees and Former CoalCo Group Employees who participated in the corresponding Parent Benefit Plan immediately prior to the Distribution Date.

 

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(b)     Information and Operation . GasCo shall provide CoalCo with information describing each Parent Benefit Plan election made by a CoalCo Group Employee or a Former CoalCo Group Employee that may have application to CoalCo Benefit Plans from and after the Distribution Date, and CoalCo shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to administer the CoalCo Benefit Plans using those elections. Each Party shall, upon reasonable request, provide the other Party and the other Party’s respective Affiliates, agents, and vendors all information reasonably necessary to the other Party’s operation or administration of its Benefit Plans.

(c)     No Duplication or Acceleration of Benefits. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, the Separation and Distribution Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement, no participant in any CoalCo Benefit Plan shall receive service credit or benefits to the extent that receipt of such service credit or benefits would result in duplication of benefits provided to such participant by the corresponding Parent Benefit Plan or any other plan, program or arrangement sponsored or maintained by a member of the Parent Group. Furthermore, unless expressly provided for in this Agreement, the Separation and Distribution Agreement or in any Ancillary Agreement or required by applicable Law, no provision in this Agreement shall be construed to create any right to accelerate vesting or entitlements under any compensation or Benefit Plan, program or arrangement sponsored or maintained by a member of the Parent Group or member of the CoalCo Group on the part of any Employee or Former Employee.

(d)     No Expansion of Participation . Unless otherwise expressly provided in this Agreement, determined or agreed to by GasCo and CoalCo, required by applicable Law, or explicitly set forth in a CoalCo Benefit Plan, a CoalCo Group Employee or a Former CoalCo Group Employee shall be entitled to participate in the CoalCo Benefit Plans on or after the Distribution Date only to the extent that such CoalCo Group Employee or a Former CoalCo Group Employee was entitled to participate in the corresponding Parent Benefit Plan as in effect immediately prior to the Distribution Date (to the extent that such CoalCo Group Employee or a Former CoalCo Group Employee does not participate in the respective CoalCo Benefit Plan immediately prior to the Distribution Date), it being understood that this Agreement does not expand (i) the number of CoalCo Group Employees or Former CoalCo Group Employees entitled to participate in any CoalCo Benefit Plan, or (ii) the participation rights of CoalCo Group Employees or Former CoalCo Group Employees in any CoalCo Benefit Plans beyond the rights of such CoalCo Group Employees or Former CoalCo Group Employees under the corresponding Parent Benefit Plans, in each case, after the Distribution Date.

(e)     Beneficiaries . As it relates to Benefit Plans, references herein to GasCo Group Employees, Former Parent Group Employees, CoalCo Group Employees, Former CoalCo Group Employees, and nonemployee directors of either Parent, GasCo or CoalCo (including Transferred Directors), shall be deemed to refer to their beneficiaries, dependents, survivors and alternate payees, as applicable.

Section 2.05     Individual Agreements .

(a)     Assignment by Parent . To the extent necessary, Parent shall assign, or cause an applicable member of the Parent Group to assign, to CoalCo or another member of the CoalCo Group, as designated by CoalCo, all Individual Agreements pertaining to CoalCo Group Employees in effect immediately prior to the Effective Date, with such assignment to be effective as of the Distribution Date; provided , however , that to the extent that assignment of any such Individual Agreement is not permitted by the terms of such agreement or by applicable Law, effective as of the Distribution Date, each member of the CoalCo Group shall be considered to be a successor to each member of the Parent Group for purposes of, and a third-party beneficiary with respect to, such Individual Agreement, such that each member of the CoalCo Group shall enjoy all of the rights and benefits under such agreement (including rights and benefits as a third-party

 

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beneficiary), with respect to the business operations of the CoalCo Group; provided , further , that in no event shall (i) GasCo be permitted to enforce any Individual Agreement after the Distribution Date (including any agreement containing noncompetition or nonsolicitation covenants) against a CoalCo Group Employee or a Former CoalCo Group Employee for action taken after the Distribution Date in such individual’s capacity as a CoalCo Group Employee or a Former CoalCo Group Employee and (ii) CoalCo be permitted to enforce any Individual Agreement after the Distribution Date (including any agreement containing noncompetition or nonsolicitation covenants) against a GasCo Group Employee or a Former Parent Group Employee for action taken after the Distribution Date in such individual’s capacity as a GasCo Group Employee or a Former Parent Group Employee.

(b)     Assumption by CoalCo. Effective as of the Distribution Date, CoalCo will assume, honor and undertake responsibility for all payment obligations with respect to, or will cause a member of the CoalCo Group to assume, honor and undertake responsibility for all payment obligations with respect to, any Individual Agreement to which any CoalCo Group Employee or Former CoalCo Group Employee is a Party with any member of the Parent Group, including any Individual Agreement which has not otherwise been terminated by the parties prior to the Distribution Date.

Section 2.06     Collective Bargaining . Effective as of the Distribution Date, to the extent necessary, CoalCo shall cause the appropriate member of the CoalCo Group to (a) assume or retain all collective bargaining agreements (including any national, sector or local collective bargaining agreement) that cover CoalCo Group Employees or Former CoalCo Group Employees, including any such agreements negotiated in connection with the Separation or which are otherwise in the process of being negotiated and the Liabilities arising under any such collective bargaining agreements, and (b) join any industrial, employer or similar association or federation if membership is required for the relevant collective bargaining agreement to continue to apply. In the event of any conflict between a provision of this Agreement and the requirements of a collective bargaining agreement applicable to either Party, the requirements of the collective bargaining agreement shall control and the Parties shall cooperate in good faith to modify the applicable provision of this Agreement to the minimum extent necessary to permit compliance with the applicable collective bargaining agreement requirements while preserving to the maximum extent possible the originally intended result of such modified provision.

ARTICLE III

ASSIGNMENT OF EMPLOYEES

Section 3.01     Active Employees .

(a)     Assignment and Transfer of Employees. Effective not later than immediately prior to the Distribution Date and except as otherwise required by applicable Law or agreed to by the Parties in writing, (i) each applicable member of the Parent Group shall have taken such actions as are necessary to ensure that each individual who is intended to be an employee of the CoalCo Group as of the Distribution Date (including any such individual who is not actively working as of the Distribution Date as a result of an illness, injury or approved leave of absence (or leave of absence otherwise taken in accordance with applicable Law) (collectively, the “ CoalCo Group Employees ”) is, as of the Distribution Date, employed by a member of the CoalCo Group and (ii) each applicable member of the Parent Group shall have taken such actions as are necessary to ensure that each individual who is intended to be an employee of the Parent Group as of the Distribution Date (including any such individual who is not actively working as of the Distribution Date as a result of an illness, injury or approved leave of absence (or leave of absence otherwise taken in accordance with applicable Law) and any other individual employed by the Parent Group as of the Distribution Date who is not a CoalCo Group Employee (collectively, the “ GasCo Group Employees ”) is, as of the Distribution Date, employed by a member of the Parent Group. Each of the Parties agrees to execute, and to seek to have the applicable Employees execute, such documentation, if any, as may be necessary to reflect such assignment and/or transfer.

 

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(b)     At-Will Status. Nothing in this Agreement shall create any obligation on the part of any member of the Parent Group or any member of the CoalCo Group to (i) continue the employment of any Employee or permit the return from a leave of absence for any period after the date of this Agreement (except as required by applicable Law), or (ii) change the employment status of any Employee from “at-will,” to the extent that such Employee is an “at-will” employee under applicable Law.

(c)     Severance. The Parties acknowledge and agree that the Distribution and the assignment, transfer or continuation of the employment of Employees as contemplated by this Section  3.01 shall not be deemed an involuntary termination of employment that entitles any CoalCo Group Employee or GasCo Group Employee to severance payments or benefits.

(d)     Not a Change of Control/Change in Control. The Parties acknowledge and agree that, except as otherwise specifically contemplated by and expressed in an Individual Agreement set forth on Schedule 3.01(d) , neither the consummation of the Distribution nor any transaction contemplated by this Agreement, the Separation and Distribution Agreement or any other Ancillary Agreement shall be deemed a “change of control,” “change in control,” or term of similar import for purposes of any Benefit Plan sponsored or maintained by any member of the Parent Group or member of the CoalCo Group.

(e)     Payroll and Related Taxes. With respect to any CoalCo Group Employee or group of CoalCo Group Employees, the Parties shall, or shall cause their respective Subsidiaries to, (i) treat CoalCo (or the applicable member of the CoalCo Group) as a “successor employer” and Parent (or the applicable member of the Parent Group) as a “predecessor,” within the meaning of Sections 3121(a)(1) and 3306(b)(1) of the Code, for purposes of taxes imposed under the United States Federal Insurance Contributions Act, as amended (“ FICA ”), or the United States Federal Unemployment Tax Act, as amended (“ FUTA ”), (ii) cooperate with each other to avoid, to the extent possible, the restart of FICA and FUTA upon or following the Distribution Date, with respect to each such CoalCo Group Employee for the tax year during which the Distribution Date occurs, and (iii) use commercially reasonable efforts to implement the alternate procedure described in Section 5 of Revenue Procedure 2004-53; provided , however , that to the extent that CoalCo (or the applicable member of the CoalCo Group) cannot be treated as a “successor employer” to Parent (or the applicable member of the Parent Group) within the meaning of Sections 3121(a)(1) and 3306(b)(1) of the Code with respect to any CoalCo Group Employee or group of CoalCo Group Employees, (x) with respect to the portion of the tax year commencing on January 1, 2017 and ending on the Distribution Date GasCo will (A) be responsible for all payroll obligations, tax withholding and reporting obligations for such CoalCo Group Employees, and (B) furnish a Form W-2 or similar earnings statement to all such CoalCo Group Employees for such period, and (y) with respect to the remaining portion of such tax year, CoalCo will (A) be responsible for all payroll obligations, tax withholding and reporting obligations regarding such CoalCo Group Employees, and (B) furnish a Form W-2 or similar earnings statement to all such CoalCo Group Employees.

Section 3.02     Nonsolicitation . Each Party agrees that, for a period of five (5) years from the Distribution Date, such Party shall not solicit for employment or otherwise hire any individual who is a GasCo Group Employee, in the case of a CoalCo, or a CoalCo Group Employee, in the case of GasCo; provided , however , that without limiting the generality of the foregoing prohibition on solicitation of Employees of the other Party, this Section  3.02 shall not prohibit (a) generalized solicitations that are not directed to specific Persons or Employees of the other Party, (b) the solicitation of a Person whose employment was involuntarily terminated by the other Party, or (c) the solicitation of a Person after receipt by the soliciting Party (in advance of any solicitation or, in the case of a response to a general solicitation as permitted under the foregoing clause (a), in advance of any subsequent solicitation in connection with the recruiting process) of the express written consent of the Party that employs the Person who is to be solicited.

 

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ARTICLE IV

EQUITY, INCENTIVE AND EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

Section 4.01     Generally . Parent Awards that are outstanding as of immediately prior to the Effective Time shall be adjusted or converted as described below; provided, however, that effective immediately prior to the Effective Time, the Parent Compensation Committee may provide for different adjustments with respect to some or all Parent Awards to the extent that the Parent Compensation Committee deems such adjustments necessary and appropriate, consistent with the terms of the Parent Equity Plan. Any adjustments made by the Parent Compensation Committee pursuant to the foregoing sentence shall be deemed incorporated by reference herein as if fully set forth below and shall be binding on the Parties and their respective Affiliates. Before the Effective Time, the CoalCo Equity Plan shall be established, with such terms as are necessary to permit the implementation of the provisions of Section  4.02 .

Section 4.02     Equity Incentive Awards .

(a)     Outstanding Parent Options Each Parent Option that is outstanding and unexercised as of immediately prior to the Effective Time shall become a GasCo Option (as defined below) and be subject to the same terms and conditions after the Effective Time as the terms and conditions applicable to the corresponding Parent Option immediately prior to the Effective Time; provided, however, that certain restrictions may be imposed on such GasCo Option after the Effective Time if necessary and appropriate to comply with applicable Law or existing policies or determinations of Parent, including with respect to any blackout period applicable to the exercise of such Parent Option that may be instituted immediately prior to, and for a designated period following, the Effective Time; and further provided, however, that from and after the Effective Time:

(i)    the number of GasCo Shares subject to such GasCo Option (as defined below), rounded down to the nearest whole number of shares, shall be equal to the product obtained by multiplying (A) the number of Parent Shares subject to such Parent Option immediately prior to the Effective Time by (B) the GasCo Ratio; and

(ii)    the per share exercise price of such GasCo Option, rounded up to the nearest whole cent, shall be equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (A) the per share exercise price of such Parent Option immediately prior to the Effective Time by (B) the GasCo Ratio (each such option, a “ GasCo Option ”);

provided, however, that with respect to any GasCo Option held by a CoalCo Employee or Transferred Director, continued employment by, or service with, the CoalCo Group shall be treated as continued employment by, or service with, the Parent Group for purposes of vesting and exercisability.

(b)     Outstanding Parent RSU Awards Held by GasCo Group Employees, GasCo Nonemployee Directors, Former Nonemployee Directors and Former Employees .

(i)    Except as may be otherwise provided in Section  4.02(a)(ii) , each Parent RSU Award held by a GasCo Group Employee, GasCo Nonemployee Director, Former Nonemployee Director or a Former Employee that is outstanding as of immediately prior to the Effective Time shall become a GasCo RSU (as defined below) and be subject to the same terms and conditions after the Effective Time as the terms and conditions applicable to the corresponding Parent RSU Award immediately prior to the Effective Time, including any deferral election applicable to the delivery of vested shares; provided, however, that certain restrictions may be imposed on the GasCo RSU Award after the Effective Time if necessary and appropriate to comply with applicable Law; and further provided, however, that from and after the Effective Time, the number of GasCo Shares to which such GasCo RSU Award relates shall be equal to the product obtained by multiplying (i) the number of Parent Shares to which such Parent RSU Award related immediately prior to the Effective Time by (ii) the GasCo Ratio (with any resulting fractional share rounded up to the nearest whole number of shares) (each such restricted stock unit, a “ GasCo RSU Award ”).

 

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(ii)    Any outstanding Parent RSU Awards held by GasCo Group Employees and Former Employees that contain early vesting provisions upon Parent’s common stock equaling or exceeding $55 over a designated period shall be equitably adjusted such that such stock price shall be equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (A) $55 by (B) the GasCo Ratio.

(c)     Outstanding Parent RSU Awards Held by CoalCo Group Employees and Transferred Directors.

(i)    Except as may be otherwise provided in Section  4.02(c)(ii) , each Parent RSU Award held by a CoalCo Group Employee or Transferred Director that is outstanding as of immediately prior to the Effective Time shall be converted into a CoalCo RSU Award, and, except as provided in Section 4.02(k), shall otherwise be subject to the same terms and conditions after the Effective Time as the terms and conditions applicable to the corresponding Parent RSU Award immediately prior to the Effective Time, including any deferral election applicable to the delivery of vested shares (except that references to Parent in the applicable plan and award agreement shall be deemed to refer to CoalCo, unless clearly dictated otherwise by context); provided, however, that certain restrictions may be imposed on the CoalCo RSU Award after the Effective Time if necessary and appropriate to comply with applicable Law; and further provided, however, that from and after the Effective Time, the number of CoalCo Shares to which such CoalCo RSU Award relates shall be equal to the product obtained by multiplying (A) the number of Parent Shares to which the corresponding Parent RSU Award related immediately prior to the Effective Time by (B) the CoalCo Ratio (with any resulting fractional share rounded up to the nearest whole share).

(ii)    With respect to outstanding Parent RSU Awards granted in 2015 and held by CoalCo Group Employees classified as Grade 14 or lower immediately prior to the Record Date, each such Parent RSU Award granted in 2015 shall vest three days prior to the Record Date, such that the holder of the Parent RSU Award shall be a holder of Parent Shares (with respect to those shares underlying the relevant Parent RSU Award) as of the Record Date, with payment in settlement of such Parent RSU Award granted in 2015 to be made on or as soon as practicable following the Effective Time; provided that no such payment acceleration shall be made for any such CoalCo Group Employee classified as Grade 14 or lower who made a prior deferral election with respect to the delivery of vested shares.

(iii)    Any outstanding Parent RSU Awards Held by CoalCo Group Employees that contain early vesting provisions upon Parent’s common stock equaling or exceeding $55 over a designated period shall be equitably adjusted such that the applicable stock price will be based on CoalCo’s rather than Parent’s stock price and that such stock price shall be equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (A) $55 by (B) the CoalCo Ratio.

(d)     Outstanding Parent PSU Awards Held by GasCo Group Employees and Former Employees . Each Parent PSU Award held by a Parent Group Employee or a Former Employee that is outstanding as of immediately prior to the Effective Time, shall become a GasCo PSU Award (as defined below) and be subject to the same terms and conditions after the Effective Time as the terms and conditions applicable to the corresponding Parent PSU Award immediately prior to the Effective Time; provided, however, that certain restrictions may be imposed on the GasCo PSU Award after the Effective Time if necessary and appropriate to comply with applicable Law; and further provided, however, that from and after the Effective Time:

(i)    the number of GasCo Shares to which such GasCo PSU Award relates shall be equal to the product obtained by multiplying (A) the number of Parent Shares to which such Parent PSU Award (at target) related immediately prior to the Effective Time by (B) the GasCo Ratio (with any resulting fractional share rounded up to the nearest whole number of shares); and

 

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(ii)    the performance conditions applicable to each such GasCo PSU Award shall be (A) for any performance period ending in 2017 (including any separate annual performance period ending on December 31, 2017 under a GasCo PSU Award with separate annual performance periods) with respect to any such GasCo PSU Award, the conditions previously established by the Parent Compensation Committee with such adjustments as approved by the Parent Compensation Committee and (B) for any performance period ending after 2017, as adjusted to the conditions previously established by the Parent Compensation Committee following the Effective Time (each such performance share unit, a “ GasCo PSU Award ”).

(e)     Outstanding Parent PSU Awards Held by CoalCo Group Employees . Each Parent PSU Award held by a CoalCo Group Employee that is outstanding as of immediately prior to the Effective Time shall be converted into a CoalCo PSU Award and, except as provided in Section 4.02(k), shall otherwise be subject to the same terms and conditions after the Effective Time as the terms and conditions applicable to the corresponding Parent PSU Award immediately prior to the Effective Time (except that references to Parent in the applicable plan and award agreement shall be deemed to refer to CoalCo, unless clearly dictated otherwise by context); provided, however, that certain restrictions may be imposed on the CoalCo PSU Award after the Effective Time if necessary and appropriate to comply with applicable Law; and further provided, however, that from and after the Effective Time:

(i)    the number of CoalCo Shares to which such CoalCo PSU Award relates shall be equal to the product obtained by multiplying (A) the number of Parent Shares to which the corresponding Parent PSU Award (at target) related immediately prior to the Effective Time by (B) the CoalCo Ratio (with any resulting fractional share rounded up to the nearest whole number of shares); and

(ii)    the performance conditions applicable to each such CoalCo PSU Award shall be (A) for the performance period ending in 2017 (including any separate annual performance period ending on December 31, 2017 under a CoalCo PSU Award with separate annual performance periods), those conditions previously established by the Parent Compensation Committee (and approved by the CoalCo Compensation Committee) with such adjustments as approved by such committees and (B) for any performance period ending after 2017, as adjusted by the CoalCo Compensation Committee following the Effective Time to those conditions previously established by the Parent Compensation Committee (and approved by the CoalCo Compensation Committee).

(f)     Outstanding Deferred Stock Unit Awards Held by GasCo Nonemployee Directors and Former Nonemployee Directors . Each Parent DSU Award held by a GasCo Nonemployee Director or a Former Nonemployee Director that is outstanding as of immediately prior to the Effective Time shall become a GasCo DSU Award (as defined below) and be subject to the same terms and conditions after the Effective Time as the terms and conditions applicable to such Parent DSU Award immediately prior to the Effective Time, including any deferral election applicable to the delivery of vested shares; provided, however, that certain restrictions may be imposed on the GasCo DSU Award after the Effective Time if necessary and appropriate to comply with applicable Law; and further provided, however, that from and after the Effective Time, the number of Parent Shares to which such GasCo DSU Award relates shall be equal to the product obtained by multiplying (i) the number of Parent Shares to which such Parent DSU Award related immediately prior to the Effective Time by (ii) the GasCo Ratio (with any resulting fractional share rounded up to the nearest whole number of shares) (each such deferred stock unit, a “ GasCo DSU Award ”).

(g)     Outstanding Deferred Stock Unit Awards Held by Transferred Directors . Each Parent DSU Award held by a Transferred Director that is outstanding as of immediately prior to the Effective Time shall be converted into a CoalCo DSU Award (as defined below), and shall otherwise be subject to the same terms and conditions after the Effective Time as the terms and conditions applicable to the corresponding Parent

 

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DSU Award immediately prior to the Effective Time, including any deferral election applicable to the delivery of vested shares (except that references to Parent in the applicable plan and award agreement shall be deemed to refer to CoalCo, unless clearly dictated otherwise by context); provided, however, that certain restrictions may be imposed on the CoalCo DSU Award after the Effective Time if necessary and appropriate to comply with applicable Law; and further provided, however, that from and after the Effective Time, the number of CoalCo Shares to which such CoalCo DSU Award relates shall be equal to the product obtained by multiplying (i) the number of Parent Shares to which the corresponding Parent DSU Award related immediately prior to the Effective Time by (ii) the CoalCo Ratio (with any resulting fractional share rounded up to the nearest whole number of shares) (each such deferred stock unit, a “ CoalCo DSU Award ”).

(h)     Miscellaneous Award Terms . None of the Separation, the Distribution or any employment transfer described in Section  3.01(a) shall constitute a termination of employment or separation from service for any Employee or nonemployee directors of either Parent (including GasCo) or CoalCo, or their respective Groups (including Transferred Directors) for purposes of any GasCo Award or any CoalCo Award. After the Effective Time, for any award adjusted under this Section  4.02 , any reference to a “change in control,” “change of control” or similar definition in an award agreement, employment agreement or Parent Equity Plan applicable to such award (A) with respect to GasCo Awards, shall be deemed to refer to a “change in control,” “change of control” or similar definition as set forth in the applicable award agreement, employment agreement or Parent Equity Plan, and (B) with respect to CoalCo Awards, shall be deemed to refer to a “Change in Control” as defined in the CoalCo Equity Plan.

(i)     Tax Reporting and Withholding. Unless prohibited by applicable Law or as otherwise expressly contemplated herein, following the Effective Time, (i) GasCo shall be solely responsible for all Liabilities, including all income, payroll and other tax remittance and reporting, and entitled to all tax deductions, associated with GasCo Awards, including all GasCo Option Awards, regardless of whether the same are held by GasCo Group Employees or CoalCo Group Employees, and (ii) CoalCo shall be solely responsible for all Liabilities, including all income, payroll and other tax remittance and reporting, and entitled to all tax deductions associated with, CoalCo Awards, other than GasCo Option Awards. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, as it relates to unvested GasCo Options held by CoalCo Employees, the parties hereby acknowledge and agree that CoalCo shall provide reimbursement to GasCo, upon such terms and utilizing such concepts as are set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement, with respect to costs and expenses (including any finance expense) incurred by GasCo following the Effective Time in connection with such GasCo Options held by CoalCo Employees. GasCo shall provide periodic invoices to CoalCo that reflect all such costs and expenses that are to be reimbursed and GasCo and CoalCo further agree to enter into any necessary agreements regarding the subject matter of this Section  4.02( i ) to enable GasCo and CoalCo to fulfill their respective obligations hereunder, including but not limited to compliance with all applicable Laws regarding the reporting, withholding or remitting of income and/or taxes.

(j)     Registration and Other Regulatory Requirements . CoalCo agrees to file Forms S-1, S-3 and/or S-8 registration statements with respect to, and to cause to be registered pursuant to the Securities Act, the CoalCo Shares authorized for issuance under the CoalCo Equity Plan, as required pursuant to the Securities Act, before the date of issuance of any CoalCo Shares pursuant to the CoalCo Equity Plan. The Parties shall take such additional actions as are deemed necessary or advisable to effectuate the foregoing provisions of this Section  4.02(j) . Parent agrees to facilitate the adoption and approval of the CoalCo Equity Plan consistent with the requirements of Treasury Regulations Section 1.162-27(f)(4)(iii).

(k)     Vesting of Equity Rights Pursuant to an Individual Agreements . Notwithstanding the foregoing, if and to the extent that any CoalCo Group Employee is a party to an Individual Agreement with Parent (and/or other parties) that provides for any conflicting vesting terms than those set forth in this Section  4.02 upon a “change in control” (as defined in such agreement) that is triggered by the Separation or upon a certain date, then the vesting and other terms approved by the Parent Compensation Committee or provided for under such agreement shall control.

 

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Section 4.03     Nonequity Incentive Plans .

(a)     Annual STIC . Immediately prior to the Effective Time, CoalCo Group Employees shall cease participating in each Parent annual bonus plan or policy, including without limitation the Amended and Restated CONSOL Energy Inc. Executive Annual Incentive Plan (the “ Parent STIC ”) and, as of the Effective Time, CoalCo Group Employees who were eligible to participate in the Parent STIC shall thereafter be eligible to participate (to the extent they are not already participating therein) in any CoalCo annual bonus plans or policies existing as of, or implemented by CoalCo following, the Effective Time (the “ CoalCo Annual Bonus Plans ”). All GasCo Group Employees shall continue participation in each Parent annual bonus plan or policy to which they were entitled to participate prior to the Effective Time, including without limitation the Parent STIC.

(b)     Payment under Annual Nonequity Incentive Plans . Payment to CoalCo Group Employees with respect to participation in the 2017 Parent STIC shall be measured based on relevant performance metrics of Parent with respect to the first nine months of the year, and CoalCo (and all members of the CoalCo Group) with respect to the last three months of 2017 (such proration to be eight months and four months in the case of David Khani and Katharine Fredriksen, respectively). The obligation and responsibility for funding, paying and discharging all obligations under the Parent STIC, any CoalCo Annual Bonus Plans or other nonequity incentive plans that may be in place in respect of the calendar year in which the Effective Time occurs shall be undertaken and borne by the respective employer (GasCo or CoalCo) that employs the Employee following the Effective Time (whether GasCo Group Employee or CoalCo Group Employee) that is entitled to receipt of such payment amount, regardless of which entity was the sponsor or creator of said nonequity incentive plan, or whose metrics were utilized in determining the relative performance level and payment entitlement.

(c)     Incentive Plans. As of the Effective Time, (i) the Parent Group shall retain (or assume to the extent necessary) sponsorship of any commission bonus and sales incentive plans covering GasCo Group Employees, and, from and after the Effective Time, all Liabilities thereunder shall be Liabilities of the Parent Group, and (ii) the CoalCo Group shall retain (or assume to the extent necessary) sponsorship of any commission bonus and sales incentive plans covering CoalCo Group Employees, and, from and after the Effective Time, all Liabilities thereunder shall be Liabilities of the CoalCo Group.

Section 4.04     Severance Benefits . CoalCo shall be solely responsible for all Liabilities in respect of all of the costs of providing benefits under any applicable severance, separation, redundancy, termination or similar plan, program, practice, contract, agreement, law or regulation (such benefits to include, if applicable, any medical or other welfare benefits, outplacement benefits, accrued vacation, and taxes) (collectively, “ Severance Benefits ”) relating to the termination or alleged termination of employment of any Former CoalCo Group Employee and of any CoalCo Group Employee that occurs on or after the Distribution Date. Parent (or GasCo, as applicable) shall be solely responsible for all Liabilities in respect of all the costs of providing the Severance Benefits relating to the termination or alleged termination of employment of any (i) CoalCo Group Employee or Former CoalCo Group Employee that occurred prior to the Distribution Date and (ii) Former Parent Group Employee and of any GasCo Group Employee that occurs prior to, on or after the Distribution Date.

Section 4.05     Director Compensation .

(a)     Parent Director Deferred Fee Plan . Parent (and GasCo, as applicable) shall continue to be responsible for Liabilities in respect of the GasCo Nonemployee Directors, Former Nonemployee Directors and each applicable Transferred Director under the Parent Director Deferred Fee Plan. For avoidance of any doubt, the Parent Director Deferred Fee Plan shall continue to implement any outstanding irrevocable deferral election of a Transferred Director in effect immediately prior to the Effective Time until the end of applicable board year covered by such election, and CoalCo shall be responsible for the remittance of any deferred amounts pursuant to such election to the trust agreement established in connection with the Parent Director Deferred Fee Plan.

 

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(b)     Director Compensation. Parent (or GasCo, as applicable) shall be responsible for the payment of any fees for service on the Parent Board or GasCo Board, as applicable, that are earned at, before, or after the Effective Time, and CoalCo shall not have any responsibility for any such payments. With respect to any CoalCo Nonemployee Director, including any Transferred Director, CoalCo shall be responsible for the payment of any fees for service on the CoalCo Board that are earned at any time after the Effective Time and GasCo shall not have any responsibility for any such payments. Notwithstanding the foregoing, CoalCo shall commence paying quarterly cash retainers to CoalCo Nonemployee Directors in respect of all payments due and owing as of November 1, 2017; provided that, in no event shall any compensation be paid that would be in excess of that to which said Nonemployee Director would otherwise be entitled.

(c)     Tax Reporting and Withholding. Unless prohibited by applicable Law, following the Effective Time, (i) GasCo shall be solely responsible for all Liabilities, including all income, payroll and other tax remittance and reporting, associated with compensation and benefits for GasCo Nonemployee Directors and Former Nonemployee Directors (other than Transferred Directors), and (ii) CoalCo shall be solely responsible for all Liabilities, including all income, payroll and other tax remittance and reporting, associated with compensation and benefits for the CoalCo Nonemployee Directors (including the Transferred Directors). Parent (and GasCo, as applicable) and CoalCo agree to enter into any necessary agreements regarding the subject matter of this Section  4.05(a) to enable Parent (and GasCo, as applicable) and CoalCo to fulfill their respective obligations hereunder, including but not limited to compliance with all applicable Laws regarding the reporting, withholding or remitting of income and/or taxes.

ARTICLE V

QUALIFIED RETIREMENT PLANS

Section 5.01     Parent Pension Plan .

(a)     Transfer of Parent Pension Plan . As of the Distribution Date, Parent shall transfer, and CoalCo shall accept sponsorship of, the Parent Pension Plan. Upon completion of such transfer, GasCo shall be relieved of the Liabilities for the Parent Pension Plan. Said transfer shall be evidenced by resolutions of the Parent Board and the CoalCo Board. Parent (or GasCo, as applicable) and/or Coal Co shall file any notice required under Section 4043 of ERISA, unless waived.

(b)     Amendment to Trust; Retitling of Assets . On, or as soon as practicable after, the Distribution Date and after receipt by GasCo of a copy of certified resolutions of the CoalCo Board (or its authorized committee or other delegate) evidencing adoption of the Parent Pension Plan and the Parent Pension Plan Trust, GasCo and CoalCo shall amend the Parent Pension Trust to transfer sponsorship of the Parent Pension Plan. GasCo and CoalCo will provide the trustee of the Parent Pension Plan Trust with appropriate documentation necessary to retitle the trust assets.

(c)     Parent Pension Plan Provisions . The Parent Pension Plan shall be amended, effective as of or prior to the Effective Date, to provide for the change in sponsorship. The Plan Administrator shall distribute a Summary of Material Modifications in accordance with law.

(d)     Plan Fiduciaries . For all periods after the Distribution Date, the Parties agree that the applicable fiduciaries of the Parent Pension Plan shall have the authority with respect to the Parent Pension Plan to determine the plan investments and such other matters as are within the scope of their duties under ERISA and the terms of the applicable plan documents. CoalCo will appoint members to the Retirement Board under the Parent Pension Plan as of the Distribution Date.

Section 5.02     CoalCo Investment Plan .

(a)     Establishment of Plans. CoalCo has established the CoalCo Investment Plan effective September 1, 2017, which initially has substantially the same terms as those of the corresponding Parent Investment

 

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Plan as in effect immediately prior to the Distribution Date. CoalCo ceased participation in the Parent Investment Plan as of September 1, 2017, generally, provided, however, that certain CoalCo Employees (i) at the CNX Marine Terminal and CONSOL Mining Company ceased participation in the Parent Investment Plan as of November 1,2017 and (ii) at Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company ceased participation in the Parent Investment Plan as of September 1, 2017.

(b)     Transfer of Account Balances . No balances will be transferred directly from the Parent Investment Plan to the CoalCo Investment Plan through a trustee transfer or otherwise. Distributions will be made to participants from the Parent Investment Plan in accordance with the terms of the Parent Investment Plan and to the extent such participant has met the eligibility requirements for distribution under and in accordance with the terms of the Parent Investment Plan.

(c)     CoalCo Share Fund in Parent Investment Plan. CoalCo Shares distributed in connection with the Distribution in respect of Parent Shares held in Parent Investment Plan accounts of GasCo Group Employees or Former Parent Group Employees who participate in the Parent Investment Plan shall be deposited in a CoalCo Share Fund under the Parent Investment Plan. Such participants in the Parent Investment Plan will be prohibited from increasing their holdings in such CoalCo Share Fund under the Parent Investment Plan After the Effective Time, all outstanding investments in the CoalCo Share Fund under the Parent Investment Plan may be liquidated and reinvested in other investment funds offered under the Parent Investment Plan, on such dates and in accordance with such procedures as are determined by the administrator and the named fiduciary of the Parent Investment Plan.

(d)     Determination Letter Request . CoalCo shall submit an application to the IRS as soon as practicable after the Plan’s effective date (but no later than the last day of the applicable remedial amendment period as defined in applicable Code provisions) requesting a determination letter regarding the qualified status of the CoalCo Savings Plans under Sections 401(a) and 401(k) of the Code and the tax-exempt status of their related trust under Section 501(a) of the Code and shall make any amendments reasonably requested by the IRS to receive such a favorable determination letter.

(e)     Parent Investment Plan after Distribution Date . From and after the Distribution Date, (i) the Parent Investment Plan shall continue to be responsible for Liabilities in respect of GasCo Group Employees and Former Parent Group Employees under the Plan, and (ii) no CoalCo Group Employees or Former CoalCo Group Employees shall accrue any benefits under the Parent Investment Plan.

(f)     Plan Fiduciaries . For all periods after September 1, 2017, the Parties agree that the applicable fiduciaries of each of the Parent Investment Plan and the CoalCo Investment Plan, respectively, shall have the authority with respect to the Parent Investment Plan and the CoalCo Investment Plan, respectively, to determine the investment alternatives, the terms and conditions with respect to those investment alternatives and such other matters as are within the scope of their duties under ERISA and the terms of the applicable plan documents.

(g)     No Distributions . The transfer of any CoalCo Group Employee’s employment to the CoalCo Group will not entitle any CoalCo Group Employee to a distribution of his or her benefit under the Parent Investment Plan or CoalCo Investment Plan as a result of such transfer of employment.

ARTICLE VI

NONQUALIFIED DEFERRED COMPENSATION PLANS

Section 6.01     CoalCo Nonqualified Plans.

(a)     Establishment of CoalCo Nonqualified Plans . Effective as of the Distribution Date, CoalCo shall establish the CoalCo Nonqualified Plans. Each of the CoalCo Nonqualified Plans shall initially have substantially the same terms as those of the corresponding Parent Divided Nonqualified Plan as in effect immediately prior to the Distribution Date.

 

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(b)     Assumption of Liabilities from Parent . As of the Distribution Date, CoalCo shall, and shall cause each CoalCo Nonqualified Plan to, assume all Liabilities under the corresponding Parent Divided Nonqualified Plan for the account balances and accrued benefits of CoalCo Group Employees and Former CoalCo Group Employees and their respective beneficiaries and/or alternate payees determined as of immediately prior to the Distribution Date, and the Parent Group and the Parent Divided Nonqualified Plans shall be relieved of all such Liabilities.

(c)     Parent Divided Nonqualified Plans. GasCo shall retain all Liabilities under the Parent Divided Nonqualified Plans for the benefits for GasCo Group Employees and Former Parent Group Employees and their respective beneficiaries and/or alternate payees. As of and after the Effective Time, CoalCo Group Employees and Former CoalCo Group Employees shall cease to be participants in the Parent Divided Nonqualified Plans.

Section 6.02     Participation; Distributions . The Parties acknowledge that none of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, the Separation and Distribution Agreement or any Ancillary Agreement will trigger a payment or distribution of compensation under any of the Parent Divided Nonqualified Plans or CoalCo Nonqualified Plans for any participant and, consequently, that the payment or distribution of any compensation to which such participant is entitled under any of the Parent Divided Nonqualified Plans or CoalCo Nonqualified Plans will occur upon such participant’s separation from service from the CoalCo Group or at such other time as provided in the applicable CoalCo Nonqualified Plan or participant’s deferral election (if any).

ARTICLE VII

WELFARE BENEFIT PLANS

Section 7.01     Welfare Plans .

(a)     Establishment of CoalCo Welfare Plans . As of or prior to the Distribution Date, CoalCo shall, or shall cause the applicable member of the CoalCo Group to, establish the CoalCo Welfare Plans, which shall initially have terms substantially similar in the aggregate those of the corresponding Parent Welfare Plans as in effect immediately prior to the Distribution Date. To the extent CoalCo is unable to cause one or more Welfare Plans to be established and for all CoalCo Group Employees (and Former CoalCo Group Employees as applicable) to be enrolled with respect thereto as of the Distribution Date, the parties agree to enter into such arrangements and agreements pursuant to Section  2.02 as may be necessary or desirable to ensure an equitable reimbursement of costs and obligations incurred by GasCo during that period following the Distribution Date for which CoalCo Group Employees and Former CoalCo Group Employees have benefits provided through Parent Welfare Plans

(b)     Health Savings Accounts . As of January 1, 2018, CoalCo shall establish a CoalCo Welfare Plan that will provide health savings account benefits to CoalCo Group Employees. After the Distribution Date and for the remainder of the 2017 calendar year, CoalCo Employees shall continue to participate in Parent’s Welfare Plans, which include health savings benefits. After December 31, 2017, such CoalCo employee shall participate in the CoalCo Welfare Plans.

(c)     Allocation of Welfare Assets and Liabilities . Effective as of the Distribution Date, the CoalCo Group shall assume all Liabilities relating to, arising out of or resulting from health and welfare coverage or claims incurred by or on behalf of CoalCo Group Employees or Former CoalCo Group Employees or their covered dependents under the Parent Welfare Plans or CoalCo Welfare Plans before, at, or after the Distribution Date. Except as may be expressly set forth on Schedule 7.01 hereto, no Parent Welfare Plan shall provide coverage to any CoalCo Group Employee or Former CoalCo Group Employee after the Distribution Date

 

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Section 7.02     COBRA . The Parent Group shall continue to be responsible for complying with, and providing coverage pursuant to, the health care continuation requirements of COBRA, and the corresponding provisions of the Parent Welfare Plans with respect to any GasCo Group Employees and any Former Parent Group Employees (and their covered dependents) who incur a qualifying event under COBRA before, as of, or after the Distribution Date. Effective as of the Distribution Date, except as may be specifically set forth on Schedule 7.02 hereto, the CoalCo Group shall assume responsibility for complying with, and providing coverage pursuant to, the health care continuation requirements of COBRA, and the corresponding provisions of the CoalCo Welfare Plans with respect to any CoalCo Group Employees or Former CoalCo Group Employees (and their covered dependents) who incur a qualifying event or loss of coverage under the Parent Welfare Plans and/or the CoalCo Welfare Plans before, as of, or after the Distribution Date. The Parties agree that the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the Separation and Distribution Agreement shall not constitute a COBRA qualifying event for any purpose of COBRA.

Section 7.03     Vacation, Holidays and Leaves of Absence . Effective as of the Distribution Date, the CoalCo Group shall assume all Liabilities of the Parent Group with respect to vacation, holiday, annual leave or other leave of absence, and required payments related thereto, for each CoalCo Group Employee. The Parent Group shall retain all Liabilities with respect to vacation, holiday, annual leave or other leave of absence, and required payments related thereto, for each GasCo Group Employee.

Section 7.04     Severance and Unemployment Compensation . Without limiting the generality of Section  4.04 , effective as of the Distribution Date, the CoalCo Group shall assume any and all Liabilities to, or relating to, CoalCo Group Employees and Former CoalCo Group Employees in respect of severance and unemployment compensation, regardless of whether the event giving rise to the Liability occurred before, at or after the Distribution Date. The Parent Group shall be responsible for any and all Liabilities to, or relating to, GasCo Group Employees and Former Parent Group Employees in respect of severance and unemployment compensation, regardless of whether the event giving rise to the Liability occurred before, at or after the Distribution Date.

Section 7.05     Workers Compensation; Black Lung . With respect to claims for workers’ compensation, black lung or other similar benefits in the United States, (a) the CoalCo Group shall be responsible for claims in respect of CoalCo Group Employees and Former CoalCo Group Employees, whether occurring before, at or after the Distribution Date, and (b) the Parent Group shall be responsible for all claims in respect of GasCo Group Employees and Former Parent Group Employees, whether occurring before, at or after the Distribution Date. The treatment of workers’ compensation claims by CoalCo with respect to Parent (and GasCo, as applicable) insurance policies shall be governed by Section 5.1 and Section 5.2 of the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Section 7.06     Insurance Contracts . To the extent that any Parent Welfare Plan is funded through the purchase of an insurance contract or is subject to any stop loss contract, the Parties will cooperate and use their commercially reasonable efforts to replicate such insurance contracts for CoalCo (except to the extent that changes are required under applicable state insurance Laws or filings by the respective insurers) and to maintain any pricing discounts or other preferential terms for both Parent and CoalCo for a reasonable term. Neither Party shall be liable for failure to obtain such insurance contracts, pricing discounts, or other preferential terms for the other Party. Each Party shall be responsible for any additional premiums, charges, or administrative fees that such Party may incur pursuant to this Section  7.06 .

Section 7.07     Third-Party Vendors . Except as provided below, to the extent that any Parent Welfare Plan is administered by a third-party vendor, the Parties will cooperate and use their commercially reasonable efforts to replicate any contract with such third-party vendor for CoalCo and to maintain any pricing discounts or other preferential terms for both GasCo and CoalCo for a reasonable term. Neither Party shall be liable for failure to obtain such pricing discounts or other preferential terms for the other Party. Each Party shall be responsible for any additional premiums, charges, or administrative fees that such Party may incur pursuant to this Section  7.07 .

Section 7.08     Nondivided Welfare Plans . As of the Distribution Date, (a) the CoalCo Group shall retain (or assume to the extent necessary) sponsorship of the CONSOL Energy Inc. Retiree Health and Welfare Plan (which includes as component parts the Coal Act Benefit Plan for Eligible Pensioners and Dependents of CONSOL Energy

 

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Inc. and its subsidiaries and the 2017 Benefit Plan for Retirees Formerly Represented by the United Mine Workers of America) and, from and after the Distribution Date, all Assets and Liabilities thereunder shall be Assets and Liabilities of the CoalCo Group, and the Parent Group shall no responsibility for any costs or expenses incurred from and after the Distribution Date that is in any way related to such plans.

ARTICLE VIII

MISCELLANEOUS

Section 8.01     Employee Records .

(a)     Sharing of Information. Subject to any limitations imposed by applicable Law, Parent (and GasCo, as applicable) and CoalCo (acting directly or through members of the Parent Group or the CoalCo Group, respectively) shall provide to the other and their respective authorized agents and vendors all information necessary for the Parties to perform their respective duties under this Agreement. The provision of any information pursuant to Section  8.01 shall not affect the ownership of such information (which shall be determined solely in accordance with the terms of this Agreement and the Separation and Distribution Agreement), or constitute a grant of rights in or to any such information.

(b)     Transfer of Personnel Records and Authorization . Subject to any limitation imposed by applicable Law and to the extent that it has not done so before the Distribution Date, (i) Parent (and GasCo, as applicable) shall transfer to CoalCo any and all employment records (including any Form I-9, Form W-2 or other IRS forms) with respect to CoalCo Group Employees and Former CoalCo Group Employees and other records reasonably required by CoalCo to enable CoalCo properly to carry out its obligations under this Agreement, and (ii) CoalCo shall transfer to Parent (and GasCo, as applicable) any and all employment records (including any Form I-9, Form W-2 or other IRS forms) with respect to GasCo Group Employees and Former Parent Group Employees and other records reasonably required by Parent (and GasCo, as applicable) to enable Parent (and GasCo, as applicable) properly to carry out its obligations under this Agreement. Such transfer of records generally shall occur as soon as administratively practicable at or after the Distribution Date, provided that the Parties shall cooperate, subject to applicable Law, to effectuate such transfer at such later date as may be necessary or appropriate with respect to any Delayed Transfer Employee. Each Party will permit the other Party reasonable access to Employee records, to the extent reasonably necessary for such accessing Party to carry out its obligations hereunder.

(c)     Access to Records. To the extent not inconsistent with this Agreement, the Separation and Distribution Agreement or any applicable privacy protection Laws or regulations, reasonable access to Employee-related records after the Separation will be provided to members of the Parent Group and members of the CoalCo Group pursuant to the terms and conditions of Article VI of the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

(d)     Maintenance of Records. With respect to retaining, destroying, transferring, sharing, copying and permitting access to all Employee-related information, Parent (and GasCo, as applicable) and CoalCo shall comply with all applicable Laws, regulations and internal policies, and shall indemnify and hold harmless each other from and against any and all Liability, claims, actions, and damages that arise from a failure (by the indemnifying Party or its Subsidiaries or their respective agents) to so comply with all applicable Laws, regulations and internal policies applicable to such information.

(e)     Cooperation. After the Effective Time, except in the case of an adversarial Action or Dispute between GasCo and CoalCo, or any members of their respective Groups, each Party shall use commercially reasonable efforts to cooperate and work together to unify, consolidate and share (to the extent permissible under applicable privacy/data protection laws) all relevant documents, resolutions, government filings, data, payroll, employment and benefit plan information on regular timetables and cooperate as needed with respect to (i) any litigation with respect to any employee benefit plan, policy or arrangement contemplated by this Agreement, (ii) efforts to seek a determination letter, private letter ruling or advisory opinion from

 

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the IRS or U.S. Department of Labor on behalf of any employee benefit plan, policy or arrangement contemplated by this Agreement, and (iii) any submissions, filings, responses or communications that are required to be made or supplemented to the IRS, U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, U.S. Department of Labor or any other Governmental Authority; provided , however , that requests for cooperation must be reasonable and not interfere with daily business operations.

(f)     Confidentiality. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, all confidential records and data relating to Employees to be shared or transferred pursuant to this Agreement shall be subject to Section 6.9 of the Separation and Distribution Agreement and the requirements of applicable Law.

Section 8.02     Preservation of Rights to Amend . The rights of each member of the Parent Group and each member of the CoalCo Group to amend, waive, or terminate any plan, arrangement, agreement, program, or policy referred to herein shall not be limited in any way by this Agreement.

Section 8.03     Fiduciary Matters . Each of the Parties acknowledges that actions required to be taken pursuant to this Agreement may be subject to fiduciary duties or standards of conduct under ERISA or other applicable Law, and no Party shall be deemed to be in violation of this Agreement if it fails to comply with any provisions hereof based upon its good-faith determination (as supported by advice from counsel experienced in such matters) that to do so would violate such a fiduciary duty or standard. Each Party shall be responsible for taking such actions as are deemed necessary and appropriate to comply with its own fiduciary responsibilities and shall fully release and indemnify the other Party for any Liabilities caused by the failure to satisfy any such responsibility.

Section 8.04     Further Assurances . Each Party hereto shall take, or cause to be taken, any and all reasonable actions, including the execution, acknowledgment, filing and delivery of any and all documents and instruments that any other Party hereto may reasonably request in order to effect the intent and purpose of this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby.

Section 8.05     Counterparts; Entire Agreement; Corporate Power .

(a)    This Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts, all of which shall be considered one and the same agreement, and shall become effective when one or more counterparts have been signed by each of the Parties and delivered to the other Party.

(b)    This Agreement, the Separation and Distribution Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements and the Exhibits, Schedules and appendices hereto and thereto contain the entire agreement between the Parties with respect to the subject matter hereof, supersede all previous agreements, negotiations, discussions, writings, understandings, commitments and conversations with respect to such subject matter, and there are no agreements or understandings between the Parties other than those set forth or referred to herein or therein.

Section 8.06     Governing Law . Section 10.2 (Governing Law) of the Separation and Distribution Agreement is hereby incorporated herein by reference and shall apply as if fully set forth herein mutatis mutandis.

Section 8.07     Assignability . This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the Parties and their respective successors and permitted assigns. Neither Party may assign its rights or delegate its obligations under this Agreement without the express prior written consent of the other Party hereto; provided, however, that each Party may assign all of its rights and obligations under this Agreement to any of its Subsidiaries; and provided, further, that no such assignment shall release the assigning Party from any of its liabilities or obligations under this Agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no consent for assignment shall be required for the assignment of a Party’s rights and obligations under this Agreement, the Separation and Distribution Agreement and all other Ancillary Agreements in whole ( i.e ., the assignment of a party’s rights and obligations under this Agreement and all Ancillary Agreements all at the same time) in connection with a change of control of a Party so long as the resulting,

 

22


surviving or transferee Person assumes all the obligations of the relevant Party by operation of Law or pursuant to an agreement in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the other Party. Nothing herein is intended to, or shall be construed to, prohibit either Party or any of its Subsidiaries from being party to or undertaking a transaction that would result in a change of control.

Section 8.08     Third-Party Beneficiaries . The provisions of this Agreement are solely for the benefit of the Parties and are not intended to confer upon any other Person except the Parties any rights or remedies hereunder. There are no other third-party beneficiaries of this Agreement and this Agreement shall not provide any other Third Party with any remedy, claim, Liability, reimbursement, claim of action or other right in excess of those existing without reference to this Agreement. Nothing in this Agreement is intended to amend any employee benefit plan or affect the applicable plan sponsor’s right to amend or terminate any employee benefit plan pursuant to the terms of such plan. The provisions of this Agreement are solely for the benefit of the Parties, and no current or former Employee, officer, director, or independent contractor or any other individual associated therewith shall be regarded for any purpose as a third-party beneficiary of this Agreement.

Section 8.09     Notices . All notices, requests, claims, demands or other communications under this Agreement shall be delivered in accordance with Section 10.5 of the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Section 8.10     Severability . If any provision of this Agreement or the application thereof to any Person or circumstance is determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, void or unenforceable, the remaining provisions hereof, or the application of any such provision to Persons or circumstances or in jurisdictions other than those as to which it has been held invalid or unenforceable, shall remain in full force and effect and shall in no way be affected, impaired or invalidated thereby. Upon such determination, the Parties shall negotiate in good faith in an effort to agree upon such a suitable and equitable provision to effect the original intent of the Parties.

Section 8.11     Force Majeure . No Party shall be deemed to be in default of this Agreement or, unless otherwise expressly provided therein, any Ancillary Agreement for any delay or failure to fulfill any obligation hereunder or thereunder so long as and to the extent to which any delay or failure in the fulfillment of such obligations is prevented, frustrated, hindered or delayed as a consequence of circumstances of Force Majeure. In the event of any such excused delay, the time for performance shall be extended for a period equal to the time lost by reason of the delay. A Party claiming the benefit of this provision shall, as soon as reasonably practicable after the occurrence of any such event, (a) provide written notice to the other Party of the nature and extent of any such Force Majeure condition; and (b) use commercially reasonable efforts to remove any such causes and resume performance under this Agreement and the Ancillary Agreements, as applicable, as soon as reasonably practicable.

Section 8.12     Headings . The Article, Section and Paragraph headings contained in this Agreement are for reference purposes only and shall not affect in any way the meaning or interpretation of this Agreement.

Section 8.13     Survival of Covenants . Except as expressly set forth in this Agreement, the covenants, representations and warranties and other agreements contained in this Agreement, and Liability for the breach of any obligations contained herein, shall survive the Effective Time and shall remain in full force and effect thereafter.

Section 8.14     Waivers of Default . Waiver by any Party of any default by the other Party of any provision of this Agreement shall not be deemed a waiver by the waiving Party of any subsequent or other default, nor shall it prejudice the rights of the waiving Party. No failure or delay by any Party in exercising any right, power or privilege under this Agreement shall operate as a waiver thereof, nor shall a single or partial exercise thereof prejudice any other or further exercise thereof or the exercise of any other right, power or privilege.

Section 8.15     Dispute Resolution . The dispute resolution procedures set forth in Article VII of the Separation and Distribution Agreement shall apply to any dispute, controversy or claim arising out of or relating to this Agreement.

 

23


Section 8.16     Specific Performance . Subject to Article VII of the Separation and Distribution Agreement, in the event of any actual or threatened default in, or breach of, any of the terms, conditions and provisions of this Agreement, the Party or Parties who are, or are to be, thereby aggrieved shall have the right to specific performance and injunctive or other equitable relief (on an interim or permanent basis) in respect of its rights or their rights under this Agreement, in addition to any and all other rights and remedies at Law or in equity, and all such rights and remedies shall be cumulative. The Parties agree that the remedies at Law for any breach or threatened breach, including monetary damages, may be inadequate compensation for any loss and that any defense in any Action for specific performance that a remedy at Law would be adequate is waived. Any requirements for the securing or posting of any bond with such remedy are hereby waived by each of the Parties.

Section 8.17     Amendments . No provisions of this Agreement shall be deemed waived, amended, supplemented or modified by a Party, unless such waiver, amendment, supplement or modification is in writing and signed by the authorized representative of the Party against whom it is sought to enforce such waiver, amendment, supplement or modification.

Section 8.18     Interpretation . Section 10.16 (Interpretation) of the Separation and Distribution Agreement is hereby incorporated herein by reference and shall apply as if fully set forth herein mutatis mutandis.

Section 8.19     Mutual Drafting . This Agreement shall be deemed to be the joint work product of the Parties and any rule of construction that a document shall be interpreted or construed against a drafter of such document shall not be applicable to this Agreement.

Section 8.20     Provisions Incorporated by Reference . The following provisions of the Separation and Distribution Agreement are hereby incorporated herein by reference and shall apply as if fully set forth herein mutatis mutandis: (a) Section 6.3 (Compensation for Providing Information), (b) Section 6.5 (Limitations of Liability); and (c) Section 6.9 (Confidentiality).

[ Remainder of page intentionally left blank ]

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Parties have caused this Employee Matters Agreement to be executed by their duly authorized representatives.

 

CONSOL ENERGY INC.
By:  

/s/ Stephen W. Johnson

Name:   Stephen W. Johnson
Title:   Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer
CONSOL MINING CORPORATION
By:  

/s/ James A. Brock

Name:   James. A. Brock
Title:   Chief Executive Officer

 

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Exhibit 2.4

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MATTERS AGREEMENT

BY AND BETWEEN

CONSOL ENERGY INC.

AND

CONSOL MINING CORPORATION.

DATED AS OF NOVEMBER 28, 2017


Table of Contents

 

ARTICLE I DEFINITIONS

     1  

1.01

 

Definitions

     1  
ARTICLE II TRANSFERRED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND TECHNOLOGY AND ASSUMPTION OF LIABILITIES      5  

2.01

 

Assignment of Intellectual Property Rights

     5  

2.02

 

Common Infrastructure Copyrights

     6  

2.03

 

Common Infrastructure Trade Secrets

     7  

2.04

 

Acceptance and Assumption of Transferred Intellectual Property Liabilities.

     7  

2.05

 

Acceptance and Assumption by Parent of Common Infrastructure Liabilities

     7  

2.06

 

Delayed Transfers; Wrong Pockets

     7  

2.07

 

Trademarks To Be Surrendered

     9  

2.08

 

Description of Services in Retained Trademarks

     9  

2.09

 

Description of Services in Transferred Trademarks

     9  

ARTICLE III LICENSES FROM PARENT TO COALCO

     9  

3.01

 

License Grants

     9  

3.02

 

Change of Corporate Name

     10  

ARTICLE IV LICENSES FROM COALCO TO PARENT

     10  

4.01

 

License Grants

     10  

4.02

 

Change of Corporate Name

     10  

ARTICLE V ADDITIONAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RELATED MATTERS

     10  

5.01

 

Assignments and Licenses

     10  

5.02

 

Assistance By Employees

     10  

5.03

 

Inventor Compensation

     10  

5.04

 

No Implied Licenses

     11  

5.05

 

No Obligation To Prosecute or Maintain Patents

     11  

5.06

 

Technical Assistance

     11  

5.07

 

Third-Party Infringement

     11  

5.08

 

No Challenge to Title

     11  

ARTICLE VI LIMITATION OF LIABILITY AND WARRANTY DISCLAIMER

     12  

6.01

 

Limitation of Liability

     12  

6.02

 

Disclaimer of Representations and Warranties

     12  

 

ii


ARTICLE VII TRANSFERABILITY AND ASSIGNMENT

     13  

7.01

 

No Assignment or Transfer Without Consent

     13  

7.02

 

Divested Businesses

     13  

ARTICLE VIII REVOCATION AND TERMINATION OF LICENSE RIGHTS; TERMINATION

     13  

8.01

 

Termination by Both Parties

     13  

8.02

 

Termination prior to the Distribution

     13  

8.03

 

Effect of Termination; Survival

     13  

ARTICLE IX FURTHER ASSURANCES

     13  

9.01

 

Further Assurances

     13  

ARTICLE X MISCELLANEOUS

     14  

10.01

 

Counterparts; Entire Agreement; Corporate Power

     14  

10.02

 

Governing Law; Jurisdiction

     14  

10.03

 

Third-Party Beneficiaries

     15  

10.04

 

Notices

     15  

10.05

 

Export Control

     15  

10.06

 

Bankruptcy

     15  

10.07

 

Severability

     15  

10.08

 

Expenses

     16  

10.09

 

Headings

     16  

10.10

 

Survival of Covenants

     16  

10.11

 

Waivers of Default

     16  

10.12

 

Specific Performance

     16  

10.13

 

Amendments

     16  

10.14

 

Interpretation

     16  

 

iii


INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MATTERS AGREEMENT

THIS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MATTERS AGREEMENT (“ Agreement ”) is dated as of November 28, 2017 (the “ Effective Date ”), by and between CONSOL Energy Inc., a Delaware corporation (“ Parent ”), and CONSOL Mining Corporation, a Delaware corporation (“ CoalCo ”).

R E C I T A L S

WHEREAS, in connection with the contemplated Separation of CoalCo from Parent, Parent and CoalCo are entering into a Separation and Distribution Agreement (the “ Separation and Distribution Agreement ”);

WHEREAS, following the Separation and Distribution CoalCo, which will be renamed CONSOL Energy Inc., will be a separate, independent, publicly traded company, and Parent will be renamed CNX Resources Corporation;

WHEREAS it is the intent of the Parties that as part of the Separation, Parent assign certain intellectual property rights and certain technology to CoalCo pertinent to the Coal Business; and

WHEREAS it is the intent of the Parties that following the Separation, Parent license certain other intellectual property rights to CoalCo and that following the Separation, CoalCo license certain other intellectual property rights to Parent.

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual agreements, provisions and covenants contained in this Agreement, the Parties, intending to be legally bound, hereby agree as follows:

ARTICLE I

DEFINITIONS

1.01     Definitions . As used in this Agreement, the following terms have the following meanings:

3POCM ” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  2.02(b) .

Administrative IP Proceedings ” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  5.02 .

Affiliate ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Ancillary Agreements ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Coal Business ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Coal Business Technology ” shall mean all Technology used in designing, developing, manufacturing, selling, providing or supporting products, services and offerings of the Coal Business as they exist as of immediately prior to the Distribution.

CoalCo Commercial Software ” shall mean software that, as of immediately prior to the Distribution, the Coal Business had (a) released to one or more third parties for commercial sale, licensing, distribution or (if applicable) beta testing, or (b) used to offer or provide a commercial service to one or more third parties, including software as a service and hosted solutions.

 

1


CoalCo Common Infrastructure Liability Percentage ” shall mean 50%.

CoalCo Group ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Common Infrastructure Copyrights ” shall mean copyrightable subject matter embodied in works that relate to the common internal business operations of the Parent Business and the Coal Business as of or prior to the Distribution Date, including software, corporate policies, operating procedures, manager toolkits and employee training materials. Common Infrastructure Copyrights do not include (a) Copyrights in Parent Commercial Software or CoalCo Commercial Software; (b) Copyrights in works that are used exclusively in or relate exclusively to Parent Business; or (c) Copyrights in works that are used exclusively in or relate exclusively to the Coal Business.

Common Infrastructure Liabilities ” shall mean any Liabilities of either Party (a) to the extent relating to, arising out of or resulting from (1) any Common Infrastructure Copyrights or (2) any Common Infrastructure Trade Secrets, and (b) arising or accrued at or prior to the Distribution.

Common Infrastructure Rights ” shall mean Common Infrastructure Copyrights and Common Infrastructure Trade Secrets.

Common Infrastructure Trade Secrets ” shall mean Trade Secrets that relate to the common internal business operations of the Parent Business and the Coal Business as of or prior to the Distribution Date. Common Infrastructure Trade Secrets do not include (a) trade secrets that are used in or relate to Parent Commercial Software or CoalCo Commercial Software (including source code); (b) Trade Secrets that are used exclusively in or relate exclusively to Parent Business; or (c) Trade Secrets that are used exclusively in or relate exclusively to the Coal Business.

Copyrights ” shall mean copyrights, copyright registrations and applications therefor, moral rights and all other rights corresponding to the foregoing.

Database Rights ” shall mean statutory and common law rights in databases and data collections (including knowledge databases, customer lists and customer databases) arising under the laws of any jurisdiction, whether registered or unregistered, and any applications for registration therefor.

Distribution ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Distribution Date ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Docket Files ” shall mean electronic and paper copies (including originals) of the following items to the extent they are in possession or control of Parent as of the Distribution with respect to each Transferred Patent: (a) assignment agreements from inventors to Parent, (b) declarations and powers of attorney relating to the prosecution of the Transferred Patents, (c) invention submissions, (d) correspondence with all patent offices together with a list, including contact information, of each counsel and agent responsible for the prosecution or maintenance of the Transferred Patents known to be in possession of Docket Files, and the original ribbon copy issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or, for foreign Patents, the original ribbon copy or certificate issued by the applicable Governmental Authority.

 

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Excluded Intellectual Property Rights ” shall mean the Intellectual Property Rights to be retained by Parent set forth on Schedule  C .

Governmental Approvals ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Governmental Authority ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Improvemen t” to any Intellectual Property Right or Technology shall mean (a) with respect to Copyrights, any modifications, derivative works and translations of works of authorship in any medium, (b) with respect to Database Rights, any database that is created by extraction or use of another database and (c) with respect to Technology, any improvement or modification to the Trade Secrets that cover or are otherwise incorporated into such Technology.

Indemnitee ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Intellectual Property Liabilities ” shall mean all Liabilities relating to, arising out of or resulting from Intellectual Property Rights.

Intellectual Property Rights ” shall mean the rights associated with the following anywhere in the world: (a) Trademarks; (b) Patents; (c) Trade Secrets; (d) Copyrights; (e) Internet Properties; (f) Database Rights; and (g) any similar, corresponding or equivalent rights to any of the foregoing. Intellectual Property Rights specifically excludes contractual rights (including license grants from third parties) and also excludes the tangible embodiment of any of the foregoing in subsections (a) – (g).

Internet Properties ” shall mean uniform resource locators and registered internet domain names (including social media handles and Internet user names).

Law ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Liabilities ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Licensor ” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  5.07 .

Notifying Party ” shall have the meaning set forth in Section  5.07 .

Parent Business ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Parent Commercial Software ” shall mean software that, as of immediately prior to the Distribution, the Parent Business had (a) released to one or more third parties for commercial sale, licensing, distribution or (if applicable) beta testing, or (b) used to offer or provide a commercial service to one or more third parties, including software as a service and hosted solutions as set forth on Schedule  E .

Parent Common Infrastructure Liability Percentage ” shall mean 50%.

Parent Group ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Party ” shall mean either party hereto, and “ Parties ” shall mean both parties hereto.

 

3


Patents ” shall mean patents, designs and utility models, and applications therefor (including any continuations, continuations-in-part, divisionals, reissues, renewals, extensions or modifications for any of the foregoing).

Person ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Security Interes t” shall mean any mortgage, security interest, pledge, lien, charge, claim, option, right to acquire, voting or other restriction, right-of-way, covenant, condition, easement, encroachment, restriction on transfer or other encumbrance of any nature whatsoever.

Separation ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Software Derivatives ” shall mean a revision, reparation, adaptation, enhancement, modification, translation, localization, abridgment, condensation, expansion and any other form into which software may be transformed or ported.

Subsidiary ” shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

Technology ” shall mean tangible embodiments, whether in electronic, written or other media, of copyrightable works, technology (including designs, design and manufacturing documentation, engineering drawings, such as bill of materials, build instructions and test reports), sales documentation (such as marketing materials, installation manuals, service manuals, user manuals) schematics, algorithms, routines, software, databases, laboratory notebooks, development and lab equipment, processes, prototypes and devices. Technology does not include Intellectual Property Rights, including any Intellectual Property Rights in any of the foregoing.

TLA1 ” shall mean the Trademark License Agreement dated as of the date of this Agreement between CoalCo (the licensor) and Parent (the licensee).

TLA2 ” shall mean the Trademark License Agreement dated as of the date of this Agreement among Parent (the licensor) and CoalCo (the licensee).

Trade Secrets ” shall mean information, including a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique or process, that (i) derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by, other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use, and (ii) is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy, and all other rights in or to confidential business or technical information.

Trademarks ” shall mean trademarks and service marks, including common law marks, trade names, business names, designs, logos and trade dress, whether registered or unregistered, and the goodwill appurtenant to each of the foregoing.

Transferred Copyrights ” shall mean Copyrights in and to the Coal Business Technology, whether registered or unregistered, that are owned by Parent as of immediately prior to the Distribution and that are primarily used in the Coal Business, including the Copyrights (if any) listed on Schedule  B . For the avoidance of doubt, Transferred Copyrights do not include (a) Copyrights in Parent Commercial Software; (b) Copyrights in works that are used exclusively in or relate exclusively to Parent Business; or (c) the Common Infrastructure Copyrights. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Transferred Copyrights shall not include any Excluded Intellectual Property Rights.

 

4


Transferred Database Rights ” shall mean Database Rights in and to the Coal Business Technology that are owned by Parent as of immediately prior to the Distribution and that are primarily used in the Coal Business, including the Database Rights (if any) listed on Schedule  B . Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Transferred Database Rights shall not include any Excluded Intellectual Property Rights.

Transferred Intellectual Property Liabilities ” shall mean (a) all Liabilities relating to, arising out of or resulting from the Transferred Intellectual Property Rights and (b) the CoalCo Common Infrastructure Liability Percentage of any Common Infrastructure Liabilities.

Transferred Intellectual Property Rights ” shall mean (a) the Transferred Trademarks, (b) the Transferred Patents, (c) the Transferred Copyrights, (d) the Transferred Internet Properties, (e) the Transferred Database Rights, and (f) the Transferred Trade Secrets.

Transferred Internet Properties ” shall mean Internet Properties (a) listed on Schedule  B or (b) primarily used by the Coal Business. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Transferred Internet Properties shall not include any Excluded Intellectual Property Rights.

Transferred Patents ” shall mean the Patents identified on Schedule  B hereto.

Transferred Trade Secrets ” shall mean the Trade Secrets known to the Parties that are owned by Parent as of immediately prior to the Distribution and that are primarily used by the Coal Business, including the Trade Secrets listed on Schedule  B . For the avoidance of doubt, Transferred Trade Secrets do not include: (a) any Trade Secrets that are used exclusively in or relate exclusively to Parent Business or (b) Common Infrastructure Trade Secrets. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Transferred Trade Secrets shall not include any Excluded Intellectual Property Rights.

Transferred Trademarks ” shall mean all Trademarks which prior to the Distribution Date were used solely with regard to products, services and offerings of the Coal Business, including those trademarks identified on Schedule  B . Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Transferred Trademarks shall not include any Excluded Intellectual Property Rights.

ARTICLE II

TRANSFERRED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

RIGHTS AND TECHNOLOGY AND ASSUMPTION OF LIABILITIES

2.01     Assignment of Intellectual Property Rights . (a) Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, effective as of the Separation, Parent hereby assigns, transfers and conveys to CoalCo all of the right, title and interest of the Parent and any member of the Parent Group, in, to and under all Transferred Intellectual Property Rights, subject to the licenses granted to Parent in Article IV below and all other licenses granted under any such Intellectual Property Rights existing and in full force and effect as of immediately prior to the Distribution (subject to the terms and conditions contained in each such license). The Transferred Intellectual Property Rights include all of Parent’s right, title and interest in and to any and all proceeds, causes of action and rights of recovery against third parties for past and future infringement, misappropriation or other violation or impairment of any of the Transferred Intellectual Property Rights. The Parties shall execute intellectual property assignments in a form substantially similar to that attached as Schedule  A1 (the “Patent Assignment Agreement”), Schedule  A2 (the “Trademark Assignment Agreement”), and Schedule  A3 (the “Copyright Assignment”), as well as such additional case specific assignments as deemed appropriate to carry out the intent of the Parties, as applicable (collectively, the “Intellectual Property Assignment Agreements”), for recordation with the appropriate Governmental Authority.

 

5


(b)     Recording Change of Ownership of the Transferred Intellectual Property Rights . CoalCo, or such member of the CoalCo Group designated by CoalCo, shall have the sole responsibility, at its sole cost and expense, to file the Intellectual Property Assignment Agreements and any other forms or documents as required to record the assignment of the Transferred Intellectual Property Rights from Parent to CoalCo; provided, however, that, upon written request, Parent shall provide reasonable assistance to CoalCo to record the assignment, at CoalCo’s sole cost and expense.

(c)     Responsibility for Transferred Patents . Parent shall pay all fees incurred and respond to all office actions due with respect to the Transferred Patents up to and including the Distribution Date. CoalCo shall, in its sole discretion, pay or cause to be paid, all fees incurred and respond to all office actions due with respect to the Transferred Patents after the Distribution Date. At or prior to the Distribution, Parent shall provide CoalCo with a listing, in a form to be agreed upon by the Parties, of: (i) all known responses to office actions and fees due with respect to the Transferred Patents in all relevant jurisdictions with due dates within 120 days of the Distribution Date; and (ii) a copy of all hard-copy or digitally stored Docket Files relating to the Transferred Patents, unless such files are in the possession of Parent’s outside counsel or agents, in which case Parent shall send written instructions to its counsel and agents directing them to act in accordance with CoalCo’s instructions with respect to such files.

2.02     Common Infrastructure Copyrights . (a) Common Infrastructure Copyrights shall be co-owned by Parent and CoalCo. Accordingly, each Party transfers and assigns (as assignor) to the other Party (as assignee), effective as of date of Distribution, an undivided one-half part of the whole right, title, and interest in Common Infrastructure Copyrights owned by the assignor as of the Distribution Date, such undivided one-half part to be held and enjoyed by the assignee, as fully and entirely as the same would have been held and enjoyed by the assignor if this transfer had not been made. Upon a Party’s written request, the other Party shall execute documents confirming the assignment of such co-ownership interest to the requesting Party. Subject to Article VI, each co-owner shall be free to exploit the Common Infrastructure Copyrights without further consent and without accounting to the other co-owner. Each Party shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless the other Party and each of their respective former and current directors, officers and employees, and each of the heirs, executors, successors and assigns of any of the foregoing from and against any and all Liabilities arising out of or resulting from such indemnifying Party’s exploitation of the Common Infrastructure Copyrights following the Distribution.

(b)    The Parties acknowledge that some of the materials associated with Common Infrastructure Copyrights (e.g., documents, PowerPoint slides, photo libraries, etc.) may also contain third party-owned copyrighted material (“ 3POCM ”) such as fonts, images and graphics, which are licensed to a Party. This Section 2.02 therefore does not extend to such 3POCM, and each Party is solely responsible for obtaining its own licenses to the 3POCM. Each Party shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless the other Party and each of their respective former and current directors, officers and employees, and each of the heirs, executors, successors and assigns of any of the foregoing from and against any and all claims by third parties arising out of or relating to such indemnifying Party’s use or exploitation of 3POCM following the Distribution.

(c)    Notwithstanding the foregoing, and except as expressly permitted by either TLA1 or TLA2, the use of any Common Infrastructure Copyrights by or for one Party, and any works related to, or based upon, any of the Common Infrastructure Copyrights, may not contain any references to the other Party (or any of its marks, names, trade dress, logos or other source or business identifiers), the other Party’s publications, personnel (including senior management) or management structures, or any other indication (other than the verbatim or paraphrased reproduction of the content) that such works are based upon any Common Infrastructure Copyrights that originated with the other Party.

 

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(d)    Neither Parent nor CoalCo, nor any member of their respective Groups, shall have any obligation to the other to (i) notify of any changes or proposed changes to any of the Common Infrastructure Copyrights, (ii) include the other in any consideration of proposed changes to any of the Common Infrastructure Copyrights, (iii) provide draft changes of any of the Common Infrastructure Copyrights to the other for review or comment or (iv) provide the other with any updated materials relating to any of the Common Infrastructure Copyrights.

2.03     Common Infrastructure Trade Secrets . Common Infrastructure Trade Secrets shall be co-owned by Parent and CoalCo. Accordingly, each Party transfers and assigns (as assignor) to the other Party (as assignee), effective as of the date of Distribution, an undivided one-half part of the whole right, title, and interest in Common Infrastructure Trade Secrets owned by the assignor as of the date of Distribution, such undivided one-half part to be held and enjoyed by the assignee, as fully and entirely as the same would have been held and enjoyed by the assignor if this transfer had not been made. Upon a Party’s written request, (including a member of such Party’s respective Group), the other Party shall or if applicable shall cause the relevant member of their Group, execute documents confirming the assignment of such co-ownership interest to the requesting Party. Subject to Article VI, below, each co-owner shall be free to exploit the Common Infrastructure Trade Secrets without further consent and without accounting to the other co-owner. Notwithstanding the foregoing, neither of the joint owners (CoalCo, Parent) shall make a Common Infrastructure Trade Secret public or otherwise destroy or impair the Trade Secret status of a Common Infrastructure Trade Secret without the prior, written consent of the other joint owner. Each Party shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless the other Party and each of their respective former and current directors, officers and employees, and each of the heirs, executors, successors and assigns of any of the foregoing from and against any and all Liabilities arising out of or resulting from such indemnifying Party’s exploitation or disclosure of the Common Infrastructure Trade Secrets following the Distribution.

2.04     Acceptance and Assumption of Transferred Intellectual Property Liabilities . Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, effective as of the Distribution, CoalCo shall accept, assume and agree faithfully to perform, discharge and fulfill the Transferred Intellectual Property Liabilities in accordance with their respective terms. CoalCo shall be responsible for all Transferred Intellectual Property Liabilities, regardless of when or where such Transferred Intellectual Property Liabilities arose or arise, or whether the facts on which they are based occurred prior to, at or subsequent to the Distribution, regardless of where or against whom such Transferred Intellectual Property Liabilities are asserted or determined or whether asserted or determined prior to the date of this Agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, for the avoidance of doubt, the scope of CoalCo’s obligations with respect to any Common Infrastructure Liabilities shall be co-extensive with, and not greater than, the scope of Parent’s obligations with respect to Common Infrastructure Liabilities.

2.05     Acceptance and Assumption by Parent of Common Infrastructure Liabilities . Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, effective as of the Distribution, Parent shall accept, assume and agree faithfully to perform, discharge and fulfill the Parent Common Infrastructure Liability Percentage of any Common Infrastructure Liabilities in accordance with their respective terms. Parent shall be responsible for the Parent Common Infrastructure Liability Percentage of any Common Infrastructure Liabilities, regardless of where such Common Infrastructure Liabilities arose, or whether such Common Infrastructure Liabilities are asserted or determined prior to or after the date of this Agreement.

2.06     Delayed Transfers; Wrong Pockets . (a) In the event that it is discovered after the Distribution that there was an omission of (i) the transfer or conveyance by Parent or the acceptance or assumption by CoalCo of any Transferred Intellectual Property Right, Transferred Intellectual Property Liability, Common Infrastructure Right or Common Infrastructure Liability, as the case may be, or (ii) the

 

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transfer or conveyance by one Party to, or the acceptance or assumption by, the other Party of any Intellectual Property Right, Intellectual Property Liability, Common Infrastructure Right or Common Infrastructure Liability, as the case may be, that, had the Parties given specific consideration to such Intellectual Property Right, Intellectual Property Liability, Common Infrastructure Right or Common Infrastructure Liability prior to the Distribution, would have otherwise been so transferred, conveyed, accepted or assumed, as the case may be, pursuant to this Agreement, the Parties shall use reasonable best efforts to promptly effect such transfer, conveyance, acceptance or assumption of such Intellectual Property Right, Intellectual Property Liability, Common Infrastructure Right or Common Infrastructure Liability. Any transfer, conveyance, acceptance or assumption made pursuant to this Section  2.06(a) shall be treated by the Parties for all purposes as if it had occurred as of the Distribution, except as otherwise required by applicable Law.

(b)    In the event that it is discovered after the Distribution that there was a transfer or conveyance by Parent to, or the acceptance or assumption by, CoalCo of any Transferred Intellectual Property Right, Transferred Intellectual Property Liability, Common Infrastructure Right or Common Infrastructure Liability, as the case may be, that should not have been transferred, the Parties shall use reasonable best efforts to promptly transfer or convey such Transferred Intellectual Property Right, Transferred Intellectual Property Liability, Common Infrastructure Right or Common Infrastructure Liability back to the transferring or conveying Party or to rescind any acceptance or assumption of such Transferred Intellectual Property Right, Transferred Intellectual Property Liability, Common Infrastructure Right or Common Infrastructure Liability, as the case may be. Any transfer or conveyance made or acceptance or assumption rescinded pursuant to this Section  2.06(b) shall be treated by the Parties for all purposes as if such Transferred Intellectual Property Right, Transferred Intellectual Property Liability, Common Infrastructure Right or Common Infrastructure Liability had never been originally transferred, conveyed, accepted or assumed, as the case may be, except as otherwise required by applicable Law.

(c)    To the extent that any transfer or conveyance of any Intellectual Property Right or Common Infrastructure Right acceptance or assumption of any Intellectual Property Liability or Common Infrastructure Liability required by this Agreement to be so transferred, conveyed, accepted or assumed shall not have been effected as of the Distribution Date, the Parties shall use reasonable best efforts to effect such transfer, conveyance, acceptance or assumption as promptly following the Distribution Date as shall be practicable. Nothing in this Agreement shall be deemed to require the transfer or conveyance of any Intellectual Property Rights or Common Infrastructure Rights or the acceptance or assumption of any Intellectual Property Liabilities or Common Infrastructure Liabilities which by their terms or operation of Law cannot be so transferred, conveyed, accepted or assumed; provided, however, that the Parties shall use reasonable best efforts to obtain any necessary consents for the transfer, conveyance, acceptance or assumption (as applicable) of all Transferred Intellectual Property Rights, Transferred Intellectual Property Liabilities, Common Infrastructure Rights and Common Infrastructure Liabilities required by this Agreement to be so transferred, conveyed, accepted or assumed; provided further that neither Party shall be required to contribute capital, pay or grant any consideration or concession in any form (including providing any letter of credit, guaranty or other financial accommodation) to any Person in order to obtain or make any such consent. In the event that any such transfer, conveyance, acceptance or assumption (as applicable) has not been completed effective as of and after the Distribution Date, the Party retaining such Transferred Intellectual Property Right, Transferred Intellectual Property Liability, Common Infrastructure Right or Common Infrastructure Liability shall thereafter hold such Intellectual Property Right or Common Infrastructure Right for the use and benefit of the Party entitled thereto (at the expense of the Party entitled thereto) and retain such Intellectual Property Liability or Common Infrastructure Liability for the account, and at the expense, of the Party by whom such Intellectual Property Liability or Common Infrastructure Liability should have been assumed or accepted pursuant to this Agreement, and take such other actions as may be reasonably requested by the

 

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Party to which such Intellectual Property Right or Common Infrastructure Right should have been transferred or conveyed, or by whom such Intellectual Property Liability or Common Infrastructure Liability should have been assumed or accepted, as the case may be, in order to place such Party, insofar as reasonably possible, in the same position as would have existed had such Transferred Intellectual Property Right, Transferred Intellectual Property Liability, Common Infrastructure Right or Common Infrastructure Liability been transferred, conveyed, accepted or assumed (as applicable) as contemplated by this Agreement, including possession, use, risk of loss, potential for gain/loss and control over such Transferred Intellectual Property Right, Transferred Intellectual Property Liability, Common Infrastructure Right or Common Infrastructure Liability. As and when any such Transferred Intellectual Property Right, Transferred Intellectual Property Liability, Common Infrastructure Right or Common Infrastructure Liability becomes transferable, the Parties shall use reasonable best efforts to promptly effect such transfer, conveyance, acceptance or assumption (as applicable). Any transfer, conveyance, acceptance or assumption made pursuant to this Section  2.06(c) shall be treated by the Parties for all purposes as if it had occurred as of the Distribution Date, except as otherwise required by applicable Law.

(d)    The Party retaining any Transferred Intellectual Property Right, Transferred Intellectual Property Liability, Common Infrastructure Right or Common Infrastructure Liability due to the deferral of the transfer and conveyance of such Intellectual Property Right or Common Infrastructure Right or the deferral of the acceptance and assumption of such Intellectual Property Liability or Common Infrastructure Liability pursuant to this Section  2.06 or otherwise shall not be obligated by this Agreement, in connection with this Section  2.06 , to expend any money or take any action that would require the expenditure of money (other than reasonable out-of-pocket expenses, attorneys’ fees and recording or similar fees, all of which shall be promptly reimbursed by the Party entitled to such Intellectual Property Right or Common Infrastructure Right or intended to assume such Intellectual Property Liability or Common Infrastructure Liability, as applicable) unless and to the extent the Party entitled to such Intellectual Property Right or Common Infrastructure Right or intended to assume such Intellectual Property Liability or Common Infrastructure Liability, as applicable, advances or agrees to reimburse it for the applicable expenditures.

2.07     Trademarks To Be Surrendered . Within thirty (30) days of the termination of TLA2, CoalCo shall surrender the trademark registrations listed in Schedule  D .

2.08     Description of Services in Retained Trademarks . For each of the Excluded Trademarks, at the time of the next maintenance filing if the Excluded Trademark is registered, or within 30 days after Separation if the Excluded Trademark is the subject of a pending application, Parent shall amend the description of goods and services to delete references to “coal” and any goods or services associated with the Coal Business.

2.09     Description of Services in Transferred Trademarks . For each of the Transferred Trademarks, at the time of the next maintenance filing if the Transferred Trademark is registered, or within 30 days after Separation if the Transferred Trademark is the subject of a pending application, CoalCo shall amend the description of goods and services to delete references to “gas” and any goods or services associated with the Parent Business.

ARTICLE III

LICENSES FROM PARENT TO COALCO

3.01     License Grants . Parent hereby grants to CoalCo and the Affiliates of CoalCo a prospective license to certain Trademarks and Internet Properties as set forth in TLA1. To the extent there is a conflict between the terms of this Agreement and TLA1, the terms of TLA1 shall control with respect to the Trademarks and Internet Properties set forth in TLA1.

 

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3.02     Change of Corporate Name . Within sixty (60) days of the date of Distribution, CoalCo shall cause the applicable members of the CoalCo Group to change their corporate names so that the CoalCo Group no longer uses the term “CNX”. The interim use of any “CNX”-based corporate name by any member of the CoalCo Group will be subject to the terms of TLA1 with respect to the Trademarks and Internet Properties set forth in TLA2.

ARTICLE IV

LICENSES FROM COALCO TO PARENT

4.01     License Grants . CoalCo hereby grants to Parent and the Affiliates of Parent a prospective license to certain Trademarks as set forth in TLA2. To the extent there is a conflict between the terms of this Agreement and TLA2, the terms of TLA2 shall control.

4.02     Change of Corporate Name . Within sixty (60) days of the date of Distribution, Parent shall cause the applicable members of the Parent Group to change their corporate names so that the Parent Group no longer uses the term “CONSOL”. The interim use of any “CONSOL”-based corporate name by any member of the Parent Group will be subject to the terms of TLA2 with respect to the Trademarks set forth in TLA1.

ARTICLE V

ADDITIONAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RELATED MATTERS

5.01     Assignments and Licenses . No Party may directly or indirectly assign or grant a license in or to any of its Intellectual Property Rights licensed to the other Party pursuant to Article III or Article IV, unless such assignment or grant is made subject to the licenses granted herein. For the avoidance of doubt, a non-exclusive license grant shall be deemed to be made subject to the licenses granted herein.

5.02     Assistance By Employees . Each of Parent and CoalCo agree to use and to cause each member of their respective groups to use, reasonable best efforts to make available, upon written request, the former, current and future directors, officers, employees, and any books, records or other documents within its control or that it otherwise has the ability to make available, to the extent that such Person (giving consideration to business demands of such directors, officers, employees, other personnel and agents) or books, records or other documents may reasonably be required in connection with any Administrative IP Proceeding or threatened or contemplated Administrative IP Proceeding (including preparation for any such Administrative IP Proceeding) in which either Parent or CoalCo, as applicable, may from time to time be involved. Any actual and reasonable out-of-pocket expenses associated with such assistance shall be borne by the Party involved in the Administrative IP Proceeding. For the purposes of this Section  5.02 , “ Administrative IP Proceedings ” shall mean the prosecution of, and other patent or trademark office proceedings (e.g., reissue, reexamination, interference, inter partes review, opposition or cancellation proceeding, post-grant review, etc.) regarding, the other Party’s Patent applications, Patents, Trademarks and other Intellectual Property Rights.

5.03     Inventor Compensation . Each Party will be responsible for providing inventor incentive compensation, if any, to its employees or the employees of any member of their respective Groups, in accordance with its own internal policies and any applicable laws and regulations. To the extent that a Party bases an inventor’s incentive compensation on a Patent or a Patent application of the other Party, the Parties will reasonably cooperate by providing to each other relevant information about their Patents for which one or more inventors are employees of the other Party. To the extent that inventor compensation is specified by local law, the Parties will reasonably cooperate in providing information to each other in

 

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order to enable each Party to calculate inventor compensation. No Party shall have any obligation to provide any inventor incentive compensation to an employee of the other Party except as required by law. Any information provided under this Section  5.03 shall be subject to the confidentiality provisions Section  6.09 of the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

5.04     No Implied Licenses . Nothing contained in this Agreement shall be construed as conferring any rights (including the right to sublicense) by implication, estoppel or otherwise, under any Intellectual Property Rights, other than as expressly granted in this Agreement, and all other rights under any Intellectual Property Rights licensed to a Party hereunder are expressly reserved by the Party granting the license. The Party receiving the license hereunder acknowledges and agrees that the Party granting the license is the sole and exclusive owner of the Intellectual Property Rights so licensed.

5.05     No Obligation To Prosecute or Maintain Patents . Except as expressly set forth in this Agreement, no Party shall have any obligation to seek, perfect or maintain any protection for any of its Intellectual Property Rights. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, except as expressly set forth in this Agreement, no Party shall have any obligation to file any Patent application, to prosecute any Patent, or secure any Patent rights or to maintain any Patent in force.

5.06     Technical Assistance . Except as expressly set forth in this Agreement, in the Separation and Distribution Agreement or any other mutually executed agreement between the Parties, no Party shall be required to provide the other Party with any technical assistance or to furnish any other Party with, or obtain on their behalf, any documents, materials or other information or Technology.

5.07     Third-Party Infringement . No Party shall have any obligation hereunder to institute or maintain any action or suit against third parties for infringement or misappropriation of any Intellectual Property Rights in or to any Technology licensed to the other Party hereunder, or to defend any action or suit brought by a third party which challenges or concerns the validity of any of such Intellectual Property Rights or which claims that any Technology licensed to the other Party hereunder infringes or constitutes a misappropriation of any Intellectual Property Rights of any third party. Except as set forth in Section 2 of TLA1 and TLA2, each Party (the “ Notifying Party ”) may, but shall not be required to, notify the other Party (the “ Licensor ”) in writing upon learning that a third party may be infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating or impairing any Intellectual Property Rights of the Licensor that are licensed to the Notifying Party under this Agreement. Such notification shall set forth in reasonable specificity the identity of the suspected infringing third party and the nature of the suspected infringement. The Notifying Party shall not take any steps to contact any such third party without the Licensor’s prior written permission, and the Licensor shall have the sole discretion to determine whether and in what manner to address any actual or suspected unauthorized third-party use and shall be exclusively entitled to any remedies, including monetary damages, related thereto or resulting therefrom. In the event that the Licensor decides to initiate any claim against any third party, the Notifying Party shall reasonably cooperate with the Licensor, subject to Section  5.05 . Any actual and reasonable out-of-pocket expenses associated with such cooperation shall be borne by the Licensor, expressly excluding the value of the time of the Notifying Party’s personnel (regarding which the Parties shall agree on a case by case basis with respect to reasonable compensation).

5.08     No Challenge to Title . Each Party agrees that it shall not, for any reason, during the term of the licenses granted in Article III and Article IV, either itself do or authorize any third party to do any of the following anywhere in the world with respect to any Intellectual Property Rights licensed to it hereunder: (a) represent to any third party in any manner that it owns or has any ownership rights in such Intellectual Property Rights (other than to the extent of the license granted hereunder); (b) apply for any registration of such Intellectual Property Rights (including federal, state and national registrations); or (c) impair, dispute or contest the validity or enforceability of the other Party’s right, title and interest in and to such Intellectual Property Rights.

 

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ARTICLE VI

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY AND WARRANTY DISCLAIMER

6.01     Limitation of Liability . Except as may expressly be set forth in this Agreement, neither Parent nor CoalCo shall in any event have any Liability to the other, or to any Affiliate of the other, as applicable, under this Agreement as a result of any information exchanged or provided pursuant to this Agreement that is found to be inaccurate in the absence of gross negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct by the party providing such information; provided , however , that the provisions of this Section  6.01  shall not limit (a) a Party’s indemnification obligations with respect to any Liability any Indemnitee may have to any third party for any indirect, special, punitive or consequential damages, or (b) the damages available to a Party for infringement or misappropriation of its Intellectual Property Rights by the other Party.

6.02     Disclaimer of Representations and Warranties . EACH OF PARENT (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND EACH MEMBER OF THE PARENT GROUP) AND COALCO (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND EACH MEMBER OF THE COALCO GROUP) UNDERSTANDS AND AGREES THAT, EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY SET FORTH HEREIN OR IN ANY ANCILLARY AGREEMENT, NO PARTY TO THIS AGREEMENT, ANY ANCILLARY AGREEMENT OR ANY OTHER AGREEMENT OR DOCUMENT CONTEMPLATED BY THIS AGREEMENT, ANY ANCILLARY AGREEMENT OR OTHERWISE, IS REPRESENTING OR WARRANTING IN ANY WAY AS TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, REGISTRABILITY, ALLOWABILITY, ENFORCEABILITY OR NON-INFRINGEMENT, AS TO ANY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LIABILITIES TRANSFERRED OR ASSUMED AS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY, AS TO THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LIABILITIES TRANSFERRED OR ASSUMED HEREBY FOR THE CONDUCT AND OPERATIONS OF THE COAL BUSINESS OR THE PARENT BUSINESS, AS APPLICABLE, AS TO ANY GOVERNMENTAL APPROVALS OR OTHER CONSENTS REQUIRED IN CONNECTION THEREWITH OR IN CONNECTION WITH ANY PAST TRANSFERS OF THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OR ASSUMPTIONS OF THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LIABILITIES, AS TO THE VALUE OR FREEDOM FROM ANY SECURITY INTERESTS OF, OR ANY OTHER MATTER CONCERNING, ANY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LIABILITIES OF SUCH PARTY, OR AS TO THE ABSENCE OF ANY DEFENSES OR RIGHTS OF SET-OFF OR FREEDOM FROM COUNTERCLAIM WITH RESPECT TO ANY CLAIM OR OTHER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS, OF ANY SUCH PARTY, OR AS TO THE LEGAL SUFFICIENCY OF ANY ASSIGNMENT, DOCUMENT OR INSTRUMENT DELIVERED HEREUNDER TO CONVEY TITLE TO ANY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OR THING OF VALUE UPON THE EXECUTION, DELIVERY AND FILING HEREOF OR THEREOF. EXCEPT AS MAY EXPRESSLY BE SET FORTH HEREIN OR IN ANY ANCILLARY AGREEMENT, ANY SUCH INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS ARE BEING TRANSFERRED ON AN “AS IS,” “WHERE IS” BASIS AND THE RESPECTIVE TRANSFEREES SHALL BEAR THE ECONOMIC AND LEGAL RISKS THAT (A) ANY CONVEYANCE WILL PROVE TO BE INSUFFICIENT TO VEST IN THE TRANSFEREE GOOD AND MARKETABLE TITLE, FREE AND CLEAR OF ANY SECURITY INTEREST, AND (B) ANY NECESSARY APPROVALS OR NOTIFICATIONS ARE NOT OBTAINED OR MADE OR THAT ANY REQUIREMENTS OF LAWS OR JUDGMENTS ARE NOT COMPLIED WITH.

 

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ARTICLE VII

TRANSFERABILITY AND ASSIGNMENT

7.01     No Assignment or Transfer Without Consent . Except as expressly set forth in this Agreement, neither this Agreement nor any of the rights, interests or obligations under this Agreement, including the Intellectual Property Rights licenses granted pursuant to this Agreement, shall be assigned, in whole or in part, by operation of Law or otherwise by either Party without the prior written consent of the other Party. Any purported assignment without such consent shall be void. Subject to the preceding sentences, this Agreement will be binding upon, inure to the benefit of, and be enforceable by, the Parties and their respective successors and assigns.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, no consent for assignment shall be required for the assignment of a Party’s rights and obligations under this Agreement in connection with a change of control of a Party so long as the resulting, surviving or transferee Person assumes all the obligations of the relevant Party by operation of Law or pursuant to an agreement in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the other Party. Nothing herein is intended to, or shall be construed to, prohibit either Party or any of its Subsidiaries from being party to or undertaking a transaction that would result in a change of control. For the avoidance of doubt, in no event will the licenses granted in this Agreement extend to products, product lines, services, apparatus, devices, systems, components, hardware, software, processes, solutions, any combination of the foregoing, or other offerings of the assignee existing on or before the date of the transaction described in clauses (a) or (b) of the preceding sentence, except to the extent that they were licensed under the terms of this Agreement prior to such transaction.

7.02     Divested Businesses . In the event a Party divests a business by selling or otherwise transferring a line of business to a third party, the licenses granted to the divested entity/line of business shall terminate as of the date the divested entity/line of business is divested.

ARTICLE VIII

REVOCATION AND TERMINATION OF LICENSE RIGHTS; TERMINATION

8.01     Termination by Both Parties . Subject to Section  8.02 , this Agreement may not be terminated except by an agreement in writing signed by a duly authorized officer of each of the Parties.

8.02     Termination Prior to the Distribution . This Agreement may be terminated by Parent at any time, in its sole discretion, prior to the time of the Distribution. In the event of any termination of this Agreement prior to the time of the Distribution, neither Party (nor any of its directors or officers) shall have any Liability or further obligation to the other Party under this Agreement.

8.03     Effect of Termination; Survival . Except with respect to termination of the Agreement under Section  8.02 , notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, Article  VI , this Section  8.03 and Article  X shall survive any termination of this Agreement.

ARTICLE IX

FURTHER ASSURANCES

9.01     Further Assurances . (a) In addition to the actions specifically provided for elsewhere in this Agreement, each of the Parties shall use reasonable best efforts, prior to, on and after the Distribution Date, to take, or cause to be taken, all actions, and to do, or cause to be done, all things, reasonably necessary, proper or advisable under applicable Laws and agreements to consummate and make effective the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.

 

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(b)    Without limiting the foregoing, prior to, on and after the Distribution Date, each Party shall cooperate with the other Party, without any further consideration, but at the expense of the requesting Party, (i) to execute and deliver, or use reasonable best efforts to execute and deliver, or cause to be executed and delivered, all instruments, including any instruments of conveyance, assignment and transfer as such Party may reasonably be requested to execute and deliver by the other Party, (ii) to make, or cause to be made, all filings with, and to obtain, or cause to be obtained, all consents of any Governmental Authority or any other Person under any permit, license, agreement, indenture or other instrument, and (iii) to take, or cause to be taken, all such other actions as such Party may reasonably be requested to take by the other Party from time to time, consistent with the terms of this Agreement, in order to effectuate the provisions and purposes of this Agreement and any transfers of Intellectual Property Rights or assignments and assumptions of Transferred Intellectual Property Liabilities and Common Infrastructure Liabilities hereunder.

(c)    On or prior to the time of the Distribution, Parent and CoalCo, in their respective capacities as direct and indirect owners of their respective Subsidiaries, shall each ratify any actions that are reasonably necessary or desirable to be taken by Parent or CoalCo, as the case may be, to effectuate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.

ARTICLE X

MISCELLANEOUS

10.01     Counterparts; Entire Agreement; Corporate Power . (a) This Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts, all of which counterparts shall be considered one and the same agreement, and shall become effective when one or more counterparts have been signed by each Party and delivered to the other Party. This Agreement may be executed by facsimile or PDF signature and scanned and exchanged by electronic mail, and such facsimile or PDF signature or scanned and exchanged copies shall constitute an original for all purposes.

(b)    This Agreement and the Appendices, Exhibits and Schedules hereto contain the entire agreement between the Parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersede all previous agreements, negotiations, discussions, writings, understandings, commitments and conversations with respect to such subject matter, and there are no agreements or understandings between the Parties with respect to the subject matter hereof other than those set forth or referred to herein or therein.

(c)    Parent represents on behalf of itself, and CoalCo represents on behalf of itself, as follows:

(i)    each such Person has the requisite corporate or other power and authority and has taken all corporate or other action necessary in order to execute, deliver and perform this Agreement and to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby; and

(ii)    this Agreement has been duly executed and delivered by it and constitutes, or will constitute, a valid and binding agreement of it enforceable in accordance with the terms thereof.

10.02     Governing Law; Jurisdiction . This Agreement shall be governed by and construed and interpreted in accordance with the Laws of the State of Delaware irrespective of the choice of laws, principles of the State of Delaware including all matters of validity, construction, effect, enforceability, performance and remedies. Each of the Parties hereto hereby irrevocably and unconditionally submits, for itself and of the Parties hereto herby irrevocably and unconditionally submits, for itself and its

 

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property, to the exclusive jurisdiction Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, or if (on only if) such court finds it lacks subject matter jurisdiction, the Federal court of the United States of America sitting in Delaware, and appellate courts thereof, in any action or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement for recognition or enforcement of any judgment relating hereto.

EACH PARTY UNCONDITIONALLY WAIVES ANY RIGHT IT MAY HAVE TO TRIAL BY JURY IN CONNECTION WITH ANY DISPUTE ARISING UNDER THIS AGREEMENT.

10.03     Third-Party Beneficiaries . Except as otherwise expressly set forth herein, the provisions of this Agreement are solely for the benefit of the Parties hereto and are not intended to confer upon any Person except the Parties hereto any rights or remedies hereunder, and there are no third-party beneficiaries of this Agreement and this Agreement shall not provide any third person with any remedy, claim, liability, reimbursement, cause of action or other right in excess of those existing without reference to this Agreement.

10.04     Notices . All notices or other communications under this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be deemed to be duly given when (a) delivered in person, (b) on the date received, if sent by a nationally recognized delivery or courier service or (c) upon the earlier of confirmed receipt or the fifth business day following the date of mailing if sent by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid, addressed as follows:

 

If to Parent:    If to CoalCo
Name: Stephanie Gill    Name: Martha Wiegand
Address: 1000 CONSOL Energy    Address: 1000 CONSOL Energy
Drive, Canonsburg, PA 15317    Drive, Canonsburg, PA 15317
Attn: General Counsel    Attn: General Counsel
Phone No.: 724-485-4234    Phone No.: 724-485-4009

Either Party may, by notice to the other Party, change the address to which such notices are to be given.

10.05     Export Control . Each Party agrees that it shall comply with all applicable national and international laws and regulations relating to export control in its country(ies), if any, involving any commodities, software, services or technology within the scope of this Agreement.

10.06     Bankruptcy . The Parties acknowledge and agree that all rights and licenses granted by the other under or pursuant to this Agreement are, and shall otherwise be deemed to be, for purposes of Section 365(n) of the United States Bankruptcy Code, as amended (the “ Bankruptcy Code ”), licenses of rights to “intellectual property” as defined under Section 101 of the Bankruptcy Code. The Parties agree that, notwithstanding anything else in this Agreement, Parent and CoalCo, as licensees of such intellectual property rights under this Agreement, shall retain and may fully exercise all of its rights and elections under the Bankruptcy Code (including Parent’s and CoalCo’s right to the continued enjoyment of the rights and licenses respectively granted under this Agreement).

10.07     Severability . If any provision of this Agreement or the application thereof to any Person or circumstance is determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, void or unenforceable, the remaining provisions hereof, or the application of such provision to Persons or circumstances or in jurisdictions other than those as to which it has been held invalid or unenforceable, shall remain in full force and effect and shall in no way be affected, impaired or invalidated thereby. Upon any such determination, the Parties shall negotiate in good faith in an effort to agree upon such a suitable and equitable provision to effect the original intent of the Parties.

 

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10.08     Expenses . Except as expressly set forth in this Agreement, all third-party fees, costs and expenses paid or incurred in connection with the provisions of this Agreement will be paid by the Party incurring such fees or expenses, whether or not the Distribution is consummated, or as otherwise agreed by the Parties.

10.09     Headings . The article, section and paragraph headings contained in this Agreement are for reference purposes only and shall not affect in any way the meaning or interpretation of this Agreement.

10.10     Survival of Covenants . Except as expressly set forth in this Agreement, the covenants in this Agreement and the Liabilities for the breach of any obligations in this Agreement shall survive the Separation and shall remain in full force and effect.

10.11     Waivers of Default . No failure or delay of any Party in exercising any right or remedy under this Agreement shall operate as a waiver thereof, nor shall any single or partial exercise of any such right or power, or any abandonment or discontinuance of steps to enforce such right or power, or any course of conduct, preclude any other or further exercise thereof or the exercise of any other right or power. Waiver by any Party of any default by the other Party of any provision of this Agreement shall not be deemed a waiver by the waiving Party of any subsequent or other default.

10.12     Specific Performance . Notwithstanding the procedures set forth in Article IX, in the event of any actual or threatened default in, or breach of, any of the terms, conditions and provisions of this Agreement, the affected Party shall have the right to specific performance and injunctive or other equitable relief of its rights under this Agreement, in addition to any and all other rights and remedies at Law or in equity, and all such rights and remedies shall be cumulative. The other Party shall not oppose the granting of such relief on the basis that money damages are an adequate remedy. The Parties agree that the remedies at Law for any breach or threatened breach hereof, including monetary damages, are inadequate compensation for any loss and that any defense in any action for specific performance that a remedy at Law would be adequate is waived. Any requirements for the securing or posting of any bond with such remedy are waived.

10.13     Amendments . No provisions of this Agreement shall be deemed waived, amended, supplemented or modified by any Party, unless such waiver, amendment, supplement or modification is in writing and signed by the authorized representative of each Party.

10.14     Interpretation . Words in the singular shall be held to include the plural and vice versa and words of one gender shall be held to include the other gender as the context requires. The terms “hereof”, “herein”, “herewith” and words of similar import, unless otherwise stated, shall be construed to refer to this Agreement as a whole (including all of the schedules hereto) and not to any particular provision of this Agreement. Article, Section or Schedule references are to the articles, sections and schedules of or to this Agreement unless otherwise specified. Any capitalized terms used in any Schedule to this Agreement but not otherwise defined therein shall have the meaning as defined in this Agreement. Any definition of or reference to any agreement, instrument or other document herein (including any reference herein to this Agreement) shall be construed as referring to such agreement, instrument or other document as from time to time amended, supplemented or otherwise modified from time to time (subject to any restrictions on such amendments, supplements or modifications set forth herein). The word “including” and words of similar import when used in this Agreement shall mean “including, without limitation,” unless the context otherwise requires or unless otherwise specified. The word “or” shall not be exclusive.

[Remainder of page intentionally left blank]

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF , the parties have caused this Agreement to be executed by their duly authorized representatives as of the date first written above.

 

CONSOL ENERGY INC.
By:  

/s/ Stephen W. Johnson

Name:   Stephen W. Johnson
Title:   Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer
CONSOL MINING CORPORATION
By:  

/s/ James A. Brock

Name:   James A. Brock
Title:   Chief Executive Officer

[Signature Page to IP Matters Agreement]

Exhibit 3.1

CERTIFICATE OF AMENDMENT

to the

RESTATED CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION

of

CONSOL ENERGY INC.

CONSOL Energy Inc., a corporation organized and existing under and by virtue of the provisions of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”),

DOES HEREBY CERTIFY:

FIRST:    The name of this corporation is CONSOL Energy Inc. (the “ Company ”), and that this Company was originally incorporated pursuant to the DGCL under the name of “Consol Inc.” on October 31, 1991. Certificates of Amendment were filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware on December 11, 1991 and on October 26, 1998. A Restated Certificate of Incorporation was filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware on November 6, 1998. A Restated Certificate of Incorporation was filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware on April 20, 1999 (the “ Charter ”). A Certificate of Designations was filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware on December 22, 2003.

SECOND:    The Charter is hereby amended by striking out Article FIRST thereof and by substituting in lieu of Article FIRST the following new Article FIRST (the “ Amendment ”):

FIRST: The name of the corporation (hereinafter called the “Company”) is CNX Resources Corporation.

THIRD:    The Amendment certified herein has been duly adopted in accordance with the provisions of Section 242 of the DGCL.

FOURTH:    All other provisions of the Certificate of Incorporation shall remain in full force and effect.

FIFTH:    This Certificate of Amendment to the Restated Certificate of Incorporation shall become effective at 5:00 a.m., Eastern Time, on November 28, 2017.

[ Remainder of page intentionally left blank. ]


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused this Certificate of Amendment to be executed by its authorized officer on this 27th day of November, 2017.

 

CONSOL ENERGY INC.
      By:  

/s/ Stephen W. Johnson

      Name:   Stephen W. Johnson
      Title:   Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer

 

[ Signature page to Certificate of Amendment to Restated Certificate of Incorporation ]

Exhibit 3.2

AMENDED AND RESTATED

BYLAWS

of

CNX RESOURCES CORPORATION

Incorporated under the Laws of the State of Delaware

ARTICLE I

OFFICES AND RECORDS

Section 1.1. Delaware Office . The principal office of the Corporation in the State of Delaware shall be located in the City of Wilmington, County of New Castle, and the name and address of its registered agent is The Corporation Trust Company, 1209 Orange Street, Wilmington, Delaware.

Section 1.2. Other Offices . The Corporation may have such other offices, either within or without the State of Delaware, as the Board of Directors may designate or as the business of the Corporation may from time to time require.

Section 1.3. Books and Records . The books and records of the Corporation may be kept at the Corporation’s corporate headquarters or outside the State of Delaware at such other place or places as may from time to time be designated by the Board of Directors.

ARTICLE II

STOCKHOLDERS

Section 2.1. Annual Meeting . The annual meeting of the stockholders of the Corporation shall be held on such date and at such place and time as may be fixed by resolution of the Board of Directors.

Section 2.2. Special Meeting . Subject to the rights of the holders of any series of stock having a preference over the Common Stock of the Corporation as to dividends or upon liquidation (“Preferred Stock”) with respect to such series of Preferred Stock, special meetings of the stockholders may be called only by the Chairman of the Board of Directors (“Chairman of the Board”) or by the Board of Directors pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the total number of directors which the Corporation would have if there were no vacancies (the “Whole Board”).

Section 2.3. Place of Meeting . The Board of Directors, the Chairman of the Board or, if delegated by the Board of Directors or the Chairman of the Board, the President, as the case may be, may designate the place of meeting for any annual meeting or for any special meeting of the stockholders called by the Board of Directors or the Chairman of the Board. If no designation is so made, the place of meeting shall be the principal office of the Corporation.

Section 2.4. Notice of Meeting . Written or printed notice, stating the place, day and hour of the meeting and the purpose or purposes for which the meeting is called, shall be delivered by the Corporation not less than 10 days nor more than 60 days before the date of the meeting, either personally or by mail or by such other means as may be permitted by law (including


electronic communication), to each stockholder of record entitled to vote at such meeting. If mailed, such notice shall be deemed to be delivered when deposited in the United States mail with postage thereon prepaid, addressed to the stockholder at his or her address as it appears on the stock transfer books of the Corporation. Such further notice shall be given as may be required by law. Only such business shall be conducted at a special meeting of stockholders as shall have been brought before the meeting pursuant to the Corporation’s notice of meeting. Meetings may be held without notice if all stockholders entitled to vote are present, or if notice is waived by those not present in accordance with Section 6.4 of these Bylaws. Any previously scheduled meeting of the stockholders may be postponed, and (unless the Certificate of Incorporation otherwise provides) any special meeting of the stockholders may be cancelled, by resolution of the Board of Directors upon public notice given prior to the date previously scheduled for such meeting of stockholders.

Section 2.5. Quorum; Adjournment and Postponement . Except as otherwise provided by law or by the Certificate of Incorporation, the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of the corporation entitled to vote generally in the election of directors (the “Voting Stock”), represented in person or by proxy, shall constitute a quorum at a meeting of stockholders, except that when specified business is to be voted on by a class or series of stock voting as a class, the holders of a majority of the shares of such class or series shall constitute a quorum of such class or series for the transaction of such business. The presiding officer of the meeting or a majority of the shares so represented may adjourn or postpone the meeting from time to time, whether or not there is such a quorum. No notice of the time and place of adjourned or postponed meetings need be given except as required by law. The stockholders present at a duly called meeting at which a quorum is present may continue to transact business until adjournment or postponement, notwithstanding the withdrawal of enough stockholders to leave less than a quorum.

Section 2.6. Voting by Proxy . At all meetings of stockholders, a stockholder may vote by proxy executed in writing (or in such manner prescribed by the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware) by the stockholder, or by his or her duly authorized attorney in fact.

Section 2.7. Organization . The Chairman of the Board, or, at the direction of the Chairman of the Board or in the Chairman of the Board’s absence, the President, shall preside at meetings of stockholders. The Secretary of the Corporation shall act as Secretary at all meetings of the stockholders, but, in the absence of the Secretary, the presiding officer may appoint a Secretary of the meeting. The order of business for such meetings shall be determined by the Chairman of the Board.

Section 2.8. Notice of Stockholder Business and Nominations .

(A) Annual Meetings of Stockholders .

(1) Nominations of persons for election to the Board of Directors of the Corporation and the proposal of business to be considered by the stockholders may be made at an annual meeting of stockholders (a) by or at the direction of the Board of Directors, including pursuant to the Corporation’s notice of meeting, (b) by any stockholder of the Corporation who was a stockholder of record at the time of giving of notice provided for in this Bylaw, who is entitled to vote at the meeting and who has complied with the notice procedures set forth in this

 

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Section  2.8 or (c) with respect to a qualifying nomination at an annual meeting of stockholders held in or after 2017 of a Stockholder Nominee (as defined in Section  2.14 of these Bylaws) by an Eligible Stockholder (as defined in Section  2.14(D) of these Bylaws) and/or Nominating Stockholder (as defined in Section  2.14(E)(5) of these Bylaws) in accordance with Section  2.14 of these Bylaws (each such nomination a “Proxy Access Nomination”). Clauses (b) and (c) of this Bylaw shall be the exclusive means for a stockholder to make nominations or submit other business (other than matters properly brought under Rule 14a-8 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) and included in the Corporation’s notice of meeting) before an annual meeting of stockholders.

(2) Subject to Section  2.8(D )( 3) of these Bylaws, for nominations or other business to be properly brought before an annual meeting by a stockholder pursuant to clause (b) of paragraph (A)(1) of this Bylaw, the stockholder must have given timely notice thereof in writing to the Secretary of the Corporation and such other business must be a proper matter for stockholder action. To be timely under clause (b) of paragraph (A)(1) of this Bylaw, a stockholder’s notice shall be delivered to the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the Corporation not later than the close of business on the 90th day nor earlier than the close of business on the 120th day prior to the first anniversary of the preceding year’s annual meeting; provided, however, that in the event that the date of the annual meeting is more than 30 days before or more than 60 days after such anniversary date, notice by the stockholder to be timely must be so delivered not earlier than the close of business on the 120th day prior to such annual meeting and not later than the close of business on the later of the 90th day prior to such annual meeting or the 10th day following the day on which public announcement of the date of such meeting is first made. In no event shall the public announcement of an adjournment or postponement of an annual meeting commence a new time period for the giving of a stockholder’s notice as described above. Such stockholder’s notice shall set forth:

(a) as to each person whom the stockholder proposes to nominate for election or reelection as a director (i) all information relating to such person that is required to be disclosed in a proxy statement or other filings required to be made in connection with solicitations of proxies for the election of directors in an election contest, or is otherwise required, in each case pursuant to Section 14 of the Exchange Act, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder (including such person’s written consent to being named in the proxy statement as a nominee and to serving as a director if elected), (ii) a description of all direct and indirect compensation and other material monetary agreements, arrangements and understandings during the past three years, and any other material relationships, between or among such stockholder and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the nomination is made, and their respective affiliates and associates, or others acting in concert therewith, on the one hand, and each proposed nominee, and his or her respective affiliates and associates, or others acting in concert therewith, on the other hand, including, without limitation all information that would be required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 promulgated under Regulation S-K if the stockholder making the nomination and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the nomination is made or any affiliate or associate thereof or person acting in concert therewith, were the “registrant” for purposes of such Item and the nominee were a director or executive officer of such registrant, (iii) with respect to each nominee for election or reelection to the Board of Directors, include a completed and signed questionnaire, representation and agreement required by Section  2.8(C) of these Bylaws, and (iv) such other information as may reasonably be required by the Corporation

 

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to determine the eligibility of such proposed nominee to serve as an independent director of the Corporation or that could be material to a reasonable stockholder’s understanding of the independence, or lack thereof, of such nominee;

(b) as to any other business that the stockholder proposes to bring before the meeting, a brief description of the business desired to be brought before the meeting, the text of the proposal or business (including the text of any resolutions proposed for consideration and in the event that such business includes a proposal to amend the Bylaws of the Corporation, the language of the proposed amendment), the reasons for conducting such business at the meeting, any material interest in such business of such stockholder and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the proposal is made and a description of all agreements, arrangements and understandings between such stockholder and such beneficial owner, if any, and any other person or persons (including their names) in connection with the proposal of such business by such stockholder; and

(c) as to the stockholder giving the notice and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the nomination or proposal is made (i) the name and address of such stockholder, as they appear on the Corporation’s books, and of such beneficial owner, (ii) (A) the class and number of shares of the Corporation which are, directly or indirectly, owned beneficially and of record by such stockholder and such beneficial owner, (B) any option, warrant, convertible security, stock appreciation right, or similar right with an exercise or conversion privilege or a settlement payment or mechanism at a price related to any class or series of shares of the Corporation or with a value derived in whole or in part from the value of any class of shares of the Corporation or with a value derived in whole or in part from the value of any class or series of shares of the Corporation, whether or not such instrument or right shall be subject to settlement in the underlying class of capital stock of the Corporation or otherwise (a “Derivative Instrument”) directly or indirectly owned beneficially by such stockholder and any other direct or indirect opportunity to profit or share in any profit derived from any increase or decrease in the value of shares of the Corporation, (C) any proxy, contract, arrangement, understanding, or relationship pursuant to which such stockholder has a right to vote any shares of any security of the Company, (D) any short interest in any security of the Company (for purposes of these Bylaws a person shall be deemed to have a short interest in a security if such person directly or indirectly, through any contract, arrangement, understanding, relationship or otherwise, has the opportunity to profit or share in any profit derived from any decrease in the value of the subject security), (E) any rights to dividends on the shares of the Corporation owned beneficially by such stockholder that are separated or separable from the underlying shares of the Corporation, (F) any proportionate interest in shares of the Corporation or Derivative Instruments held, directly or indirectly, by a general or limited partnership in which such stockholder is a general partner or, directly or indirectly, beneficially owns an interest in a general partner and (G) any performance-related fees (other than an asset-based fee) that such stockholder is entitled to based on any increase or decrease in the value of shares of the Corporation or Derivative Instruments, if any, as of the date of such notice, including without limitation any such interests held by members of such stockholder’s immediate family sharing the same household (which information shall be supplemented by such stockholder and such beneficial owner, if any, not later than 10 days after the record date for the meeting to disclose such ownership as of the record date), (iii) any other information relating to such stockholder and such beneficial owner, if any, that would be required to be disclosed in a proxy statement or other filings required to be

 

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made in connection with solicitations of proxies for, as applicable, the proposal and/or for the election of directors in a contested election pursuant to Section 14 of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, (iv) any other information that would be required to be set forth in a Schedule 13D filed pursuant to Rule 13d-1(a) or an amendment pursuant to Rule 13d-2(a) if such a statement were required to be filed under the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder by such stockholder or the beneficial owner, if any, (v) a representation that such owner intends to appear in person or by proxy at the meeting to propose such business or nomination, and (vi) a representation whether the stockholder or the beneficial owner, if any, intends or is part of a group which intends (x) to deliver a proxy statement and/or form of proxy to holders of at least the percentage of the Corporation’s outstanding capital stock required to approve or adopt the proposal or elect the nominee and/or (y) otherwise to solicit proxies from stockholders in support of such proposal or nomination.

(3) In addition, to be timely, a stockholder’s notice shall further be updated and supplemented, if necessary, so that the information provided or required to be provided in such notice shall be true and correct as of the record date for the meeting and as of the date that is 10 business days prior to the meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof, and such update and supplement shall be delivered to the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the Company no later than five business days after the record date for the meeting in the case of the update and supplement required to be made as of the record date, and not later than eight business days prior to the date for the meeting, any adjournment or postponement thereof in the case of the update and supplement required to be made as of 10 business days prior to the meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof. For the avoidance of doubt, the obligation to update and supplement as set forth in this paragraph or any other Section of these Bylaws shall not limit the Corporation’s rights with respect to any deficiencies in any notice provided by a stockholder, extend any applicable deadlines hereunder or under any other provision of the Bylaws or enable or be deemed to permit a stockholder who has previously submitted notice hereunder, or under any other provision of the Bylaws, to amend or update any proposal or to submit any new proposal, including without limitation by changing or adding nominees, matters, business and/or resolutions proposed to be brought before a meeting of the stockholders.

(4) Notwithstanding anything in the second sentence of paragraph (A)(2) of this Bylaw to the contrary, in the event that the number of directors to be elected to the Board of Directors of the Corporation is increased and there is no public announcement naming all of the nominees for director or specifying the size of the increased Board of Directors made by the Corporation at least 100 days prior to the first anniversary of the preceding year’s annual meeting, a stockholder’s notice required by this Bylaw shall also be considered timely, but only with respect to nominees for any new positions created by such increase, if it shall be delivered to the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the Corporation not later than the close of business on the 10th day following the day on which such public announcement is first made by the Corporation.

(5) For Proxy Access Nominations to be properly brought before an annual meeting of stockholders by an Eligible Stockholder or Nominating Stockholder, as applicable, pursuant to clause (c) of paragraph (A)(1) of this Bylaw, each Eligible Stockholder and/or Nominating Stockholder must fully comply with the timing, notice and other provisions in Section  2.14 of these Bylaws.

 

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(B) Special Meetings of Stockholders . Only such business shall be conducted at a special meeting of stockholders as shall have been brought before the meeting pursuant to the Corporation’s notice of meeting. Nominations of persons for election to the Board of Directors may be made at a special meeting of stockholders at which directors are to be elected pursuant to the Corporation’s notice of meeting (a) by or at the direction of the Board of Directors or (b) provided that the Board of Directors has determined that directors shall be elected at such meeting, by any stockholder of the Corporation who is a stockholder of record at the time of giving of notice provided for in this Bylaw, who shall be entitled to vote at the meeting and who complies with the notice procedures set forth in this Bylaw. In the event the Corporation calls a special meeting of stockholders for the purpose of electing one or more directors to the Board of Directors, any such stockholder may nominate a person or persons (as the case may be), for election to such position(s) as specified in the Corporation’s notice of meeting, if the stockholder’s notice required by paragraph (A)(2) of this Bylaw with respect to any nomination (including the completed and signed questionnaire, representation and agreement required by Section  2.8(C) of this Bylaw) shall be delivered to the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the Corporation not earlier than the close of business on the 120th day prior to such special meeting and not later than the close of business on the later of the 90th day prior to such special meeting or the 10th day following the day on which public announcement is first made of the date of the special meeting and of the nominees proposed by the Board of Directors to be elected at such meeting. In no event shall the public announcement of an adjournment or postponement of a special meeting commence a new time period for the giving of a stockholder’s notice as described above. This paragraph (B) shall be the exclusive means for a stockholder to make nominations or other business proposals before a special meeting of stockholders (other than matters properly brought under Rule 14a-8 under the Exchange Act and included in the Corporation’s notice of meeting). For the avoidance of doubt, Proxy Access Nominations may not be made at any special meeting of stockholders.

(C) Submission of Questionnaire, Representation and Agreement . To be eligible to be a nominee for election or reelection as a director of the Corporation, a person must deliver in accordance with the time periods prescribed for delivery of notice under this Section  2.8 or, in the case of a Proxy Access Nomination brought under Section  2.14 of these Bylaws, in accordance with the timing, notice and other provisions of Section  2.14 of these Bylaws, to the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the Corporation a written questionnaire with respect to the background and qualifications of such person and the background of any other person or entity on whose behalf the nomination is being made (which questionnaire shall be provided by the Secretary upon written request) and a written representation and agreement (in the form provided by the Secretary upon written request) that such person (A) is not and will not become a party to (1) any agreement, arrangement or understanding with, and has not given any commitment or assurance to, any person or entity as to how such person, if elected as a director of the Corporation, will act or vote on any issue or question (a “Voting Commitment”) that has not been disclosed to the Corporation or (2) any Voting Commitment that could limit or interfere with such person’s ability to comply, if elected as a director of the Corporation, with such person’s fiduciary duties under applicable law, (B) is not and will not become a party to any agreement, arrangement or understanding with any person or entity other than the Corporation with respect to any direct or indirect compensation, reimbursement or indemnification in connection with service or action as a director that has not been disclosed therein, (C) in such person’s individual capacity and on behalf of any person or entity on whose behalf the

 

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nomination is being made, would be in compliance, if elected as a director of the Corporation, and will comply with all applicable publicly disclosed corporate governance, conflict of interest, confidentiality and stock ownership and trading policies and guidelines of the Corporation and (D) will abide by the requirements of Section  2.9 of these Bylaws.

(D) General .

(1) Only such persons who are nominated in accordance with the procedures set forth in this Bylaw or Section  2.14 of these Bylaws shall be eligible to be elected at an annual meeting of stockholders or special meeting of stockholders (for the avoidance of doubt, Proxy Access Nominations under Section  2.14 may not be made at any special meeting of stockholders), as applicable, to serve as directors and only such business shall be conducted at a meeting of stockholders as shall have been brought before the meeting in accordance with the procedures set forth in this Bylaw. Except as otherwise provided by law, the Certificate of Incorporation or the Bylaws of the Corporation, the presiding officer of the meeting shall have the power and duty to determine whether a nomination or any business proposed to be brought before the meeting was made, or proposed, as the case may be, in accordance with the procedures set forth in this Bylaw and, if any proposed nomination or business is not in compliance with this Bylaw, to declare that such defective proposal or nomination shall be disregarded.

(2) For purposes of this Bylaw, “public announcement” shall mean disclosure in a press release reported by the Dow Jones News Service, Associated Press or comparable national news service or in a document publicly filed by the Corporation with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Section 13, 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act.

(3) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Bylaw, a stockholder shall also comply with all applicable requirements of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations thereunder with respect to the matters set forth in this Bylaw. Nothing in this Bylaw shall be deemed to affect any rights of (i) stockholders to request inclusion of proposals in the Corporation’s proxy statement pursuant to Rule 14a-8 under the Exchange Act or (ii) the holders of any series of Preferred Stock to elect directors under specified circumstances. Subject to Rule 14a-8 and Rule 14a-11 under the Exchange Act, nothing in these Bylaws shall be construed to permit any stockholder, or give any stockholder the right, to include or have disseminated or described in the Corporation’s proxy statement any nomination of director or directors or any other business proposal.

Section 2.9. Procedure for Election of Directors; Required Vote .

(A) Except as set forth below, election of directors at all meetings of the stockholders at which directors are to be elected shall be by ballot, and, subject to the rights of the holders of any series of Preferred Stock to elect directors under specified circumstances, a majority of the votes cast at any meeting for the election of directors at which a quorum is present shall elect directors. For purposes of this Bylaw, a majority of votes cast shall mean that the number of shares voted “for” a director’s election exceeds 50% of the number of votes cast with respect to that director’s election. Votes cast shall include direction to withhold authority in each case and exclude abstentions with respect to that director’s election. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event of

 

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a “contested election” of directors, directors shall be elected by the vote of a plurality of the votes cast at any meeting for the election of directors at which a quorum is present. For purposes of this Bylaw, a “contested election” shall mean any election of directors in which the number of candidates for election as directors exceeds the number of directors to be elected, with the determination thereof being made by the Secretary as of the close of the applicable notice of nomination period set forth in Section  2.8 or Section  2.14 , as applicable, of these Bylaws or under applicable law, based on whether one or more notice(s) of nomination were timely filed in accordance with said Section  2.8 or Section  2.14 , as applicable; provided, however, that the determination that an election is a “contested election” shall be determinative only as to the timeliness of a notice of nomination and not otherwise as to its validity. If, prior to the time the Corporation mails its initial proxy statement in connection with such election of directors, one or more notices of nomination are withdrawn such that the number of candidates for election as director no longer exceeds the number of directors to be elected, the election shall not be considered a “contested election,” but in all other cases, once an election is determined to be a contested election, directors shall be elected by the vote of a plurality of the votes cast.

(B) If a nominee for director who is an incumbent director is not elected and no successor has been elected at such meeting, the director shall promptly tender his or her resignation to the Board of Directors. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee shall make a recommendation to the Board of Directors as to whether to accept or reject the tendered resignation, or whether other action should be taken. The Board of Directors shall act on the tendered resignation, taking into account the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee’s recommendation, and publicly disclose (by a press release, a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other broadly disseminated means of communication) its decision regarding the tendered resignation and the rationale behind the decision within 90 days from the date of the certification of the election results. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee in making its recommendation, and the Board of Directors in making its decision, may each consider any factors or other information that it considers appropriate and relevant. The director who tenders his or her resignation shall not participate in the recommendation of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee or the decision of the Board of Directors with respect to his or her resignation. If such incumbent director’s resignation is not accepted by the Board of Directors, such director shall continue to serve until the next annual meeting and until his or her successor is duly elected, or his or her earlier resignation or removal. If a director’s resignation is accepted by the Board of Directors pursuant to this Bylaw, or if a nominee for director is not elected and the nominee is not an incumbent director, then the Board of Directors, in its sole discretion, may fill any resulting vacancy pursuant to the provisions of Section  3.9 of these Bylaws or may decrease the size of the Board of Directors pursuant to the provisions of Section  3.2 of these Bylaws.

(C) Except as otherwise provided by law, the Certificate of Incorporation, or these Bylaws, in all matters other than the election of directors, the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting and entitled to vote on the matter shall be the act of the stockholders.

Section 2.10. Inspectors of Elections; Opening and Closing the Polls . The Board of Directors by resolution shall appoint one or more inspectors, which inspector or inspectors may include individuals who serve the Corporation in other capacities, including, without limitation,

 

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as officers, employees, agents or representatives, to act at the meetings of stockholders and make a written report thereof. One or more persons may be designated as alternate inspectors to replace any inspector who fails to act. If no inspector or alternate has been appointed to act or is able to act at a meeting of stockholders, the presiding officer of the meeting shall appoint one or more inspectors to act at the meeting. Each inspector, before discharging his or her duties, shall take and sign an oath faithfully to execute the duties of inspector with strict impartiality and according to the best of his or her ability. The inspectors shall have the duties prescribed by law. The presiding officer of the meeting shall fix and announce at the meeting the date and time of the opening and the closing of the polls for each matter upon which the stockholders will vote at a meeting.

Section 2.11. Record Date for Action by Written Consent . In order that the Corporation may determine the stockholders entitled to consent to corporate action in writing without a meeting, the Board of Directors may fix a record date, which record date shall not precede the date upon which the resolution fixing the record date is adopted by the Board of Directors, and which date shall not be more than 10 days after the date upon which the resolution fixing the record date is adopted by the Board of Directors. Any stockholder of record seeking to have the stockholders authorize or take corporate action by written consent shall, by written notice to the Secretary, request the Board of Directors to fix a record date. The Board of Directors shall promptly, but in all events within 10 days after the date on which such a request is received, adopt a resolution fixing the record date. If no record date has been fixed by the Board of Directors within 10 days of the date on which such a request is received, the record date for determining stockholders entitled to consent to corporate action in writing without a meeting, when no prior action by the Board of Directors is required by applicable law, shall be the first date on which a signed written consent setting forth the action taken or proposed to be taken is delivered to the Corporation by delivery to its registered office in Delaware, its principal place of business or to any officer or agent of the Corporation having custody of the book in which proceedings of meetings of stockholders are recorded. Delivery made to the Corporation’s registered office shall be by hand or by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested. If no record date has been fixed by the Board of Directors and prior action by the Board of Directors is required by applicable law, the record date for determining stockholders entitled to consent to corporate action in writing without a meeting shall be at the close of business on the date on which the Board of Directors adopts the resolution taking such prior action.

Section 2.12. Inspectors of Written Consent . In the event of the delivery, in the manner provided by Section  2.11 , to the Corporation of the requisite written consent or consents to take corporate action and/or any related revocation or revocations, the Corporation shall engage nationally recognized independent inspectors of elections for the purpose of promptly performing a ministerial review of the validity of the consents and revocations. For the purpose of permitting the inspectors to perform such review, no action by written consent without a meeting shall be effective until such date as the independent inspectors certify to the Corporation that the consents delivered to the Corporation in accordance with Section  2.11 represent at least the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to take the corporate action. Nothing contained in this paragraph shall in any way be construed to suggest or imply that the Board of Directors or any stockholder shall not be entitled to contest the validity of any consent or revocation thereof, whether before or after such certification by the independent inspectors, or to take any other action (including, without limitation, the commencement, prosecution or defense of any litigation with respect thereto, and the seeking of injunctive relief in such litigation).

 

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Section 2.13. Effectiveness of Written Consent . Every written consent shall bear the date of signature of each stockholder who signs the consent and no written consent shall be effective to take the corporate action referred to therein unless, within 60 days of the earliest dated written consent received in accordance with Section  2.11 , a written consent or consents signed by a sufficient number of holders to take such action are delivered to the Corporation in the manner prescribed in Section  2.11 .

Section 2.14. Proxy Access . Subject to the terms and conditions set forth in these Bylaws, the Corporation shall include in its proxy materials for an annual meeting of stockholders held in or after 2017 the name, together with the Required Information (as defined in paragraph (A)(5) below), of one or more person(s) properly nominated for election (the “Stockholder Nominee”) to the Board of Directors by a qualifying stockholder or group of stockholders that satisfy the requirements of this Section  2.14 , including qualifying as an Eligible Stockholder (as defined in paragraph (A)(4) below), and that expressly elects at the time of providing the written notice required by this Section  2.14 (a “Proxy Access Notice”) to have its nominee included in the Corporation’s proxy materials pursuant to this Section  2.14 .

(A) For purposes of this Section  2.14 :

(1) “Voting Stock” shall mean outstanding shares of capital stock of the Corporation entitled to vote generally for the election of directors;

(2) “Constituent Holder” shall mean any stockholder, collective investment fund included within a Qualifying Fund (as defined in paragraph (D) below) or beneficial holder whose stock ownership is counted for purposes of qualifying as holding the Proxy Access Request Required Shares (as defined in paragraph (D) below) or qualifying as an Eligible Stockholder (as defined in paragraph (D) below);

(3) “Affiliate” and “associate” shall have the meanings ascribed thereto in Rule 405 under the Exchange Act; provided, however, that the term “partner” as used in the definition of “associate” shall not include any limited partner that is not involved in the management of the relevant partnership;

(4) A stockholder (and any Constituent Holders) shall be deemed to “own” only those outstanding shares of Voting Stock as to which the stockholder or any Constituent Holder possesses both (a) the full voting and investment rights pertaining to the shares and (b) the full economic interest in (including the opportunity for profit and risk of loss on) such shares. The number of shares calculated in accordance with the foregoing clauses (a) and (b) shall be deemed not to include (and to the extent any of the following arrangements have been entered into by affiliates of the stockholder (or of any Constituent Holder), shall be reduced by) any shares (x) sold by such stockholder (or any of its affiliates) or such Constituent Holder (or any of its affiliates) in any transaction that has not been settled or closed, including any short sale, (y) borrowed by such stockholder (or any of its affiliates) or such Constituent Holder (or any of its affiliates) for any purposes or purchased by such stockholder (or any of its affiliates) or such

 

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Constituent Holder (or any of its affiliates) pursuant to an agreement to resell or (z) subject to any short interest (as described in Section  2.8(A)(2)(c) of these Bylaws) or Derivative Instrument, which interest or instrument has, or is intended to have, or if exercised by either party thereto would have, the purpose or effect of (i) reducing in any manner, to any extent or at any time in the future, such stockholder’s (or affiliate’s) or such Constituent Holder’s (or affiliate’s) full right to vote or direct the voting of any such shares, and/or (ii) hedging, offsetting or altering to any degree gain or loss arising from the full economic ownership of such shares by such stockholder (or affiliate) or such Constituent Holder (or affiliate), other than any such arrangements solely involving an exchange listed multi-industry market index fund in which Voting Stock represents at the time of entry into such arrangement less than ten percent (10%) of the proportionate value of such index. A stockholder or Constituent Holder shall “own” shares held in the name of a nominee or other intermediary so long as the stockholder or Constituent Holder retains the right to instruct how the shares are voted with respect to the election of directors and the right to direct the disposition thereof and possesses the full economic interest in the shares. A stockholder’s ownership or Constituent Holder’s ownership of shares shall be deemed to continue during any period in which such stockholder or Constituent Holder has loaned such shares in the ordinary course of its business or delegated any voting power over such shares by means of a proxy, power of attorney or other instrument or arrangement which, in either case of such loan or delegation, is recallable and/or revocable at any time by the stockholder or Constituent Holder, as applicable, and, in the case of loaned shares, on not more than five business days’ notice. The terms “owned,” “owning” and other variations of the word “own” shall have correlative meanings; and

(5) The “Required Information” that the Corporation will include in its proxy statement is (a) the information concerning the Stockholder Nominee and the Eligible Stockholder(s) and Nominating Stockholder(s) that the Corporation determines is required to be disclosed in the Corporation’s proxy statement by the regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act; and (b) if the Eligible Stockholder and/or Nominating Stockholder so elects, a Statement (as defined in paragraph (F) below). The Corporation shall also include the name of the Stockholder Nominee in its proxy card. For the avoidance of doubt, and any other provision of these Bylaws notwithstanding, the Corporation may, in its sole discretion, solicit against, and include in the proxy statement its own statements or other information relating to, any Eligible Stockholder, Nominating Stockholder and/or Stockholder Nominee, including any information provided to the Corporation with respect to the foregoing.

(B) To be timely, a stockholder’s Proxy Access Notice must be delivered to the Secretary of the Corporation at its principal executive offices not later than the close of business on the 120 th day nor earlier than the close of business on the 150th day prior to the first anniversary of the date that the Corporation mailed its proxy statement for the preceding year’s annual meeting of stockholders; provided, however, that in the event the annual meeting of stockholders is not scheduled to be held within a period that commences 30 days before and ends 60 days after the first anniversary date of the previous year’s annual meeting of stockholders (such meeting date referred to herein as an “Outside Meeting Date”), the Proxy Access Notice must be so delivered to, and received by, the Secretary of the Corporation no earlier than 180 days and no later than the 10th day following the date such Outside Meeting Date is first publicly announced or disclosed. In no event shall any adjournment or postponement of an annual meeting, or the Public Announcement thereof, commence a new time period or extend any time period for giving of a Proxy Access Notice.

 

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(C) The number of Stockholder Nominees (including Stockholder Nominees that were submitted by any Eligible Stockholder and/or Nominating Stockholder for inclusion in the Corporation’s proxy materials pursuant to this Section  2.14 but either are subsequently withdrawn or that the Board of Directors decides to nominate as Board of Directors’ nominees) appearing in the Corporation’s proxy materials with respect to an annual meeting of stockholders shall be the greater of (x) two and (y) the largest whole number that does not exceed twenty percent (20%) of the number of directors in office as of the last day on which a Proxy Access Notice may be delivered in accordance with the procedures set forth in this Section  2.14 (such greater number, the “Permitted Number”); provided, however, that the Permitted Number shall be reduced by:

(1) the number of directors in office or director candidates that, in either case, will be included in the Corporation’s proxy materials with respect to such annual meeting as an unopposed (by the Corporation) nominee pursuant to an agreement, arrangement or other understanding with a stockholder or group of stockholders (other than any such agreement, arrangement or understanding entered into in connection with an acquisition of Voting Stock, by such stockholder or group of stockholders, from the Corporation), other than any such director referred to in this clause (1) who at the time of such annual meeting will have served as a director continuously, as a nominee of the Board of Directors, for at least two (2) annual terms, but only to the extent the Permitted Number after such reduction with respect to this clause (1) equals or exceeds one (1); and

(2) the number of directors in office that will be included in the Corporation’s proxy materials with respect to such annual meeting for whom access to the Corporation’s proxy materials was previously provided pursuant to this Section  2.14 , other than any such director referred to in this clause (2) who at the time of such annual meeting will have served as a director continuously, as a nominee of the Board of Directors, for at least two (2) annual terms;

provided, further, that in the event the Board of Directors resolves to reduce the size of the Board of Directors effective on or prior to the date of the annual meeting of stockholders, the Permitted Number shall be calculated based on the number of directors in office as so reduced. Any Eligible Stockholder or Nominating Stockholder, as applicable, submitting more than one Stockholder Nominee for inclusion in the Corporation’s proxy statement pursuant to this Section  2.14 shall (i) rank such Stockholder Nominees based on the order that such person desires such Stockholder Nominees to be selected for inclusion in the Corporation’s proxy statement in the event that the number of Stockholder Nominees submitted pursuant to this Section  2.14 exceeds the Permitted Number and (ii) explicitly specify and include the respective rankings referred to in the foregoing clause (i) in the Proxy Access Notice delivered to the Corporation with respect to all Stockholder Nominees submitted pursuant thereto. In the event that the number of Stockholder Nominees submitted by Eligible Stockholders pursuant to this Section  2.14 exceeds the Permitted Number, each Eligible Stockholder will have its highest ranking Stockholder Nominee (as ranked pursuant to the preceding sentence) who meets the requirements of this Section  2.14 selected for inclusion in the Corporation’s proxy materials until the Permitted Number is reached, going in order of the amount (largest to smallest) of shares of

 

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Voting Stock each Eligible Stockholder disclosed as owned in its Proxy Access Notice submitted to the Corporation (with the understanding that an Eligible Stockholder may not ultimately have any of its Stockholder Nominees included if the Permitted Number has previously been reached).

If the Permitted Number is not reached after each Eligible Stockholder or Nominating Stockholder, as applicable, has had one Stockholder Nominee selected, this selection process will continue as many times as necessary, following the same order each time, until the Permitted Number is reached. After reaching the Permitted Number of Stockholder Nominees, if any Stockholder Nominee who satisfies the eligibility requirements in this Section  2.14 thereafter withdraws, has his or her nomination withdrawn or is thereafter not submitted for director election, no other nominee or nominees shall be required to be substituted for such Stockholder Nominee and included in the Corporation’s proxy statement or otherwise submitted for director election pursuant to this Section  2.14 .

(D) An “Eligible Stockholder” is one or more stockholders of record or of beneficial ownership who own and have owned, or are acting on behalf of one (1) or more beneficial owners who own and have owned (in each case as defined above), in each case continuously for at least three (3) years as of both the date that the Proxy Access Notice is received by the Corporation pursuant to this Section  2.14 , and as of the record date for determining stockholders eligible to vote at the annual meeting of stockholders, at least three percent (3%) of the aggregate voting power of the Voting Stock (the “Proxy Access Request Required Shares”), and who continue to own the Proxy Access Request Required Shares at all times between the date such Proxy Access Notice is received by the Corporation and the date of the applicable annual meeting of stockholders, provided that the aggregate number of stockholders, and, if and to the extent that a stockholder is acting on behalf of one or more beneficial owners, of such beneficial owners, whose stock ownership is counted for the purpose of satisfying the foregoing ownership requirement shall not exceed twenty (20). Two (2) or more collective investment funds that are (i) a group of funds under common management and investment control, (ii) a group of funds under common management and funded primarily by the same employer, or (iii) a “family of investment companies” or a “group of investment companies” each as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (each a “Qualifying Fund”) shall be treated as one stockholder for the purpose of determining the aggregate number of stockholders in this paragraph (D) provided that each fund included within a Qualifying Fund otherwise meets the requirements set forth in this Section  2.14 and provides information, together with the Proxy Access Notice documentation satisfactory to the Board or its designee, acting in good faith, that demonstrates it is a Qualifying Fund. No shares may be attributed to more than one group constituting an Eligible Stockholder under this Section  2.14 (and, for the avoidance of doubt, no stockholder may be a member of more than one group constituting an Eligible Stockholder). A record holder acting on behalf of one or more beneficial owners will not be counted separately as a stockholder with respect to the shares owned by beneficial owners on whose behalf such record holder has been directed in writing to act, but each such beneficial owner will be counted separately, subject to the other provisions of this paragraph (D), for purposes of determining the number of stockholders whose holdings may be considered as part of an Eligible Stockholder’s holdings. For the avoidance of doubt, Proxy Access Request Required Shares will qualify as such if and only if the beneficial owner of such shares as of the date of the Proxy Access Notice has itself individually beneficially owned such shares continuously for the three-year (3-year) period ending on that date and through the other applicable dates referred to above (in addition to all other applicable requirements being met).

 

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(E) No later than the final date when a Proxy Access Notice pursuant to this Section  2.14 may be timely delivered to the Corporation, an Eligible Stockholder (including each Constituent Holder) must provide the following information in writing to the Secretary of the Corporation:

(1) the name and address of, and number of shares of Voting Stock owned by, such person;

(2) one or more written statements from the record holder of the shares (and from each intermediary through which the shares are or have been held during the requisite three-year (3-year) holding period) verifying that, as of a date within seven days prior to the date the Proxy Access Notice is delivered to the Corporation, such Eligible Stockholder (and each Constituent Holder) owns, and has owned continuously for the preceding three years, the Proxy Access Request Required Shares, and such person’s agreement to provide:

(a) within five days after the record date for the annual meeting of stockholders, written statements from the record holder and intermediaries verifying such person’s continuous ownership of the Proxy Access Request Required Shares through the record date, together with any additional information reasonably requested to verify such person’s ownership of the Proxy Access Request Required Shares; and

(b) immediate notice if the Eligible Stockholder ceases to own any of the Proxy Access Request Required Shares prior to the date of the applicable annual meeting of stockholders;

(3) the information, representations and agreements contemplated by Section  2.8 of these Bylaws;

(4) a representation that such person:

(a) acquired the Proxy Access Request Required Shares in the ordinary course of business and not with the intent to change or influence control of the Corporation, and does not presently have such intent;

(b) has not nominated and will not nominate for election to the Board of Directors at the annual meeting of stockholders any person other than the Stockholder Nominee(s) being nominated pursuant to this Section  2.14 ;

(c) has not engaged and will not engage in, and has not and will not be a “participant” in another person’s, “solicitation” within the meaning of Rule 14a-1(l) promulgated under the Exchange Act in support of the election of any individual as a director at the annual meeting of stockholders other than its Stockholder Nominee(s) or a nominee of the Board of Directors;

(d) will not distribute to any stockholder any form of proxy for the annual meeting of stockholders other than the form distributed by the Corporation; and

 

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(e) will provide facts, statements and other information in all communications with the Corporation and its stockholders that are and will be true and correct in all material respects and do not and will not omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, and will otherwise comply with all applicable laws, rules and regulations in connection with any actions taken pursuant to this Section  2.14 ;

(5) in the case of a nomination by an Eligible Stockholder comprised of a group of stockholders that together is such an Eligible Stockholder, the designation by all group members (including Constituent Holders), as evidenced by a written agreement provided to the Corporation signed by all group members (including Constituent Holders), of one group member that is authorized to act on behalf of all members of the nominating stockholder group with respect to the nomination and matters related thereto, including withdrawal of the nomination (the “Nominating Stockholder”) (for the avoidance of doubt, in the event of a nomination by a Nominating Stockholder that includes more than one Eligible Stockholder (including each Constituent Holder), any and all requirements and obligations for an Eligible Stockholder (including each Constituent Holder) that are set forth in this Section  2.14 shall apply to each such Eligible Stockholder; provided, however that, in such case, the Proxy Access Request Required Shares provision shall apply to the Eligible Stockholder comprised of a group of such stockholders that together comprises such an Eligible Stockholder);

(6) an undertaking that such person agrees to:

(a) assume all liability stemming from, and indemnify and hold harmless the Corporation and each of its directors, officers and employees individually against any liability, loss or damages in connection with any threatened or pending action, suit or proceeding, whether legal, administrative or investigative, against the Corporation or any of its directors, officers or employees arising out of any legal or regulatory violation arising out of the Eligible Stockholder’s and/or Nominating Stockholder’s communications with the stockholders of the Corporation or out of the information that the Eligible Stockholder and/or Nominating Stockholder provided to the Corporation; and

(b) file with the Securities and Exchange Commission any solicitation by the Eligible Stockholder and/or Nominating Stockholder of stockholders of the Corporation relating to the annual meeting of stockholders at which the Stockholder Nominee will be nominated and provide to the Corporation copies of any solicitation or other communication with the Corporation’s stockholders relating to the annual meeting of stockholders that is exempt from filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission; and

(7) a completed copy of the Schedule 14N (or any successor form) relating to the Stockholder Nominee that has been or will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission as required by Rule 14a-18 under the Exchange Act.

In order to be considered timely, any information required by this Section  2.14 to be provided to the Corporation must be supplemented (by delivery to the Secretary of the Corporation) (1) no later than five days following the record date for the applicable annual meeting of stockholders, to disclose the foregoing information as of such record date, and (2) no later than the eighth day

 

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before the annual meeting of stockholders, to disclose the foregoing information as of the date that is 10 days prior to such annual meeting of stockholders. For the avoidance of doubt, the requirement to update and supplement such information shall not permit any Eligible Stockholder or other person to change or add any proposed Stockholder Nominee or be deemed to cure any defects or limit the remedies (including without limitation under these Bylaws) available to the Corporation relating to any defect.

(F) The Eligible Stockholder or Nominating Stockholder, as applicable, may provide to the Secretary of the Corporation, at the time the information required by this Section  2.14 is originally provided, a written statement for inclusion in the Corporation’s proxy statement for the annual meeting of stockholders, not to exceed five hundred (500) words, in support of the candidacy of such Eligible Stockholder’s or Nominating Stockholder’s, as applicable, Stockholder Nominee (the “Statement”). Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Section  2.14 , the Corporation may omit from its proxy materials any information or Statement that it, in good faith, believes is materially false or misleading, omits to state any material fact, or would violate any applicable law or regulation.

(G) No later than the final date when a Proxy Access Notice pursuant to this Section  2.14 may be timely delivered to the Corporation, each Stockholder Nominee must deliver to the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the Corporation the completed and signed questionnaire, representation, agreement required by Section  2.8(C) of these Bylaws and:

(1) provide an executed agreement, in a form deemed satisfactory by the Board of Directors or its designee (which form shall be provided by the Corporation reasonably promptly upon written request of a stockholder), that such Stockholder Nominee consents to being named in the Corporation’s proxy statement and form of proxy card (and will not agree to be named in any other person’s proxy statement or form of proxy card) as a nominee and to serving as a director of the Corporation if elected;

(2) complete, sign and submit all other questionnaires required of the Corporation’s directors generally; and

(3) provide such additional information as necessary to permit the Board of Directors to determine if any of the matters contemplated by paragraph (I) below apply to such Stockholder Nominee or if such nominee has any direct or indirect relationship with the Corporation or is or has previously been subject to any event specified in Item 401(f) of Regulation S-K (or successor rule) of the Securities and Exchange Commission or Rule 506(d) of Regulation D under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

In the event that any information or communications provided by the Eligible Stockholder (or any Constituent Holder), the Nominating Stockholder or the Stockholder Nominee to the Corporation or its stockholders ceases to be true and correct in all material respects or omits a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, each Eligible Stockholder, the Nominating Stockholder or Stockholder Nominee, as the case may be, shall promptly notify the Secretary of the Corporation of any defect in such previously provided information and of the information that is required to correct any such defect; it being understood for the avoidance of doubt that providing any such notification shall not be deemed to cure any such defect or limit the remedies (including, without limitation, under these Bylaws) available to the Corporation relating to any such defect.

 

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(H) For the avoidance of doubt, any Stockholder Nominee who is included in the Corporation’s proxy statement for a particular annual meeting of stockholders, but subsequently is determined not to satisfy the eligibility requirements of this Section  2.14 or any other provision of the Bylaws, Certificate of Incorporation, or other applicable regulation any time before the annual meeting of stockholders, will not be eligible for election at such annual meeting.

(I) The Corporation shall not be required to include, pursuant to this Section  2.14 , a Stockholder Nominee in its proxy materials for any annual meeting of stockholders, or, if the proxy statement already has been filed, to allow the nomination of a Stockholder Nominee, notwithstanding that proxies in respect of such vote may have been received by the Corporation:

(1) who is not independent under the listing standards of the principal U.S. exchange upon which the common stock of the Corporation is listed (or other listing standards applicable to the Corporation), any applicable rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission and any publicly disclosed standards used by the Board of Directors in determining and disclosing independence of the Corporation’s directors, in each case, as determined by the Board of Directors;

(2) whose service as a member of the Board of Directors would violate or cause the Corporation to be in violation of these Bylaws, the Certificate of Incorporation, the rules and listing standards of the principal U.S. exchange upon which the common stock of the Corporation is traded (or other such rules and listing standards applicable to the Corporation), or any applicable law, rule or regulation;

(3) if the Eligible Stockholder (or any Constituent Holder), Nominating Stockholder or applicable Stockholder Nominee otherwise breaches or fails to comply in any material respect with its obligations pursuant to this Section  2.14 or any agreement, representation or undertaking required by this Section;

(4) if the Eligible Stockholder ceases to be an Eligible Stockholder for any reason, including but not limited to, not owning the Proxy Access Request Required Shares through the date of the applicable annual meeting; or

(5) who is or has been, within the past three (3) years, an officer or director of a competitor, as defined in Section 8 of the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914;

(6) if the Corporation receives one or more stockholder notices nominating director candidates pursuant to Section  2.8 (but not this Section  2.14 ) of these Bylaws.

For the purposes of this paragraph (I), clauses (1), (2) and (5) and, to the extent related to a breach or failure by the Stockholder Nominee, clause (3) will result in the exclusion from the proxy materials pursuant to this Section  2.14 of the specific Stockholder Nominee to whom the ineligibility applies, or, if the proxy statement already has been filed, the ineligibility of such Stockholder Nominee to be nominated; provided, however, that clause (4) and, to the extent

 

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related to a breach or failure by an Eligible Stockholder (or any Constituent Holder), clause (3) will result in the Voting Stock owned by such Eligible Stockholder (or Constituent Holder) or Nominating Stockholder being excluded from the Proxy Access Request Required Shares (and, if as a result the Proxy Access Notice shall no longer have been filed by an Eligible Stockholder or Nominating Stockholder, as applicable, the exclusion from the proxy materials pursuant to this Section  2.14 of all of the applicable stockholder’s Stockholder Nominees from the applicable annual meeting of stockholders or, if the proxy statement has already been filed, the ineligibility of all of such stockholder’s Stockholder Nominees to be nominated).

(J) Any Stockholder Nominee who is included in the Corporation’s proxy materials for a particular annual meeting of stockholders but either (i) withdraws from or becomes ineligible or unavailable for election at any such annual meeting; or (ii) is not elected to the Board of Directors and does not receive at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the votes cast in favor of the Stockholder Nominee’s election, will be ineligible to be a Stockholder Nominee pursuant to this Section  2.14 for the next two (2) annual meetings of stockholders.

ARTICLE III

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Section 3.1. General Powers . The business and affairs of the Corporation shall be managed under the direction of the Board of Directors. In addition to the powers and authorities by these Bylaws expressly conferred upon them, the Board of Directors may exercise all such powers of the Corporation and do all such lawful acts and things as are not by statute or by the Certificate of Incorporation or by these Bylaws required to be exercised or done by the stockholders.

Section 3.2. Number, Tenure and Term . Subject to the rights of the holders of any series of Preferred Stock to elect directors under specified circumstances, the number of directors shall be fixed from time to time exclusively pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the Whole Board. Each director shall hold office until the next annual election of directors and until the director’s successor is elected and qualified.

Section 3.3. Regular Meetings . A regular meeting of the Board of Directors shall be held without other notice than this Bylaw immediately after, and at the same place as, the annual meeting of stockholders. The Board of Directors may, by resolution, provide the time and place for the holding of additional regular meetings without other notice than such resolution.

Section 3.4. Special Meetings . Special meetings of the Board of Directors shall be called at the request of the Chairman of the Board or a majority of the Board of Directors then in office. The person or persons authorized to call special meetings of the Board of Directors may fix the place and time of the meetings.

Section 3.5. Notice . Notice of any special meeting of directors shall be given to each director at such person’s business or residence in writing by hand delivery, first-class or overnight mail or courier service, telegram, email or facsimile transmission, orally by telephone or any other lawful means. If mailed by first-class mail, such notice shall be deemed adequately delivered when deposited in the United States mails so addressed, with postage thereon prepaid,

 

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at least five days before such meeting. If by telegram, overnight mail or courier service, such notice shall be deemed adequately delivered when the telegram is delivered to the telegraph company or the notice is delivered to the overnight mail or courier service company at least twenty-four (24) hours before such meeting. If by email or facsimile transmission, such notice shall be deemed adequately delivered when the notice is transmitted at least twelve (12) hours before such meeting. If by telephone or by hand delivery, the notice shall be given at least twelve (12) hours prior to the time set for the meeting. Neither the business to be transacted at, nor the purpose of, any regular or special meeting of the Board of Directors need be specified in the notice of such meeting, except for amendments to these Bylaws, as provided under Section  8.1 . A meeting may be held at any time without notice if all the directors are present or if those not present waive notice of the meeting in accordance with Section  6.4 of these Bylaws.

Section 3.6. Action by Consent of Board of Directors . Any action required or permitted to be taken at any meeting of the Board of Directors or of any committee thereof may be taken without a meeting if all members of the Board of Directors or committee, as the case may be, consent thereto in writing, and the writing or writings are filed with the minutes of proceedings of the Board of Directors or committee.

Section 3.7. Conference Telephone Meetings . Members of the Board of Directors, or any committee thereof, may participate in a meeting of the Board of Directors or such committee by means of conference telephone or similar communications equipment by means of which all persons participating in the meeting can hear each other, and such participation in a meeting shall constitute presence in person at such meeting.

Section 3.8. Quorum . Subject to Section  3.9 , a whole number of directors equal to at least a majority of the Whole Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, but if at any meeting of the Board of Directors there shall be less than a quorum present, a majority of the directors present may adjourn the meeting from time to time without further notice. The act of the majority of the directors present at a meeting at which a quorum is present shall be the act of the Board of Directors. The directors present at a duly organized meeting may continue to transact business until adjournment, notwithstanding the withdrawal of enough directors to leave less than a quorum.

Section 3.9. Vacancies . Subject to applicable law and the rights of the holders of any series of Preferred Stock with respect to such series of Preferred Stock, and unless the Board of Directors otherwise determines, vacancies resulting from death, resignation, retirement, disqualification, removal from office or other cause, and newly created directorships resulting from any increase in the authorized number of directors, may be filled only by the affirmative vote of a majority of the remaining directors, though less than a quorum of the Board of Directors, and directors so chosen shall hold office for a term expiring at the next annual meeting of stockholders at which directors are elected and until such director’s successor shall have been duly elected and qualified. No decrease in the number of authorized directors constituting the Whole Board shall shorten the term of any incumbent director.

Section 3.10. Committees of the Board: Executive Committee . The Board of Directors may, by resolution adopted by a majority of the Whole Board, designate an Executive Committee to exercise, subject to applicable provisions of law, all the powers of the Board in the

 

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management of the business and affairs of the Corporation when the Board of Directors is not in session, including without limitation the power to declare dividends, to authorize the issuance of the Corporation’s capital stock and to adopt a certificate of ownership and merger pursuant to Section 253 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, and may, by resolution similarly adopted, designate an Audit Committee, a Compensation Committee, a Finance Committee, a Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, the powers of which are expressly provided for in this Bylaw, and one or more additional committees. Each committee shall consist of two or more directors of the Corporation. The Board of Directors may designate one or more directors as alternate members of any committee, who may replace any absent or disqualified member at any meeting of the committee. In the absence or disqualification of any member of such committee or committees, the member or members thereof present at any meeting and not disqualified from voting, whether or not constituting a quorum, may unanimously appoint another member of the Board of Directors to act at the meeting in the place of any such absent or disqualified member. Each committee shall keep written minutes of its proceedings and shall report such proceedings to the Board of Directors when required.

Each committee shall create its own charter, which shall be reviewed by and approved at least annually by the Board of Directors. A majority of any committee may determine its action and fix the time and place of its meetings, unless the Board of Directors shall otherwise provide. Notice of such meetings shall be given to each member of the committee in the manner provided for in Section  3.5 of these Bylaws. The Board of Directors shall have the power at any time to fill vacancies in, to change the membership of, or to dissolve any such committee. Nothing herein shall be deemed to prevent the Board of Directors from appointing one or more committees consisting in whole or in part of persons who are not directors of the Corporation; provided, however, that no such committee shall have or may exercise any authority of the Board of Directors.

Section 3.11. Compensation . The Board of Directors shall have the authority to fix the compensation of directors.

Section 3.12. Records . The Board of Directors shall cause to be kept a record containing the minutes of the proceedings of the meetings of the Board of Directors and of the stockholders, appropriate stock books and registers and such books of records and accounts as may be necessary for the proper conduct of the business of the Corporation.

ARTICLE IV

OFFICERS

Section 4.1. Elected Officers . The elected officers of the Corporation shall be a Chairman of the Board of Directors, a Chief Executive Officer, a President, a Secretary, a Chief Financial Officer, and such other officers as the Board of Directors from time to time may deem proper. The Chairman of the Board shall be chosen from among the directors. All officers elected by the Board of Directors shall each have such powers and duties as generally pertain to their respective offices, subject to the specific provisions of this ARTICLE  IV . Such officers shall also have such powers and duties as from time to time may be conferred by the Board of Directors or by any committee thereof. The Board of Directors or any committee thereof may from time to time elect, or the Chairman of the Board or the Chief Executive Officer may appoint, such other

 

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officers (including a Treasurer, one or more Chief Operating Officers, one or more Executive Vice Presidents or Senior Vice Presidents and one or more Vice Presidents, Assistant Vice Presidents, Assistant Secretaries, Assistant Treasurers, and Assistant Controllers) and such agents, as may be necessary or desirable for the conduct of the business of the Corporation. Such other officers and agents shall have such duties and shall hold their offices for such terms as shall be provided in these Bylaws or as may be prescribed by the Board of Directors or such committee or by the Chairman of the Board or the Chief Executive Officer, as the case may be.

Section 4.2. Election and Term of Office . The elected officers of the Corporation shall be elected annually by the Board of Directors at the regular meeting of the Board of Directors held after the annual meeting of the stockholders. If the election of officers shall not be held at such meeting, such election shall be held as soon thereafter as convenient. Each officer shall hold office until his or her successor shall have been duly elected and shall have qualified or until his or her death, his or her resignation or his or her removal, whichever event shall first occur.

Section 4.3. Chairman of the Board . The Chairman of the Board shall preside at all meetings of the stockholders and shall preside at all meetings of the Board of Directors. The Chairman of the Board shall be responsible for the general management of the affairs of the Corporation and shall perform all duties incidental to his or her office which may be required by law and all such other duties as are properly required of him or her by the Board of Directors. He or she shall make reports to the Board of Directors and the stockholders, and shall see that all orders and resolutions of the Board of Directors and of any committee thereof are carried into effect. The Chairman of the Board may also serve as the Chief Executive Officer and/or the President of the Corporation, if so elected by the Board of Directors.

Section 4.4. Chief Executive Officer . The Chief Executive Officer shall be the chief executive officer of the Corporation and, subject to the Board of Directors, shall have general charge of the business and affairs of the Corporation and shall perform such other duties as may be assigned to the Chief Executive Officer by the Board of Directors. The Chief Executive Officer shall, in the absence of or because of the inability to act of the Chairman of the Board of Directors, perform all duties of the Chairman of the Board and preside at all meetings of stockholders and of the Board of Directors. The Chief Executive Officer may also serve as Chairman of the Board, if so elected by the Board of Directors.

Section 4.5. President . The President shall, in the absence of or because of the inability to act of the Chairman of the Board of Directors and the Chief Executive Officer, perform all duties of the Chairman of the Board and preside at all meetings of stockholders and of the Board of Directors. The President shall, in the absence of or because of the inability to act of the Chief Executive Officer, perform all duties of the Chief Executive Officer.

Section 4.6. Chief Operating Officer . Each Chief Operating Officer shall have such powers and perform such duties as may be assigned to such Chief Operating Officer by the Board of Directors or the Chief Executive Officer.

Section 4.7. Executive Vice President . Each Executive Vice President shall have such powers and perform such duties as may be assigned to such Executive Vice President by the Board of Directors or the Chief Executive Officer.

 

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Section 4.8. Senior Vice President . Each Senior Vice President shall have such powers and perform such duties as may be assigned to such Senior Vice President by the Board of Directors or the Chief Executive Officer.

Section 4.9. Chief Financial Officer . The Chief Financial Officer shall:

(A) be responsible for the accounts and other financial records of the Corporation consistent with directions of the Board of Directors or any committee of the Board of Directors assigned duties related thereto; be the custodian of the official corporate financial records;

(B) prescribe the Corporation’s accounting practices and procedures in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and the directions of the Board of Directors or any committee of the Board of Directors assigned duties related thereto;

(C) prepare, analyze and interpret the Corporation’s financial results for use in the decision-making process; prepare and file external financial reports to satisfy stockholders, government regulatory bodies, financial institutions, and others;

(D) verify or cause to be verified the accuracy of all financial statements and accounting reports issued by the Corporation;

(E) oversee the investment of corporate funds; have primary contact with banks, investment bankers and investor groups to raise capital as directed by the Board of Directors or the Chief Executive Officer; and

(F) perform such other duties as may be assigned to him or her by the Board of Directors or the Chief Executive Officer.

Section 4.10. Vice Presidents . Each Vice President shall have such powers and shall perform such duties as shall be assigned to him or her by the Board of Directors or the Chief Executive Officer.

Section 4.11. Treasurer . The Treasurer shall exercise general supervision over the receipt, custody and disbursement of corporate funds. The Treasurer shall cause the funds of the Corporation to be deposited in such banks as may be authorized by the Board of Directors, or in such banks as may be designated as depositaries in the manner provided by resolution of the Board of Directors. He or she shall have such further powers and duties and shall be subject to such directions as may be granted or imposed upon him or her from time to time by the Board of Directors or the Chief Executive Officer.

Section 4.12. Secretary . The Secretary shall keep or cause to be kept in one or more books provided for that purpose, the minutes of all meetings of the Board of Directors, the committees of the Board of Directors and the stockholders; he or she shall see that all notices are duly given in accordance with the provisions of these Bylaws and as required by law; he or she shall be custodian of the records and the Seal of the Corporation and affix and attest the Seal to all stock certificates of the Corporation (unless the Seal of the Corporation on such certificates shall be a facsimile, as hereinafter provided) and affix and attest the Seal to all other documents to be executed on behalf of the Corporation under its Seal; and he or she shall see that the books,

 

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reports, statements, certificates and other documents and records required by law to be kept and filed are properly kept and filed; and in general, he or she shall perform all the duties incident to the office of Secretary and such other duties as from time to time may be assigned to him or her by the Board of Directors or the Chief Executive Officer.

Section 4.13. Removal . Any officer elected, or agent appointed, by the Board of Directors, the Chairman of the Board or the Chief Executive Officer may be removed from office at any time by the affirmative vote of a majority of the Whole Board whenever, in their judgment, the best interests of the Corporation would be served by such removal. Any officer or agent appointed by the Board of Directors, the Chairman of the Board or the Chief Executive Officer may be removed by the Chairman of the Board whenever, in his or her judgment, the best interests of the Corporation would be served thereby, except that the Chairman of the Board, the President, the Chief Financial Officer, and the Secretary may only be removed by the affirmative vote of a majority of the Whole Board. No elected officer shall have any contractual rights against the Corporation for compensation by virtue of such election beyond the date of the election of his or her successor, his or her death, his or her resignation or his or her removal, whichever event shall first occur, except as otherwise provided in an employment contract or under an employee deferred compensation plan.

Section 4.14. Vacancies . A newly created elected office and a vacancy in any elected office because of death, resignation, or removal may be filled by the Board of Directors for the unexpired portion of the term at any meeting of the Board of Directors. Any vacancy in an office appointed by the Chairman of the Board because of death, resignation, or removal may be filled by the Chairman of the Board or the Chief Executive Officer.

ARTICLE V

STOCK CERTIFICATES AND TRANSFERS

Section 5.1. Stock Certificates and Transfers .

(A) The interest of each stockholder of the Corporation shall be evidenced by shares of stock which may be certificated or uncertificated, as provided under Delaware law, and shall be entered in the books of the Corporation and registered as they are issued. Any certificates representing shares of stock shall be in such form as the appropriate officers of the Corporation may from time to time prescribe.

(B) Shares of the stock of the Corporation evidenced by certificate shall be transferred on the books of the Corporation upon surrender for cancellation of certificates for at least the same number of shares, with an assignment and power of transfer endorsed thereon or attached thereto, duly executed, with such proof of the authenticity of the signature as the Corporation or its agents may reasonably require. Shares of the stock of the Corporation which are uncertificated shall, upon the receipt of proper transfer instructions from the registered owner of uncertificated shares, be cancelled and issuance of new equivalent uncertificated shares or certificated shares shall be made to the stockholder entitled thereto. It shall be the duty of the Corporation to issue a new certificate or evidence of the issuance of uncertificated shares to the stockholder entitled thereto, cancel the old certificate and record the transaction upon the Corporation’s books.

 

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(C) Within a reasonable time after the issuance or transfer of uncertificated stock, the Corporation shall send to the registered owner thereof a written notice that shall contain such information as required under Delaware law.

(D) Any certificates of stock shall be signed, countersigned and registered in such manner as the Board of Directors may by resolution prescribe, which resolution may permit all or any of the signatures on such certificates to be in facsimile. In case any officer, transfer agent or registrar who has signed or whose facsimile signature has been placed upon a certificate has ceased to be such officer, transfer agent or registrar before such certificate is issued, it may be issued by the Corporation with the same effect as if he or she were such officer, transfer agent or registrar at the date of issue.

Section 5.2. Lost, Stolen or Destroyed Certificates . With respect to any certificate for shares of stock in the Corporation alleged to have been lost, destroyed or stolen, upon production of evidence of loss, destruction or theft of a certificate for shares of stock in the Corporation, and upon delivery to the Corporation of a bond of indemnity in such amount, upon such terms and secured by such surety, as the Board of Directors or any financial officer may in its or his or her discretion require, the Corporation may issue (i) a new certificate or certificates of stock or (ii) uncertificated shares in place of any certificate or certificates previously issued by the Corporation.

Section 5.3. Record Date of Stockholders . The Board of Directors may fix in advance a date, not exceeding 60 days preceding the date of any meeting of stockholders and as otherwise required by law, or the date for the payment of any dividend or other distribution, or the date for the allotment of rights, or the date when any change or conversion or exchange of capital stock shall go into effect, as a record date for the determination of the stockholders entitled to notice of, and to vote at, any such meeting, or entitled to receive payment of any such dividend or other distribution, or to any such allotment of rights, or to exercise the rights in respect of any such change, conversion or exchange of capital stock, and in such case, only such stockholders as shall be stockholders of record on the date so fixed shall be entitled to such notice of, and to vote at, such meeting, or to receive any such dividend or other distribution, or to receive such allotment or rights, or to exercise such rights, as the case may be, notwithstanding any transfer of any stock on the books of the Corporation after such record date fixed as aforesaid.

ARTICLE VI

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Section 6.1. Fiscal Year . The fiscal year of the Corporation shall begin on the first day of January and end on the thirty-first day of December of each year.

Section 6.2. Dividends . The Board of Directors may from time to time declare, and the Corporation may pay, dividends on its outstanding shares in the manner and upon the terms and conditions provided by law and the Certificate of Incorporation.

Section 6.3. Seal . The Seal of the Corporation shall be circular in form, containing the words “CNX RESOURCES CORPORATION” and “DELAWARE” on the circumference, surrounding the words “SEAL” and the date “1991.” The Seal shall be in the custody of the Secretary.

 

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Section 6.4. Waiver of Notice . Whenever any notice is required to be given to any stockholder or director of the Corporation under the provisions of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware or these Bylaws, a waiver thereof in writing, signed by the person or persons entitled to such notice, whether before or after the time stated therein, shall be deemed equivalent to the giving of such notice. Neither the business to be transacted at, nor the purpose of, any annual or special meeting of the stockholders or the Board of Directors or committee thereof need be specified in any waiver of notice of such meeting.

Section 6.5. Audits . The accounts, books and records of the Corporation shall be audited upon the conclusion of each fiscal year by an independent certified public accountant selected by the Audit Committee, and it shall be the duty of the Board of Directors to cause such audit to be done annually.

Section 6.6. Resignations . Any director or any officer, whether elected or appointed, may resign at any time by giving written notice of such resignation to the Chairman of the Board, the President, or the Secretary, and such resignation shall be deemed to be effective as of the close of business on the date said notice is received by the Chairman of the Board, the President, or the Secretary, or at such later time as is specified therein. No formal action shall be required of the Board of Directors or the stockholders to make any such resignation effective.

Section 6.7. Indemnification and Insurance .

(A) Each person who was or is made a party or is threatened to be made a party to or is otherwise involved in any action, suit, or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (hereinafter a “proceeding”), by reason of the fact that he or she or a person of whom he or she is the legal representative is or was, at any time during which this Bylaw is in effect (whether or not such person continues to serve in such capacity at the time any indemnification or payment of expenses pursuant hereto is sought or at the time any proceeding relating thereto exists or is brought), a director or officer of the Corporation or is or was serving at the request of the Corporation as a director, officer, trustee, employee or agent of another corporation or of a partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, including service with respect to employee benefit plans maintained or sponsored by the Corporation, whether the basis of such proceeding is alleged action in an official capacity as a director, officer, trustee, employee or agent or in any other capacity while serving as a director, officer, trustee, employee or agent, shall be indemnified and held harmless by the Corporation to the fullest extent authorized by the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware as the same exists or may hereafter be amended (but, in the case of any such amendment, only to the extent that such amendment permits the Corporation to provide broader indemnification rights than said law permitted the Corporation to provide prior to such amendment), against all expense, liability and loss (including attorneys’ fees, judgments, fines, ERISA excise taxes or penalties and amounts paid or to be paid in settlement) reasonably incurred or suffered by such person in connection therewith and such indemnification shall continue as to a person who has ceased to be a director, officer, trustee, employee or agent and shall inure to the benefit of his or her heirs, executors and administrators; provided, however, that except as provided in paragraph (C) of this Bylaw, the

 

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Corporation shall indemnify any such person seeking indemnification in connection with a proceeding (or part thereof) initiated by such person only if such proceeding (or part thereof) was authorized by the Board of Directors. The right to indemnification conferred in this Bylaw shall include the right to be paid by the Corporation the expenses incurred in defending any such proceeding in advance of its final disposition, such advances to be paid by the Corporation within 20 days after the receipt by the Corporation of a statement or statements from the claimant requesting such advance or advances from time to time; provided, however, that if the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware requires, the payment of such expenses incurred by a director or officer in his or her capacity as a director or officer (and not in any other capacity in which service was or is rendered by such person while a director or officer, including, without limitation, service to an employee benefit plan) in advance of the final disposition of a proceeding, shall be made only upon delivery to the Corporation of an undertaking by or on behalf of such director or officer, to repay all amounts so advanced if it shall ultimately be determined by final judicial decision from which there is no further right of appeal that such director or officer is not entitled to be indemnified under this Bylaw or otherwise. The rights conferred in this Bylaw shall be contract rights that vest at the time of such person’s service to or at the request of the Corporation and such rights shall continue as to an indemnitee who has ceased to be a director, officer, trustee, employee or agent and shall inure to the benefit of the indemnitee’s heirs, executors and administrators.

(B) To obtain indemnification under this Bylaw, a claimant shall submit to the Corporation a written request, including therein or therewith such documentation and information as is reasonably available to the claimant and is reasonably necessary to determine whether and to what extent the claimant is entitled to indemnification. Upon written request by a claimant for indemnification pursuant to the first sentence of this paragraph (B), a determination, if required by applicable law, with respect to the claimant’s entitlement thereto shall be made as follows: (1) if requested by the claimant, by Independent Counsel (as hereinafter defined), or (2) if no request is made by the claimant for a determination by Independent Counsel, (i) by the Board of Directors by a majority vote of a quorum consisting of Disinterested Directors (as hereinafter defined), or (ii) if a quorum of the Board of Directors consisting of Disinterested Directors is not obtainable or, even if obtainable, such quorum of Disinterested Directors so directs, by Independent Counsel in a written opinion to the Board of Directors, a copy of which shall be delivered to the claimant, or (iii) if a quorum of Disinterested Directors so directs, by the stockholders of the Corporation. In the event the determination of entitlement to indemnification is to be made by Independent Counsel at the request of the claimant, the Independent Counsel shall be selected by the Board of Directors unless there shall have occurred within two years prior to the date of the commencement of the action, suit or proceeding for which indemnification is claimed a “Change of Control” as defined in the Change of Control Severance Agreements of the Corporation, in which case the Independent Counsel shall be selected by the claimant unless the claimant shall request that such selection be made by the Board of Directors. If it is so determined that the claimant is entitled to indemnification, payment to the claimant shall be made within 10 days after such determination.

(C) If a claim under paragraph (A) of this Bylaw is not paid in full by the Corporation within 30 days after a written claim pursuant to paragraph (B) of this Bylaw has been received by the Corporation, the claimant may at any time thereafter bring suit against the Corporation to recover the unpaid amount of the claim and, if successful in whole or in part, the claimant shall

 

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be entitled to be paid also the expense of prosecuting such claim. It shall be a defense to any such action (other than an action brought to enforce a claim for expenses incurred in defending any proceeding in advance of its final disposition where the required undertaking, if any is required, has been tendered to the Corporation) that the claimant has not met the standard of conduct which makes it permissible under the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware for the Corporation to indemnify the claimant for the amount claimed, but the burden of proving such defense shall be on the Corporation. Neither the failure of the Corporation (including its Board of Directors, Independent Counsel or stockholders) to have made a determination prior to the commencement of such action that indemnification of the claimant is proper in the circumstances because he or she has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, nor an actual determination by the Corporation (including its Board of Directors, Independent Counsel or stockholders) that the claimant has not met such applicable standard of conduct, shall be a defense to the action or create a presumption that the claimant has not met the applicable standard of conduct.

(D) If a determination shall have been made pursuant to paragraph (B) of this Bylaw that the claimant is entitled to indemnification, the Corporation shall be bound by such determination in any judicial proceeding commenced pursuant to paragraph (C) of this Bylaw.

(E) The Corporation shall be precluded from asserting in any judicial proceeding commenced pursuant to paragraph (C) of this Bylaw that the procedures and presumptions of this Bylaw are not valid, binding and enforceable and shall stipulate in such proceeding that the Corporation is bound by all the provisions of this Bylaw.

(F) The right to indemnification and the payment of expenses incurred in defending a proceeding in advance of its final disposition conferred in this Bylaw (i) shall not be exclusive of any other right which any person may have or hereafter acquire under any statute, provision of the Certificate of Incorporation, Bylaws, agreement, vote of stockholders or Disinterested Directors or otherwise and (ii) cannot be terminated by the Corporation, the Board of Directors or the stockholders of the Corporation with respect to a person’s service prior to the date of such termination. Any amendment, modification, alteration or repeal of this Bylaw that in any way diminishes, limits, restricts, adversely affects or eliminates any right of an indemnitee or his or her successors to indemnification, advancement of expenses or otherwise shall be prospective only and shall not in any way diminish, limit, restrict, adversely affect or eliminate any such right with respect to any actual or alleged state of facts, occurrence, action or omission then or previously existing, or any action, suit or proceeding previously or thereafter brought or threatened based in whole or in part upon any such actual or alleged state of facts, occurrence, action or omission.

(G) The Corporation may maintain insurance, at its expense, to protect itself and any director, officer, employee or agent of the Corporation or another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against any expense, liability or loss, whether or not the Corporation would have the power to indemnify such person against such expense, liability or loss under the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware. To the extent that the Corporation maintains any policy or policies providing such insurance, each such director or officer, and each such agent or employee to which rights to indemnification have been granted as provided in paragraph (H) of this Bylaw, shall be covered by such policy or policies in accordance with its or their terms to the maximum extent of the coverage thereunder for any such director, officer, employee or agent.

 

 

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H) The Corporation may, to the extent authorized from time to time by the Board of Directors, grant rights to indemnification, and rights to be paid by the Corporation the expenses incurred in defending any proceeding in advance of its final disposition, to any employee or agent of the Corporation to the fullest extent of the provisions of this Bylaw with respect to the indemnification and advancement of expenses of directors and officers of the Corporation.

(I) If any provision or provisions of this Bylaw shall be held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable for any reason whatsoever: (1) the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions of this Bylaw (including, without limitation, each portion of any paragraph of this Bylaw containing any such provision held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, that is not itself held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable) shall not in any way be affected or impaired thereby; and (2) to the fullest extent possible, the provisions of this Bylaw (including, without limitation, each such portion of any paragraph of this Bylaw containing any such provision held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable) shall be construed so as to give effect to the intent manifested by the provision held invalid, illegal or unenforceable.

(J) For purposes of this Bylaw:

(1) “Disinterested Director” means a director of the Corporation who is not and was not a party to the matter in respect of which indemnification is sought by the claimant.

(2) “Independent Counsel” means a law firm, a member of a law firm, or an independent practitioner, that is experienced in matters of corporation law and shall include any person who, under the applicable standards of professional conduct then prevailing, would not have a conflict of interest in representing either the Corporation or the claimant in an action to determine the claimant’s rights under this Bylaw.

(K) Any notice, request or other communication required or permitted to be given to the Corporation under this Bylaw shall be in writing and either delivered in person or sent by telecopy, telex, telegram, overnight mail or courier service, or certified or registered mail, postage prepaid, return receipt requested, to the Secretary of the Corporation and shall be effective only upon receipt by the Secretary.

Section 6.8. Forum Selection . Unless the Corporation consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the sole and exclusive forum for (A) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Corporation, (B) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee of the Corporation to the Corporation or the Corporation’s stockholders, (C) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law, or (D) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine shall be a state court located within the State of Delaware or, if no state court located within the State of Delaware has jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware, in all cases subject to the court having personal jurisdiction over the indispensable parties named as defendants therein. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring or holding any interest in shares of capital stock of the Corporation shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the provisions of this Section  6.8 .

 

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ARTICLE VII

CONTRACTS, PROXIES, ETC.

Section 7.1. Contracts . Except as otherwise required by law, the Certificate of Incorporation or these Bylaws, any contracts or other instruments may be executed and delivered in the name and on the behalf of the Corporation by such officer or officers of the Corporation as the Board of Directors may from time to time direct. Such authority may be general or confined to specific instances as the Board may determine. The Chairman of the Board, the President or any Vice President (including any Executive Vice President or Senior Vice President) may execute bonds, contracts, deeds, leases and other instruments to be made or executed for or on behalf of the Corporation. Subject to any restrictions imposed by the Board of Directors or the Chairman of the Board, the President or any Vice President of the Corporation may delegate contractual powers to others under his or her jurisdiction, it being understood, however, that any such delegation of power shall not relieve such officer of responsibility with respect to the exercise of such delegated power.

Section 7.2. Proxies . Unless otherwise provided by resolution adopted by the Board of Directors, the Chairman of the Board, the President or any Vice President may from time to time appoint an attorney or attorneys or agent or agents of the Corporation, in the name and on behalf of the Corporation, to cast the votes which the Corporation may be entitled to cast as the holder of stock or other securities in any other corporation, any of whose stock or other securities may be held by the Corporation, at meetings of the holders of the stock or other securities of such other corporation, or to consent in writing, in the name of the Corporation as such holder, to any action by such other corporation, and may instruct the person or persons so appointed as to the manner of casting such votes or giving such consent, and may execute or cause to be executed in the name and on behalf of the Corporation and under its corporate seal or otherwise, all such written proxies or other instruments as he or she may deem necessary or proper in the premises.

ARTICLE VIII

AMENDMENTS

Section 8.1. Amendments . These Bylaws may be altered, amended, or repealed at any meeting of the Board of Directors or of the stockholders, provided notice of the proposed change was given in the notice of the meeting and, in the case of a meeting of the Board of Directors, in a notice given not less than two days prior to the meeting.

 

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Exhibit 3.3

EXHIBIT  3.1

AMENDED AND RESTATED

BYLAWS

of

CONSOL ENERGY INC.

of

CNX RESOURCES CORPORATION

Incorporated under the Laws of the State of Delaware

ARTICLE I

OFFICES AND RECORDS

Section 1.1.     Delaware Office . The principal office of the Corporation in the State of Delaware shall be located in the City of Wilmington, County of New Castle, and the name and address of its registered agent is The Corporation Trust Company, 1209 Orange Street, Wilmington, Delaware.

Section 1.2.     Other Offices . The Corporation may have such other offices, either within or without the State of Delaware, as the Board of Directors may designate or as the business of the Corporation may from time to time require.

Section 1.3.     Books and Records . The books and records of the Corporation may be kept at the Corporation’s corporate headquarters or outside the State of Delaware at such other place or places as may from time to time be designated by the Board of Directors.

ARTICLE II

STOCKHOLDERS

Section 2.1.     Annual Meeting . The annual meeting of the stockholders of the Corporation shall be held on such date and at such place and time as may be fixed by resolution of the Board of Directors.

Section 2.2.     Special Meeting . Subject to the rights of the holders of any series of stock having a preference over the Common Stock of the Corporation as to dividends or upon liquidation (“Preferred Stock”) with respect to such series of Preferred Stock, special meetings of the stockholders may be called only by the Chairman of the Board of Directors (“Chairman of the Board”) or by the Board of Directors pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the total number of directors which the Corporation would have if there were no vacancies (the “Whole Board”).

Section 2.3.     Place of Meeting . The Board of Directors, the Chairman of the Board or, if delegated by the Board of Directors or the Chairman of the Board, the President, as the case may be, may designate the place of meeting for any annual meeting or for any special meeting of the stockholders called by the Board of Directors or the Chairman of the Board. If no designation is so made, the place of meeting shall be the principal office of the Corporation.


Section 2.4.     Notice of Meeting . Written or printed notice, stating the place, day and hour of the meeting and the purpose or purposes for which the meeting is called, shall be delivered by the Corporation not less than 10 days nor more than 60 days before the date of the meeting, either personally or by mail or by such other means as may be permitted by law (including electronic communication), to each stockholder of record entitled to vote at such meeting. If mailed, such notice shall be deemed to be delivered when deposited in the United States mail with postage thereon prepaid, addressed to the stockholder at his or her address as it appears on the stock transfer books of the Corporation. Such further notice shall be given as may be required by law. Only such business shall be conducted at a special meeting of stockholders as shall have been brought before the meeting pursuant to the Corporation’s notice of meeting. Meetings may be held without notice if all stockholders entitled to vote are present, or if notice is waived by those not present in accordance with Section  6.4 of these Bylaws. Any previously scheduled meeting of the stockholders may be postponed, and (unless the Certificate of Incorporation otherwise provides) any special meeting of the stockholders may be cancelled, by resolution of the Board of Directors upon public notice given prior to the date previously scheduled for such meeting of stockholders.

Section 2.5.     Quorum; Adjournment and Postponement . Except as otherwise provided by law or by the Certificate of Incorporation, the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of the corporation entitled to vote generally in the election of directors (the “Voting Stock”), represented in person or by proxy, shall constitute a quorum at a meeting of stockholders, except that when specified business is to be voted on by a class or series of stock voting as a class, the holders of a majority of the shares of such class or series shall constitute a quorum of such class or series for the transaction of such business. The presiding officer of the meeting or a majority of the shares so represented may adjourn or postpone the meeting from time to time, whether or not there is such a quorum. No notice of the time and place of adjourned or postponed meetings need be given except as required by law. The stockholders present at a duly called meeting at which a quorum is present may continue to transact business until adjournment or postponement, notwithstanding the withdrawal of enough stockholders to leave less than a quorum.

Section 2.6.     Voting by Proxy . At all meetings of stockholders, a stockholder may vote by proxy executed in writing (or in such manner prescribed by the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware) by the stockholder, or by his or her duly authorized attorney in fact.

Section 2.7.     Organization . The Chairman of the Board, or, at the direction of the Chairman of the Board or in the Chairman of the Board’s absence, the President, shall preside at meetings of stockholders. The Secretary of the Corporation shall act as Secretary at all meetings of the stockholders, but, in the absence of the Secretary, the presiding officer may appoint a Secretary of the meeting. The order of business for such meetings shall be determined by the Chairman of the Board.

Section 2.8.     Notice of Stockholder Business and Nominations .

(A)     Annual Meetings of Stockholders .

(1)    Nominations of persons for election to the Board of Directors of the Corporation and the proposal of business to be considered by the stockholders may be made

 

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at an annual meeting of stockholders (a) by or at the direction of the Board of Directors, including pursuant to the Corporation’s notice of meeting, (b) by any stockholder of the Corporation who was a stockholder of record at the time of giving of notice provided for in this Bylaw, who is entitled to vote at the meeting and who has complied with the notice procedures set forth in this Section  2.8 or (c) with respect to a qualifying nomination at an annual meeting of stockholders held in or after 2017 of a Stockholder Nominee (as defined in Section  2.14 of these Bylaws) by an Eligible Stockholder (as defined in Section  2.14(D) of these Bylaws) and/or Nominating Stockholder (as defined in Section  2.14(E)(5) of these Bylaws) in accordance with Section  2.14 of these Bylaws (each such nomination a “Proxy Access Nomination”). Clauses (b) and (c) of this Bylaw shall be the exclusive means for a stockholder to make nominations or submit other business (other than matters properly brought under Rule 14a-8 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) and included in the Corporation’s notice of meeting) before an annual meeting of stockholders.

(2)    Subject to Section  2.8(D)(3) of these Bylaws, for nominations or other business to be properly brought before an annual meeting by a stockholder pursuant to clause (b) of paragraph (A)(1) of this Bylaw, the stockholder must have given timely notice thereof in writing to the Secretary of the Corporation and such other business must be a proper matter for stockholder action. To be timely under clause (b) of paragraph (A)(1) of this Bylaw, a stockholder’s notice shall be delivered to the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the Corporation not later than the close of business on the 90 th day nor earlier than the close of business on the 120 th day prior to the first anniversary of the preceding year’s annual meeting; provided, however, that in the event that the date of the annual meeting is more than 30 days before or more than 60 days after such anniversary date, notice by the stockholder to be timely must be so delivered not earlier than the close of business on the 120 th day prior to such annual meeting and not later than the close of business on the later of the 90 th day prior to such annual meeting or the 10 th day following the day on which public announcement of the date of such meeting is first made. In no event shall the public announcement of an adjournment or postponement of an annual meeting commence a new time period for the giving of a stockholder’s notice as described above. Such stockholder’s notice shall set forth:

(a) as to each person whom the stockholder proposes to nominate for election or reelection as a director (i) all information relating to such person that is required to be disclosed in a proxy statement or other filings required to be made in connection with solicitations of proxies for the election of directors in an election contest, or is otherwise required, in each case pursuant to Section 14 of the Exchange Act, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder (including such person’s written consent to being named in the proxy statement as a nominee and to serving as a director if elected), (ii) a description of all direct and indirect compensation and other material monetary agreements, arrangements and understandings during the past three years, and any other material relationships, between or among such stockholder and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the nomination is made, and their respective affiliates and associates, or others acting in concert therewith, on the one hand, and each proposed nominee, and his or her respective affiliates and associates, or others acting in concert therewith, on the other hand, including, without limitation all information that would be required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 promulgated under Regulation S-K if the stockholder making the nomination and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the nomination is made or any affiliate or associate

 

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thereof or person acting in concert therewith, were the “registrant” for purposes of such Item and the nominee were a director or executive officer of such registrant, (iii) with respect to each nominee for election or reelection to the Board of Directors, include a completed and signed questionnaire, representation and agreement required by Section  2.8(C) of these Bylaws, and (iv) such other information as may reasonably be required by the Corporation to determine the eligibility of such proposed nominee to serve as an independent director of the Corporation or that could be material to a reasonable stockholder’s understanding of the independence, or lack thereof, of such nominee;

(b) as to any other business that the stockholder proposes to bring before the meeting, a brief description of the business desired to be brought before the meeting, the text of the proposal or business (including the text of any resolutions proposed for consideration and in the event that such business includes a proposal to amend the Bylaws of the Corporation, the language of the proposed amendment), the reasons for conducting such business at the meeting, any material interest in such business of such stockholder and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the proposal is made and a description of all agreements, arrangements and understandings between such stockholder and such beneficial owner, if any, and any other person or persons (including their names) in connection with the proposal of such business by such stockholder; and

(c) as to the stockholder giving the notice and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the nomination or proposal is made (i) the name and address of such stockholder, as they appear on the Corporation’s books, and of such beneficial owner, (ii) (A) the class and number of shares of the Corporation which are, directly or indirectly, owned beneficially and of record by such stockholder and such beneficial owner, (B) any option, warrant, convertible security, stock appreciation right, or similar right with an exercise or conversion privilege or a settlement payment or mechanism at a price related to any class or series of shares of the Corporation or with a value derived in whole or in part from the value of any class of shares of the Corporation or with a value derived in whole or in part from the value of any class or series of shares of the Corporation, whether or not such instrument or right shall be subject to settlement in the underlying class of capital stock of the Corporation or otherwise (a “Derivative Instrument”) directly or indirectly owned beneficially by such stockholder and any other direct or indirect opportunity to profit or share in any profit derived from any increase or decrease in the value of shares of the Corporation, (C) any proxy, contract, arrangement, understanding, or relationship pursuant to which such stockholder has a right to vote any shares of any security of the Company, (D) any short interest in any security of the Company (for purposes of these Bylaws a person shall be deemed to have a short interest in a security if such person directly or indirectly, through any contract, arrangement, understanding, relationship or otherwise, has the opportunity to profit or share in any profit derived from any decrease in the value of the subject security), (E) any rights to dividends on the shares of the Corporation owned beneficially by such stockholder that are separated or separable from the underlying shares of the Corporation, (F) any proportionate interest in shares of the Corporation or Derivative Instruments held, directly or indirectly, by a general or limited partnership in which such stockholder is a general partner or, directly or indirectly, beneficially owns an interest in a general partner and (G) any performance-related fees (other than an asset- based fee) that such stockholder is entitled to based on any increase or decrease in the value of shares of the Corporation or Derivative

 

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Instruments, if any, as of the date of such notice, including without limitation any such interests held by members of such stockholder’s immediate family sharing the same household (which information shall be supplemented by such stockholder and such beneficial owner, if any, not later than 10 days after the record date for the meeting to disclose such ownership as of the record date), (iii) any other information relating to such stockholder and such beneficial owner, if any, that would be required to be disclosed in a proxy statement or other filings required to be made in connection with solicitations of proxies for, as applicable, the proposal and/or for the election of directors in a contested election pursuant to Section 14 of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, (iv) any other information that would be required to be set forth in a Schedule 13D filed pursuant to Rule 13d-1(a) or an amendment pursuant to Rule 13d-2(a) if such a statement were required to be filed under the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder by such stockholder or the beneficial owner, if any, (v) a representation that such owner intends to appear in person or by proxy at the meeting to propose such business or nomination, and (vi) a representation whether the stockholder or the beneficial owner, if any, intends or is part of a group which intends (x) to deliver a proxy statement and/or form of proxy to holders of at least the percentage of the Corporation’s outstanding capital stock required to approve or adopt the proposal or elect the nominee and/or (y) otherwise to solicit proxies from stockholders in support of such proposal or nomination.

(3)    In addition, to be timely, a stockholder’s notice shall further be updated and supplemented, if necessary, so that the information provided or required to be provided in such notice shall be true and correct as of the record date for the meeting and as of the date that is 10 business days prior to the meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof, and such update and supplement shall be delivered to the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the Company no later than five business days after the record date for the meeting in the case of the update and supplement required to be made as of the record date, and not later than eight business days prior to the date for the meeting, any adjournment or postponement thereof in the case of the update and supplement required to be made as of 10 business days prior to the meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof. For the avoidance of doubt, the obligation to update and supplement as set forth in this paragraph or any other Section of these Bylaws shall not limit the Corporation’s rights with respect to any deficiencies in any notice provided by a stockholder, extend any applicable deadlines hereunder or under any other provision of the Bylaws or enable or be deemed to permit a stockholder who has previously submitted notice hereunder, or under any other provision of the Bylaws, to amend or update any proposal or to submit any new proposal, including without limitation by changing or adding nominees, matters, business and/or resolutions proposed to be brought before a meeting of the stockholders.

(4)    Notwithstanding anything in the second sentence of paragraph (A)(2) of this Bylaw to the contrary, in the event that the number of directors to be elected to the Board of Directors of the Corporation is increased and there is no public announcement naming all of the nominees for director or specifying the size of the increased Board of Directors made by the Corporation at least 100 days prior to the first anniversary of the preceding year’s annual meeting, a stockholder’s notice required by this Bylaw shall also be considered timely, but only with respect to nominees for any new positions created by such increase, if it shall be delivered to the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the Corporation not later than the close of business on the 10 th day following the day on which such public announcement is first made by the Corporation.

 

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(5)    For Proxy Access Nominations to be properly brought before an annual meeting of stockholders by an Eligible Stockholder or Nominating Stockholder, as applicable, pursuant to clause (c) of paragraph (A)(1) of this Bylaw, each Eligible Stockholder and/or Nominating Stockholder must fully comply with the timing, notice and other provisions in Section  2.14 of these Bylaws.

(B)     Special Meetings of Stockholders . Only such business shall be conducted at a special meeting of stockholders as shall have been brought before the meeting pursuant to the Corporation’s notice of meeting. Nominations of persons for election to the Board of Directors may be made at a special meeting of stockholders at which directors are to be elected pursuant to the Corporation’s notice of meeting (a) by or at the direction of the Board of Directors or (b) provided that the Board of Directors has determined that directors shall be elected at such meeting, by any stockholder of the Corporation who is a stockholder of record at the time of giving of notice provided for in this Bylaw, who shall be entitled to vote at the meeting and who complies with the notice procedures set forth in this Bylaw. In the event the Corporation calls a special meeting of stockholders for the purpose of electing one or more directors to the Board of Directors, any such stockholder may nominate a person or persons (as the case may be), for election to such position(s) as specified in the Corporation’s notice of meeting, if the stockholder’s notice required by paragraph (A)(2) of this Bylaw with respect to any nomination (including the completed and signed questionnaire, representation and agreement required by Section  2.8(C) of this Bylaw) shall be delivered to the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the Corporation not earlier than the close of business on the 120 th day prior to such special meeting and not later than the close of business on the later of the 90 th day prior to such special meeting or the 10 th day following the day on which public announcement is first made of the date of the special meeting and of the nominees proposed by the Board of Directors to be elected at such meeting. In no event shall the public announcement of an adjournment or postponement of a special meeting commence a new time period for the giving of a stockholder’s notice as described above. This paragraph (B) shall be the exclusive means for a stockholder to make nominations or other business proposals before a special meeting of stockholders (other than matters properly brought under Rule 14a-8 under the Exchange Act and included in the Corporation’s notice of meeting). For the avoidance of doubt, Proxy Access Nominations may not be made at any special meeting of stockholders.

(C)     Submission of Questionnaire, Representation and Agreement . To be eligible to be a nominee for election or reelection as a director of the Corporation, a person must deliver in accordance with the time periods prescribed for delivery of notice under this Section  2.8 or, in the case of a Proxy Access Nomination brought under Section  2.14 of these Bylaws, in accordance with the timing, notice and other provisions of Section  2.14 of these Bylaws, to the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the Corporation a written questionnaire with respect to the background and qualifications of such person and the background of any other person or entity on whose behalf the nomination is being made (which questionnaire shall be provided by the Secretary upon written request) and a written representation and agreement (in the form provided by the Secretary upon written request) that such person (A) is not and will not become a party to (1) any agreement, arrangement or

 

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understanding with, and has not given any commitment or assurance to, any person or entity as to how such person, if elected as a director of the Corporation, will act or vote on any issue or question (a “Voting Commitment”) that has not been disclosed to the Corporation or (2) any Voting Commitment that could limit or interfere with such person’s ability to comply, if elected as a director of the Corporation, with such person’s fiduciary duties under applicable law, (B) is not and will not become a party to any agreement, arrangement or understanding with any person or entity other than the Corporation with respect to any direct or indirect compensation, reimbursement or indemnification in connection with service or action as a director that has not been disclosed therein, (C) in such person’s individual capacity and on behalf of any person or entity on whose behalf the nomination is being made, would be in compliance, if elected as a director of the Corporation, and will comply with all applicable publicly disclosed corporate governance, conflict of interest, confidentiality and stock ownership and trading policies and guidelines of the Corporation and (D) will abide by the requirements of Section  2.9 of these Bylaws.

(D)     General .

(1)    Only such persons who are nominated in accordance with the procedures set forth in this Bylaw or Section  2.14 of these Bylaws shall be eligible to be elected at an annual meeting of stockholders or special meeting of stockholders (for the avoidance of doubt, Proxy Access Nominations under Section  2.14 may not be made at any special meeting of stockholders), as applicable, to serve as directors and only such business shall be conducted at a meeting of stockholders as shall have been brought before the meeting in accordance with the procedures set forth in this Bylaw. Except as otherwise provided by law, the Certificate of Incorporation or the Bylaws of the Corporation, the presiding officer of the meeting shall have the power and duty to determine whether a nomination or any business proposed to be brought before the meeting was made, or proposed, as the case may be, in accordance with the procedures set forth in this Bylaw and, if any proposed nomination or business is not in compliance with this Bylaw, to declare that such defective proposal or nomination shall be disregarded.

(2)    For purposes of this Bylaw, “public announcement” shall mean disclosure in a press release reported by the Dow Jones News Service, Associated Press or comparable national news service or in a document publicly filed by the Corporation with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Section 13, 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act.

(3)    Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Bylaw, a stockholder shall also comply with all applicable requirements of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations thereunder with respect to the matters set forth in this Bylaw. Nothing in this Bylaw shall be deemed to affect any rights of (i) stockholders to request inclusion of proposals in the Corporation’s proxy statement pursuant to Rule 14a-8 under the Exchange Act or (ii) the holders of any series of Preferred Stock to elect directors under specified circumstances. Subject to Rule 14a-8 and Rule 14a-11 under the Exchange Act, nothing in these By-laws Bylaws shall be construed to permit any stockholder, or give any stockholder the right, to include or have disseminated or described in the Corporation’s proxy statement any nomination of director or directors or any other business proposal.

 

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Section 2.9.     Procedure for Election of Directors; Required Vote .

(A)    Except as set forth below, election of directors at all meetings of the stockholders at which directors are to be elected shall be by ballot, and, subject to the rights of the holders of any series of Preferred Stock to elect directors under specified circumstances, a majority of the votes cast at any meeting for the election of directors at which a quorum is present shall elect directors. For purposes of this Bylaw, a majority of votes cast shall mean that the number of shares voted “for” a director’s election exceeds 50% of the number of votes cast with respect to that director’s election. Votes cast shall include direction to withhold authority in each case and exclude abstentions with respect to that director’s election. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event of a “contested election” of directors, directors shall be elected by the vote of a plurality of the votes cast at any meeting for the election of directors at which a quorum is present. For purposes of this Bylaw, a “contested election” shall mean any election of directors in which the number of candidates for election as directors exceeds the number of directors to be elected, with the determination thereof being made by the Secretary as of the close of the applicable notice of nomination period set forth in Section  2.8 or Section  2.14 , as applicable, of these Bylaws or under applicable law, based on whether one or more notice(s) of nomination were timely filed in accordance with said Section  2.8 or Section  2.14 , as applicable; provided, however, that the determination that an election is a “contested election” shall be determinative only as to the timeliness of a notice of nomination and not otherwise as to its validity. If, prior to the time the Corporation mails its initial proxy statement in connection with such election of directors, one or more notices of nomination are withdrawn such that the number of candidates for election as director no longer exceeds the number of directors to be elected, the election shall not be considered a “contested election,” but in all other cases, once an election is determined to be a contested election, directors shall be elected by the vote of a plurality of the votes cast.

(B)    If a nominee for director who is an incumbent director is not elected and no successor has been elected at such meeting, the director shall promptly tender his or her resignation to the Board of Directors. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee shall make a recommendation to the Board of Directors as to whether to accept or reject the tendered resignation, or whether other action should be taken. The Board of Directors shall act on the tendered resignation, taking into account the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee’s recommendation, and publicly disclose (by a press release, a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other broadly disseminated means of communication) its decision regarding the tendered resignation and the rationale behind the decision within 90 days from the date of the certification of the election results. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee in making its recommendation, and the Board of Directors in making its decision, may each consider any factors or other information that it considers appropriate and relevant. The director who tenders his or her resignation shall not participate in the recommendation of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee or the decision of the Board of Directors with respect to his or her resignation. If such incumbent director’s resignation is not accepted by the Board of Directors, such director shall continue to serve until the next annual meeting and until his or her successor is duly elected, or his or her earlier resignation or removal. If a director’s resignation is accepted by the Board of Directors pursuant to this Bylaw, or if a nominee for director is not elected and the nominee is not an incumbent

 

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director, then the Board of Directors, in its sole discretion, may fill any resulting vacancy pursuant to the provisions of Section  3.9 of these Bylaws or may decrease the size of the Board of Directors pursuant to the provisions of Section  3.2 of these Bylaws.

(C)    Except as otherwise provided by law, the Certificate of Incorporation, or these Bylaws, in all matters other than the election of directors, the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting and entitled to vote on the matter shall be the act of the stockholders.

Section 2.10.     Inspectors of Elections; Opening and Closing the Polls . The Board of Directors by resolution shall appoint one or more inspectors, which inspector or inspectors may include individuals who serve the Corporation in other capacities, including, without limitation, as officers, employees, agents or representatives, to act at the meetings of stockholders and make a written report thereof. One or more persons may be designated as alternate inspectors to replace any inspector who fails to act. If no inspector or alternate has been appointed to act or is able to act at a meeting of stockholders, the presiding officer of the meeting shall appoint one or more inspectors to act at the meeting. Each inspector, before discharging his or her duties, shall take and sign an oath faithfully to execute the duties of inspector with strict impartiality and according to the best of his or her ability. The inspectors shall have the duties prescribed by law. The presiding officer of the meeting shall fix and announce at the meeting the date and time of the opening and the closing of the polls for each matter upon which the stockholders will vote at a meeting.

Section 2.11.     Record Date for Action by Written Consent . In order that the Corporation may determine the stockholders entitled to consent to corporate action in writing without a meeting, the Board of Directors may fix a record date, which record date shall not precede the date upon which the resolution fixing the record date is adopted by the Board of Directors, and which date shall not be more than 10 days after the date upon which the resolution fixing the record date is adopted by the Board of Directors. Any stockholder of record seeking to have the stockholders authorize or take corporate action by written consent shall, by written notice to the Secretary, request the Board of Directors to fix a record date. The Board of Directors shall promptly, but in all events within 10 days after the date on which such a request is received, adopt a resolution fixing the record date. If no record date has been fixed by the Board of Directors within 10 days of the date on which such a request is received, the record date for determining stockholders entitled to consent to corporate action in writing without a meeting, when no prior action by the Board of Directors is required by applicable law, shall be the first date on which a signed written consent setting forth the action taken or proposed to be taken is delivered to the Corporation by delivery to its registered office in Delaware, its principal place of business or to any officer or agent of the Corporation having custody of the book in which proceedings of meetings of stockholders are recorded. Delivery made to the Corporation’s registered office shall be by hand or by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested. If no record date has been fixed by the Board of Directors and prior action by the Board of Directors is required by applicable law, the record date for determining stockholders entitled to consent to corporate action in writing without a meeting shall be at the close of business on the date on which the Board of Directors adopts the resolution taking such prior action.

 

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Section 2.12.     Inspectors of Written Consent . In the event of the delivery, in the manner provided by Section  2.11 , to the Corporation of the requisite written consent or consents to take corporate action and/or any related revocation or revocations, the Corporation shall engage nationally recognized independent inspectors of elections for the purpose of promptly performing a ministerial review of the validity of the consents and revocations. For the purpose of permitting the inspectors to perform such review, no action by written consent without a meeting shall be effective until such date as the independent inspectors certify to the Corporation that the consents delivered to the Corporation in accordance with Section  2.11 represent at least the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to take the corporate action. Nothing contained in this paragraph shall in any way be construed to suggest or imply that the Board of Directors or any stockholder shall not be entitled to contest the validity of any consent or revocation thereof, whether before or after such certification by the independent inspectors, or to take any other action (including, without limitation, the commencement, prosecution or defense of any litigation with respect thereto, and the seeking of injunctive relief in such litigation).

Section 2.13.     Effectiveness of Written Consent . Every written consent shall bear the date of signature of each stockholder who signs the consent and no written consent shall be effective to take the corporate action referred to therein unless, within 60 days of the earliest dated written consent received in accordance with Section  2.11 , a written consent or consents signed by a sufficient number of holders to take such action are delivered to the Corporation in the manner prescribed in Section  2.11 .

Section 2.14.     Proxy Access . Subject to the terms and conditions set forth in these Bylaws, the Corporation shall include in its proxy materials for an annual meeting of stockholders held in or after 2017 the name, together with the Required Information (as defined in paragraph (A)(5) below), of one or more person(s) properly nominated for election (the “Stockholder Nominee”) to the Board of Directors by a qualifying stockholder or group of stockholders that satisfy the requirements of this Section  2.14 , including qualifying as an Eligible Stockholder (as defined in paragraph (A)(4) below), and that expressly elects at the time of providing the written notice required by this Section  2.14 (a “Proxy Access Notice”) to have its nominee included in the Corporation’s proxy materials pursuant to this Section  2.14 .

(A)    For purposes of this Section  2.14 :

(1)    “Voting Stock” shall mean outstanding shares of capital stock of the Corporation entitled to vote generally for the election of directors;

(2)    “Constituent Holder” shall mean any stockholder, collective investment fund included within a Qualifying Fund (as defined in paragraph (D) below) or beneficial holder whose stock ownership is counted for purposes of qualifying as holding the Proxy Access Request Required Shares (as defined in paragraph (D) below) or qualifying as an Eligible Stockholder (as defined in paragraph (D) below);

(3)    “Affiliate” and “associate” shall have the meanings ascribed thereto in Rule 405 under the Exchange Act; provided, however, that the term “partner” as used in the definition of “associate” shall not include any limited partner that is not involved in the management of the relevant partnership;

 

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(4)    A stockholder (and any Constituent Holders) shall be deemed to “own” only those outstanding shares of Voting Stock as to which the stockholder or any Constituent Holder possesses both (a) the full voting and investment rights pertaining to the shares and (b) the full economic interest in (including the opportunity for profit and risk of loss on) such shares. The number of shares calculated in accordance with the foregoing clauses (a) and (b) shall be deemed not to include (and to the extent any of the following arrangements have been entered into by affiliates of the stockholder (or of any Constituent Holder), shall be reduced by) any shares (x) sold by such stockholder (or any of its affiliates) or such Constituent Holder (or any of its affiliates) in any transaction that has not been settled or closed, including any short sale, (y) borrowed by such stockholder (or any of its affiliates) or such Constituent Holder (or any of its affiliates) for any purposes or purchased by such stockholder (or any of its affiliates) or such Constituent Holder (or any of its affiliates) pursuant to an agreement to resell or (z) subject to any short interest (as described in Section  2.8(A)(2)(c) of these Bylaws) or Derivative Instrument, which interest or instrument has, or is intended to have, or if exercised by either party thereto would have, the purpose or effect of (i) reducing in any manner, to any extent or at any time in the future, such stockholder’s (or affiliate’s) or such Constituent Holder’s (or affiliate’s) full right to vote or direct the voting of any such shares, and/or (ii) hedging, offsetting or altering to any degree gain or loss arising from the full economic ownership of such shares by such stockholder (or affiliate) or such Constituent Holder (or affiliate), other than any such arrangements solely involving an exchange listed multi-industry market index fund in which Voting Stock represents at the time of entry into such arrangement less than ten percent (10%) of the proportionate value of such index. A stockholder or Constituent Holder shall “own” shares held in the name of a nominee or other intermediary so long as the stockholder or Constituent Holder retains the right to instruct how the shares are voted with respect to the election of directors and the right to direct the disposition thereof and possesses the full economic interest in the shares. A stockholder’s ownership or Constituent Holder’s ownership of shares shall be deemed to continue during any period in which such stockholder or Constituent Holder has loaned such shares in the ordinary course of its business or delegated any voting power over such shares by means of a proxy, power of attorney or other instrument or arrangement which, in either case of such loan or delegation, is recallable and/or revocable at any time by the stockholder or Constituent Holder, as applicable, and, in the case of loaned shares, on not more than five business days’ notice. The terms “owned,” “owning” and other variations of the word “own” shall have correlative meanings; and

(5)    The “Required Information” that the Corporation will include in its proxy statement is (a) the information concerning the Stockholder Nominee and the Eligible Stockholder(s) and Nominating Stockholder(s) that the Corporation determines is required to be disclosed in the Corporation’s proxy statement by the regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act; and (b) if the Eligible Stockholder and/or Nominating Stockholder so elects, a Statement (as defined in paragraph (F) below). The Corporation shall also include the name of the Stockholder Nominee in its proxy card. For the avoidance of doubt, and any other provision of these Bylaws notwithstanding, the Corporation may, in its sole discretion, solicit against, and include in the proxy statement its own statements or other information relating to, any Eligible Stockholder, Nominating Stockholder and/or Stockholder Nominee, including any information provided to the Corporation with respect to the foregoing.

 

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(B)    To be timely, a stockholder’s Proxy Access Notice must be delivered to the Secretary of the Corporation at its principal executive offices not later than the close of business on the 120 th day nor earlier than the close of business on the 150 th day prior to the first anniversary of the date that the Corporation mailed its proxy statement for the preceding year’s annual meeting of stockholders; provided, however, that in the event the annual meeting of stockholders is not scheduled to be held within a period that commences 30 days before and ends 60 days after the first anniversary date of the previous year’s annual meeting of stockholders (such meeting date referred to herein as an “Outside Meeting Date”), the Proxy Access Notice must be so delivered to, and received by, the Secretary of the Corporation no earlier than 180 days and no later than the 10 th day following the date such Outside Meeting Date is first publicly announced or disclosed. In no event shall any adjournment or postponement of an annual meeting, or the Public Announcement thereof, commence a new time period or extend any time period for giving of a Proxy Access Notice.

(C)    The number of Stockholder Nominees (including Stockholder Nominees that were submitted by any Eligible Stockholder and/or Nominating Stockholder for inclusion in the Corporation’s proxy materials pursuant to this Section  2.14 but either are subsequently withdrawn or that the Board of Directors decides to nominate as Board of Directors’ nominees) appearing in the Corporation’s proxy materials with respect to an annual meeting of stockholders shall be the greater of (x) two and (y) the largest whole number that does not exceed twenty percent (20%) of the number of directors in office as of the last day on which a Proxy Access Notice may be delivered in accordance with the procedures set forth in this Section  2.14 (such greater number, the “Permitted Number”); provided, however, that the Permitted Number shall be reduced by:

(1)    the number of directors in office or director candidates that, in either case, will be included in the Corporation’s proxy materials with respect to such annual meeting as an unopposed (by the Corporation) nominee pursuant to an agreement, arrangement or other understanding with a stockholder or group of stockholders (other than any such agreement, arrangement or understanding entered into in connection with an acquisition of Voting Stock, by such stockholder or group of stockholders, from the Corporation), other than any such director referred to in this clause ( 2 1 ) who at the time of such annual meeting will have served as a director continuously, as a nominee of the Board of Directors, for at least two (2) annual terms, but only to the extent the Permitted Number after such reduction with respect to this clause ( 2 1 ) equals or exceeds one (1); and

(2)    the number of directors in office that will be included in the Corporation’s proxy materials with respect to such annual meeting for whom access to the Corporation’s proxy materials was previously provided pursuant to this Section  2.14 , other than any such director referred to in this clause ( 3 2 ) who at the time of such annual meeting will have served as a director continuously, as a nominee of the Board of Directors, for at least two (2) annual terms;

provided, further, that in the event the Board of Directors resolves to reduce the size of the Board of Directors effective on or prior to the date of the annual meeting of stockholders, the Permitted Number shall be calculated based on the number of directors in office as so reduced. Any Eligible Stockholder or Nominating Stockholder, as applicable, submitting more than one

 

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Stockholder Nominee for inclusion in the Corporation’s proxy statement pursuant to this Section  2.14 shall (i) rank such Stockholder Nominees based on the order that such person desires such Stockholder Nominees to be selected for inclusion in the Corporation’s proxy statement in the event that the number of Stockholder Nominees submitted pursuant to this Section  2.14 exceeds the Permitted Number and (ii) explicitly specify and include the respective rankings referred to in the foregoing clause (i) in the Proxy Access Notice delivered to the Corporation with respect to all Stockholder Nominees submitted pursuant thereto. In the event that the number of Stockholder Nominees submitted by Eligible Stockholders pursuant to this Section  2.14 exceeds the Permitted Number, each Eligible Stockholder will have its highest ranking Stockholder Nominee (as ranked pursuant to the preceding sentence) who meets the requirements of this Section  2.14 selected for inclusion in the Corporation’s proxy materials until the Permitted Number is reached, going in order of the amount (largest to smallest) of shares of Voting Stock each Eligible Stockholder disclosed as owned in its Proxy Access Notice submitted to the Corporation (with the understanding that an Eligible Stockholder may not ultimately have any of its Stockholder Nominees included if the Permitted Number has previously been reached).

If the Permitted Number is not reached after each Eligible Stockholder or Nominating Stockholder, as applicable, has had one Stockholder Nominee selected, this selection process will continue as many times as necessary, following the same order each time, until the Permitted Number is reached. After reaching the Permitted Number of Stockholder Nominees, if any Stockholder Nominee who satisfies the eligibility requirements in this Section  2.14 thereafter withdraws, has his or her nomination withdrawn or is thereafter not submitted for director election, no other nominee or nominees shall be required to be substituted for such Stockholder Nominee and included in the Corporation’s proxy statement or otherwise submitted for director election pursuant to this Section  2.14 .

(D)    An “Eligible Stockholder” is one or more stockholders of record or of beneficial ownership who own and have owned, or are acting on behalf of one (1) or more beneficial owners who own and have owned (in each case as defined above), in each case continuously for at least three (3) years as of both the date that the Proxy Access Notice is received by the Corporation pursuant to this Section  2.14 , and as of the record date for determining stockholders eligible to vote at the annual meeting of stockholders, at least three percent (3%) of the aggregate voting power of the Voting Stock (the “Proxy Access Request Required Shares”), and who continue to own the Proxy Access Request Required Shares at all times between the date such Proxy Access Notice is received by the Corporation and the date of the applicable annual meeting of stockholders, provided that the aggregate number of stockholders, and, if and to the extent that a stockholder is acting on behalf of one or more beneficial owners, of such beneficial owners, whose stock ownership is counted for the purpose of satisfying the foregoing ownership requirement shall not exceed twenty (20). Two (2) or more collective investment funds that are (i) a group of funds under common management and investment control, (ii) a group of funds under common management and funded primarily by the same employer, or (iii) a “family of investment companies” or a “group of investment companies” each as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (each a “Qualifying Fund”) shall be treated as one stockholder for the purpose of determining the aggregate number of stockholders in this paragraph (D) provided that each fund included within a Qualifying Fund otherwise meets the requirements set forth in this Section  2.14 and provides

 

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information, together with the Proxy Access Notice documentation satisfactory to the Board or its designee, acting in good faith, that demonstrates it is a Qualifying Fund. No shares may be attributed to more than one group constituting an Eligible Stockholder under this Section  2.14 (and, for the avoidance of doubt, no stockholder may be a member of more than one group constituting an Eligible Stockholder). A record holder acting on behalf of one or more beneficial owners will not be counted separately as a stockholder with respect to the shares owned by beneficial owners on whose behalf such record holder has been directed in writing to act, but each such beneficial owner will be counted separately, subject to the other provisions of this paragraph (D), for purposes of determining the number of stockholders whose holdings may be considered as part of an Eligible Stockholder’s holdings. For the avoidance of doubt, Proxy Access Request Required Shares will qualify as such if and only if the beneficial owner of such shares as of the date of the Proxy Access Notice has itself individually beneficially owned such shares continuously for the three-year (3-year) period ending on that date and through the other applicable dates referred to above (in addition to all other applicable requirements being met).

(E)    No later than the final date when a Proxy Access Notice pursuant to this Section  2.14 may be timely delivered to the Corporation, an Eligible Stockholder (including each Constituent Holder) must provide the following information in writing to the Secretary of the Corporation:

(1)    the name and address of, and number of shares of Voting Stock owned by, such person;

(2)    one or more written statements from the record holder of the shares (and from each intermediary through which the shares are or have been held during the requisite three-year (3-year) holding period) verifying that, as of a date within seven days prior to the date the Proxy Access Notice is delivered to the Corporation, such Eligible Stockholder (and each Constituent Holder) owns, and has owned continuously for the preceding three years, the Proxy Access Request Required Shares, and such person’s agreement to provide:

(a)    within five days after the record date for the annual meeting of stockholders, written statements from the record holder and intermediaries verifying such person’s continuous ownership of the Proxy Access Request Required Shares through the record date, together with any additional information reasonably requested to verify such person’s ownership of the Proxy Access Request Required Shares; and

(b)    immediate notice if the Eligible Stockholder ceases to own any of the Proxy Access Request Required Shares prior to the date of the applicable annual meeting of stockholders;

(3)    the information, representations and agreements contemplated by Section  2.8 of these Bylaws;

 

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(4)    a representation that such person:

(a)    acquired the Proxy Access Request Required Shares in the ordinary course of business and not with the intent to change or influence control of the Corporation, and does not presently have such intent;

(b)    has not nominated and will not nominate for election to the Board of Directors at the annual meeting of stockholders any person other than the Stockholder Nominee(s) being nominated pursuant to this Section  2.14 ;

(c)    has not engaged and will not engage in, and has not and will not be a “participant” in another person’s, “solicitation” within the meaning of Rule 14a-1(l) promulgated under the Exchange Act in support of the election of any individual as a director at the annual meeting of stockholders other than its Stockholder Nominee(s) or a nominee of the Board of Directors;

(d)    will not distribute to any stockholder any form of proxy for the annual meeting of stockholders other than the form distributed by the Corporation; and

(e)    will provide facts, statements and other information in all communications with the Corporation and its stockholders that are and will be true and correct in all material respects and do not and will not omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, and will otherwise comply with all applicable laws, rules and regulations in connection with any actions taken pursuant to this Section  2.14 ;

(5)    in the case of a nomination by an Eligible Stockholder comprised of a group of stockholders that together is such an Eligible Stockholder, the designation by all group members (including Constituent Holders), as evidenced by a written agreement provided to the Corporation signed by all group members (including Constituent Holders), of one group member that is authorized to act on behalf of all members of the nominating stockholder group with respect to the nomination and matters related thereto, including withdrawal of the nomination (the “Nominating Stockholder”) (for the avoidance of doubt, in the event of a nomination by a Nominating Stockholder that includes more than one Eligible Stockholder (including each Constituent Holder), any and all requirements and obligations for an Eligible Stockholder (including each Constituent Holder) that are set forth in this Section  2.14 shall apply to each such Eligible Stockholder; provided, however that, in such case, the Proxy Access Request Required Shares provision shall apply to the Eligible Stockholder comprised of a group of such stockholders that together comprises such an Eligible Stockholder);

(6)    an undertaking that such person agrees to:

(a)    assume all liability stemming from, and indemnify and hold harmless the Corporation and each of its directors, officers and employees individually against any liability, loss or damages in connection with any threatened or pending action, suit or proceeding, whether legal, administrative or investigative, against the Corporation or any of its directors, officers or employees arising out of any legal or regulatory violation arising out of the

 

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Eligible Stockholder’s and/or Nominating Stockholder’s communications with the stockholders of the Corporation or out of the information that the Eligible Stockholder and/or Nominating Stockholder provided to the Corporation; and

(b)    file with the Securities and Exchange Commission any solicitation by the Eligible Stockholder and/or Nominating Stockholder of stockholders of the Corporation relating to the annual meeting of stockholders at which the Stockholder Nominee will be nominated and provide to the Corporation copies of any solicitation or other communication with the Corporation’s stockholders relating to the annual meeting of stockholders that is exempt from filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission; and

(7)    a completed copy of the Schedule 14N (or any successor form) relating to the Stockholder Nominee that has been or will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission as required by Rule 14a-18 under the Exchange Act.

In order to be considered timely, any information required by this Section  2.14 to be provided to the Corporation must be supplemented (by delivery to the Secretary of the Corporation) (1) no later than five days following the record date for the applicable annual meeting of stockholders, to disclose the foregoing information as of such record date, and (2) no later than the eighth day before the annual meeting of stockholders, to disclose the foregoing information as of the date that is 10 days prior to such annual meeting of stockholders. For the avoidance of doubt, the requirement to update and supplement such information shall not permit any Eligible Stockholder or other person to change or add any proposed Stockholder Nominee or be deemed to cure any defects or limit the remedies (including without limitation under these Bylaws) available to the Corporation relating to any defect.

(F)    The Eligible Stockholder or Nominating Stockholder, as applicable, may provide to the Secretary of the Corporation, at the time the information required by this Section  2.14 is originally provided, a written statement for inclusion in the Corporation’s proxy statement for the annual meeting of stockholders, not to exceed five hundred (500) words, in support of the candidacy of such Eligible Stockholder’s or Nominating Stockholder’s, as applicable, Stockholder Nominee (the “Statement”). Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Section  2.14 , the Corporation may omit from its proxy materials any information or Statement that it, in good faith, believes is materially false or misleading, omits to state any material fact, or would violate any applicable law or regulation.

(G)    No later than the final date when a Proxy Access Notice pursuant to this Section  2.14 may be timely delivered to the Corporation, each Stockholder Nominee must deliver to the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the Corporation the completed and signed questionnaire, representation, agreement required by Sections Section  2.8(C) of these Bylaws and:

(1)    provide an executed agreement, in a form deemed satisfactory by the Board of Directors or its designee (which form shall be provided by the Corporation reasonably promptly upon written request of a stockholder), that such Stockholder Nominee consents to being named in the Corporation’s proxy statement and form of proxy card (and will not agree to be named in any other person’s proxy statement or form of proxy card) as a nominee and to serving as a director of the Corporation if elected;

 

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(2)    complete, sign and submit all other questionnaires required of the Corporation’s directors generally; and

(3)    provide such additional information as necessary to permit the Board of Directors to determine if any of the matters contemplated by paragraph (I) below apply to such Stockholder Nominee or if such nominee has any direct or indirect relationship with the Corporation or is or has previously been subject to any event specified in Item 401(f) of Regulation S-K (or successor rule) of the Securities and Exchange Commission or Rule 506(d) of Regulation D under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

In the event that any information or communications provided by the Eligible Stockholder (or any Constituent Holder), the Nominating Stockholder or the Stockholder Nominee to the Corporation or its stockholders ceases to be true and correct in all material respects or omits a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, each Eligible Stockholder, the Nominating Stockholder or Stockholder Nominee, as the case may be, shall promptly notify the Secretary of the Corporation of any defect in such previously provided information and of the information that is required to correct any such defect; it being understood for the avoidance of doubt that providing any such notification shall not be deemed to cure any such defect or limit the remedies (including, without limitation, under these Bylaws) available to the Corporation relating to any such defect.

(H)    For the avoidance of doubt, any Stockholder Nominee who is included in the Corporation’s proxy statement for a particular annual meeting of stockholders, but subsequently is determined not to satisfy the eligibility requirements of this Section  2.14 or any other provision of the Bylaws, Certificate of Incorporation, or other applicable regulation any time before the annual meeting of stockholders, will not be eligible for election at such annual meeting.

(I)    The Corporation shall not be required to include, pursuant to this Section  2.14 , a Stockholder Nominee in its proxy materials for any annual meeting of stockholders, or, if the proxy statement already has been filed, to allow the nomination of a Stockholder Nominee, notwithstanding that proxies in respect of such vote may have been received by the Corporation:

(1)    who is not independent under the listing standards of the principal U.S. exchange upon which the common stock of the Corporation is listed (or other listing standards applicable to the Corporation), any applicable rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission and any publicly disclosed standards used by the Board of Directors in determining and disclosing independence of the Corporation’s directors, in each case, as determined by the Board of Directors;

(2)    whose service as a member of the Board of Directors would violate or cause the Corporation to be in violation of these Bylaws, the Certificate of Incorporation, the rules and listing standards of the principal U.S. exchange upon which the common stock of the Corporation is traded (or other such rules and listing standards applicable to the Corporation), or any applicable law, rule or regulation;

 

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(3)    if the Eligible Stockholder (or any Constituent Holder), Nominating Stockholder or applicable Stockholder Nominee otherwise breaches or fails to comply in any material respect with its obligations pursuant to this Section  2.14 or any agreement, representation or undertaking required by this Section;

(4)    if the Eligible Stockholder ceases to be an Eligible Stockholder for any reason, including but not limited to, not owning the Proxy Access Request Required Shares through the date of the applicable annual meeting; or

(5)    who is or has been, within the past three (3) years, an officer or director of a competitor, as defined in Section 8 of the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914;

(6)    if the Corporation receives one or more stockholder notices nominating director candidates pursuant to Section  2.8 (but not this Section  2.14 ) of these Bylaws.

For the purposes of this paragraph (I), clauses (1), (2) and (5) and, to the extent related to a breach or failure by the Stockholder Nominee, clause (3) will result in the exclusion from the proxy materials pursuant to this Section  2.14 of the specific Stockholder Nominee to whom the ineligibility applies, or, if the proxy statement already has been filed, the ineligibility of such Stockholder Nominee to be nominated; provided, however, that clause (4) and, to the extent related to a breach or failure by an Eligible Stockholder (or any Constituent Holder), clause (3) will result in the Voting Stock owned by such Eligible Stockholder (or Constituent Holder) or Nominating Stockholder being excluded from the Proxy Access Request Required Shares (and, if as a result the Proxy Access Notice shall no longer have been filed by an Eligible Stockholder or Nominating Stockholder, as applicable, the exclusion from the proxy materials pursuant to this Section  2.14 of all of the applicable stockholder’s Stockholder Nominees from the applicable annual meeting of stockholders or, if the proxy statement has already been filed, the ineligibility of all of such stockholder’s Stockholder Nominees to be nominated).

(J)    Any Stockholder Nominee who is included in the Corporation’s proxy materials for a particular annual meeting of stockholders but either (i) withdraws from or becomes ineligible or unavailable for election at any such annual meeting; or (ii) is not elected to the Board of Directors and does not receive at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the votes cast in favor of the Stockholder Nominee’s election, will be ineligible to be a Stockholder Nominee pursuant to this Section  2.14 for the next two (2) annual meetings of stockholders.

ARTICLE III

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Section 3.1.     General Powers . The business and affairs of the Corporation shall be managed under the direction of the Board of Directors. In addition to the powers and authorities by these Bylaws expressly conferred upon them, the Board of Directors may exercise all such powers of the Corporation and do all such lawful acts and things as are not by statute or by the Certificate of Incorporation or by these Bylaws required to be exercised or done by the stockholders.

 

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Section 3.2.    Number, Tenure and Term. Subject to the rights of the holders of any series of Preferred Stock to elect directors under specified circumstances, the number of directors shall be fixed from time to time exclusively pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the Whole Board. Each director shall hold office until the next annual election of directors and until the director’s successor is elected and qualified.

Section 3.3.     Regular Meetings . A regular meeting of the Board of Directors shall be held without other notice than this Bylaw immediately after, and at the same place as, the annual meeting of stockholders. The Board of Directors may, by resolution, provide the time and place for the holding of additional regular meetings without other notice than such resolution.

Section 3.4.     Special Meetings . Special meetings of the Board of Directors shall be called at the request of the Chairman of the Board or a majority of the Board of Directors then in office. The person or persons authorized to call special meetings of the Board of Directors may fix the place and time of the meetings.

Section 3.5.     Notice . Notice of any special meeting of directors shall be given to each director at such person’s business or residence in writing by hand delivery, first-class or overnight mail or courier service, telegram, email or facsimile transmission, orally by telephone or any other lawful means. If mailed by first-class mail, such notice shall be deemed adequately delivered when deposited in the United States mails so addressed, with postage thereon prepaid, at least five days before such meeting. If by telegram, overnight mail or courier service, such notice shall be deemed adequately delivered when the telegram is delivered to the telegraph company or the notice is delivered to the overnight mail or courier service company at least twenty-four (24) hours before such meeting. If by email or facsimile transmission, such notice shall be deemed adequately delivered when the notice is transmitted at least twelve (12) hours before such meeting. If by telephone or by hand delivery, the notice shall be given at least twelve (12) hours prior to the time set for the meeting. Neither the business to be transacted at, nor the purpose of, any regular or special meeting of the Board of Directors need be specified in the notice of such meeting, except for amendments to these Bylaws, as provided under Section  8.1 . A meeting may be held at any time without notice if all the directors are present or if those not present waive notice of the meeting in accordance with Section  6.4 of these Bylaws.

Section 3.6.     Action by Consent of Board of Directors . Any action required or permitted to be taken at any meeting of the Board of Directors or of any committee thereof may be taken without a meeting if all members of the Board of Directors or committee, as the case may be, consent thereto in writing, and the writing or writings are filed with the minutes of proceedings of the Board of Directors or committee.

Section 3.7.     Conference Telephone Meetings . Members of the Board of Directors, or any committee thereof, may participate in a meeting of the Board of Directors or such committee by means of conference telephone or similar communications equipment by means of which all persons participating in the meeting can hear each other, and such participation in a meeting shall constitute presence in person at such meeting.

 

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Section 3.8.     Quorum . Subject to Section  3.9 , a whole number of directors equal to at least a majority of the Whole Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, but if at any meeting of the Board of Directors there shall be less than a quorum present, a majority of the directors present may adjourn the meeting from time to time without further notice. The act of the majority of the directors present at a meeting at which a quorum is present shall be the act of the Board of Directors. The directors present at a duly organized meeting may continue to transact business until adjournment, notwithstanding the withdrawal of enough directors to leave less than a quorum.

Section 3.9.     Vacancies . Subject to applicable law and the rights of the holders of any series of Preferred Stock with respect to such series of Preferred Stock, and unless the Board of Directors otherwise determines, vacancies resulting from death, resignation, retirement, disqualification, removal from office or other cause, and newly created directorships resulting from any increase in the authorized number of directors, may be filled only by the affirmative vote of a majority of the remaining directors, though less than a quorum of the Board of Directors, and directors so chosen shall hold office for a term expiring at the next annual meeting of stockholders at which directors are elected and until such director’s successor shall have been duly elected and qualified. No decrease in the number of authorized directors constituting the Whole Board shall shorten the term of any incumbent director.

Section 3.10.     Committees of the Board: Executive Committee . The Board of Directors may, by resolution adopted by a majority of the Whole Board, designate an Executive Committee to exercise, subject to applicable provisions of law, all the powers of the Board in the management of the business and affairs of the Corporation when the Board of Directors is not in session, including without limitation the power to declare dividends, to authorize the issuance of the Corporation’s capital stock and to adopt a certificate of ownership and merger pursuant to Section 253 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, and may, by resolution similarly adopted, designate an Audit Committee, a Compensation Committee, a Finance Committee, a Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, the powers of which are expressly provided for in this Bylaw, and one or more additional committees. Each committee shall consist of two or more directors of the Corporation. The Board of Directors may designate one or more directors as alternate members of any committee, who may replace any absent or disqualified member at any meeting of the committee. In the absence or disqualification of any member of such committee or committees, the member or members thereof present at any meeting and not disqualified from voting, whether or not constituting a quorum, may unanimously appoint another member of the Board of Directors to act at the meeting in the place of any such absent or disqualified member. Each committee shall keep written minutes of its proceedings and shall report such proceedings to the Board of Directors when required.

Each committee shall create its own charter, which shall be reviewed by and approved at least annually by the Board of Directors. A majority of any committee may determine its action and fix the time and place of its meetings, unless the Board of Directors shall otherwise provide. Notice of such meetings shall be given to each member of the committee in the manner provided for in Section  3.5 of these Bylaws. The Board of Directors shall have the power at any time to fill vacancies in, to change the membership of, or to dissolve any such committee. Nothing herein shall be deemed to prevent the Board of Directors from appointing one or more committees consisting in whole or in part of persons who are not directors of the Corporation; provided, however, that no such committee shall have or may exercise any authority of the Board of Directors.

 

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Section 3.11.     Compensation . The Board of Directors shall have the authority to fix the compensation of directors.

Section 3.12.     Records . The Board of Directors shall cause to be kept a record containing the minutes of the proceedings of the meetings of the Board of Directors and of the stockholders, appropriate stock books and registers and such books of records and accounts as may be necessary for the proper conduct of the business of the Corporation.

ARTICLE IV

OFFICERS

Section 4.1.     Elected Officers . The elected officers of the Corporation shall be a Chairman of the Board of Directors, a Chief Executive Officer, a President, a Secretary, a Chief Financial Officer, and such other officers as the Board of Directors from time to time may deem proper. The Chairman of the Board shall be chosen from among the directors. All officers elected by the Board of Directors shall each have such powers and duties as generally pertain to their respective offices, subject to the specific provisions of this ARTICLE IV. Such officers shall also have such powers and duties as from time to time may be conferred by the Board of Directors or by any committee thereof. The Board of Directors or any committee thereof may from time to time elect, or the Chairman of the Board or the Chief Executive Officer may appoint, such other officers (including a Treasurer, one or more Chief Operating Officers, one or more Executive Vice Presidents or Senior Vice Presidents and one or more Vice Presidents, Assistant Vice Presidents, Assistant Secretaries, Assistant Treasurers, and Assistant Controllers) and such agents, as may be necessary or desirable for the conduct of the business of the Corporation. Such other officers and agents shall have such duties and shall hold their offices for such terms as shall be provided in these Bylaws or as may be prescribed by the Board of Directors or such committee or by the Chairman of the Board or the Chief Executive Officer, as the case may be.

Section 4.2.     Election and Term of Office . The elected officers of the Corporation shall be elected annually by the Board of Directors at the regular meeting of the Board of Directors held after the annual meeting of the stockholders. If the election of officers shall not be held at such meeting, such election shall be held as soon thereafter as convenient. Each officer shall hold office until his or her successor shall have been duly elected and shall have qualified or until his or her death, his or her resignation or his or her removal, whichever event shall first occur.

Section 4.3.     Chairman of the Board . The Chairman of the Board shall preside at all meetings of the stockholders and shall preside at all meetings of the Board of Directors. The Chairman of the Board shall be responsible for the general management of the affairs of the Corporation and shall perform all duties incidental to his or her office which may be required by law and all such other duties as are properly required of him or her by the Board of Directors. He or she shall make reports to the Board of Directors and the stockholders, and shall see that all orders and resolutions of the Board of Directors and of any committee thereof are carried into effect. The Chairman of the Board may also serve as the Chief Executive Officer and/or the President of the Corporation, if so elected by the Board of Directors.

 

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Section 4.4.     Chief Executive Officer . The Chief Executive Officer shall be the chief executive officer of the Corporation and, subject to the Board of Directors, shall have general charge of the business and affairs of the Corporation and shall perform such other duties as may be assigned to the Chief Executive Officer by the Board of Directors. The Chief Executive Officer shall, in the absence of or because of the inability to act of the Chairman of the Board of Directors, perform all duties of the Chairman of the Board and preside at all meetings of stockholders and of the Board of Directors. The Chief Executive Officer may also serve as Chairman of the Board, if so elected by the Board of Directors.

Section 4.5.     President . The President shall, in the absence of or because of the inability to act of the Chairman of the Board of Directors and the Chief Executive Officer, perform all duties of the Chairman of the Board and preside at all meetings of stockholders and of the Board of Directors. The President shall, in the absence of or because of the inability to act of the Chief Executive Officer, perform all duties of the Chief Executive Officer.

Section 4.6.     Chief Operating Officer . Each Chief Operating Officer shall have such powers and perform such duties as may be assigned to such Chief Operating Officer by the Board of Directors or the Chief Executive Officer.

Section 4.7.     Executive Vice President . Each Executive Vice President shall have such powers and perform such duties as may be assigned to such Executive Vice President by the Board of Directors or the Chief Executive Officer.

Section 4.8.     Senior Vice President . Each Senior Vice President shall have such powers and perform such duties as may be assigned to such Senior Vice President by the Board of Directors or the Chief Executive Officer.

Section 4.9.     Chief Financial Officer . The Chief Financial Officer shall:

(A)    be responsible for the accounts and other financial records of the Corporation consistent with directions of the Board of Directors or any committee of the Board of Directors assigned duties related thereto; be the custodian of the official corporate financial records;

(B)    prescribe the Corporation’s accounting practices and procedures in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and the directions of the Board of Directors or any committee of the Board of Directors assigned duties related thereto;

(C)    prepare, analyze and interpret the Corporation’s financial results for use in the decision-making process; prepare and file external financial reports to satisfy stockholders, government regulatory bodies, financial institutions, and others;

(D)    verify or cause to be verified the accuracy of all financial statements and accounting reports issued by the Corporation;

 

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(E)    oversee the investment of corporate funds; have primary contact with banks, investment bankers and investor groups to raise capital as directed by the Board of Directors or the Chief Executive Officer; and

(F)    perform such other duties as may be assigned to him or her by the Board of Directors or the Chief Executive Officer.

Section 4.10.     Vice Presidents . Each Vice President shall have such powers and shall perform such duties as shall be assigned to him or her by the Board of Directors or the Chief Executive Officer.

Section 4.11.     Treasurer . The Treasurer shall exercise general supervision over the receipt, custody and disbursement of corporate funds. The Treasurer shall cause the funds of the Corporation to be deposited in such banks as may be authorized by the Board of Directors, or in such banks as may be designated as depositaries in the manner provided by resolution of the Board of Directors. He or she shall have such further powers and duties and shall be subject to such directions as may be granted or imposed upon him or her from time to time by the Board of Directors or the Chief Executive Officer.

Section 4.12.     Secretary . The Secretary shall keep or cause to be kept in one or more books provided for that purpose, the minutes of all meetings of the Board of Directors, the committees of the Board of Directors and the stockholders; he or she shall see that all notices are duly given in accordance with the provisions of these Bylaws and as required by law; he or she shall be custodian of the records and the Seal of the Corporation and affix and attest the Seal to all stock certificates of the Corporation (unless the Seal of the Corporation on such certificates shall be a facsimile, as hereinafter provided) and affix and attest the Seal to all other documents to be executed on behalf of the Corporation under its Seal; and he or she shall see that the books, reports, statements, certificates and other documents and records required by law to be kept and filed are properly kept and filed; and in general, he or she shall perform all the duties incident to the office of Secretary and such other duties as from time to time may be assigned to him or her by the Board of Directors or the Chief Executive Officer.

Section 4.13.     Removal . Any officer elected, or agent appointed, by the Board of Directors, the Chairman of the Board or the Chief Executive Officer may be removed from office at any time by the affirmative vote of a majority of the Whole Board whenever, in their judgment, the best interests of the Corporation would be served by such removal. Any officer or agent appointed by the Board of Directors, the Chairman of the Board or the Chief Executive Officer may be removed by the Chairman of the Board whenever, in his or her judgment, the best interests of the Corporation would be served thereby, except that the Chairman of the Board, the President, the Chief Financial Officer, and the Secretary may only be removed by the affirmative vote of a majority of the Whole Board. No elected officer shall have any contractual rights against the Corporation for compensation by virtue of such election beyond the date of the election of his or her successor, his or her death, his or her resignation or his or her removal, whichever event shall first occur, except as otherwise provided in an employment contract or under an employee deferred compensation plan.

 

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Section 4.14.     Vacancies . A newly created elected office and a vacancy in any elected office because of death, resignation, or removal may be filled by the Board of Directors for the unexpired portion of the term at any meeting of the Board of Directors. Any vacancy in an office appointed by the Chairman of the Board because of death, resignation, or removal may be filled by the Chairman of the Board or the Chief Executive Officer.

ARTICLE V

STOCK CERTIFICATES AND TRANSFERS

Section 5.1.     Stock Certificates and Transfers .

(A)    The interest of each stockholder of the Corporation shall be evidenced by shares of stock which may be certificated or uncertificated, as provided under Delaware law, and shall be entered in the books of the Corporation and registered as they are issued. Any certificates representing shares of stock shall be in such form as the appropriate officers of the Corporation may from time to time prescribe.

(B)    Shares of the stock of the Corporation evidenced by certificate shall be transferred on the books of the Corporation upon surrender for cancellation of certificates for at least the same number of shares, with an assignment and power of transfer endorsed thereon or attached thereto, duly executed, with such proof of the authenticity of the signature as the Corporation or its agents may reasonably require. Shares of the stock of the Corporation which are uncertificated shall, upon the receipt of proper transfer instructions from the registered owner of uncertificated shares, be cancelled and issuance of new equivalent uncertificated shares or certificated shares shall be made to the stockholder entitled thereto. It shall be the duty of the Corporation to issue a new certificate or evidence of the issuance of uncertificated shares to the stockholder entitled thereto, cancel the old certificate and record the transaction upon the Corporation’s books.

(C)    Within a reasonable time after the issuance or transfer of uncertificated stock, the Corporation shall send to the registered owner thereof a written notice that shall contain such information as required under Delaware law.

(D)    Any certificates of stock shall be signed, countersigned and registered in such manner as the Board of Directors may by resolution prescribe, which resolution may permit all or any of the signatures on such certificates to be in facsimile. In case any officer, transfer agent or registrar who has signed or whose facsimile signature has been placed upon a certificate has ceased to be such officer, transfer agent or registrar before such certificate is issued, it may be issued by the Corporation with the same effect as if he or she were such officer, transfer agent or registrar at the date of issue.

Section 5.2.     Lost, Stolen or Destroyed Certificates . With respect to any certificate for shares of stock in the Corporation alleged to have been lost, destroyed or stolen, upon production of evidence of loss, destruction or theft of a certificate for shares of stock in the Corporation, and upon delivery to the Corporation of a bond of indemnity in such amount, upon such terms and secured by such surety, as the Board of Directors or any financial officer may in its or his or her discretion require, the Corporation may issue (i) a new certificate or certificates of stock or (ii) uncertificated shares in place of any certificate or certificates previously issued by the Corporation.

 

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Section 5.3.     Record Date of Stockholders . The Board of Directors may fix in advance a date, not exceeding 60 days preceding the date of any meeting of stockholders and as otherwise required by law, or the date for the payment of any dividend or other distribution, or the date for the allotment of rights, or the date when any change or conversion or exchange of capital stock shall go into effect, as a record date for the determination of the stockholders entitled to notice of, and to vote at, any such meeting, or entitled to receive payment of any such dividend or other distribution, or to any such allotment of rights, or to exercise the rights in respect of any such change, conversion or exchange of capital stock, and in such case, only such stockholders as shall be stockholders of record on the date so fixed shall be entitled to such notice of, and to vote at, such meeting, or to receive any such dividend or other distribution, or to receive such allotment or rights, or to exercise such rights, as the case may be, notwithstanding any transfer of any stock on the books of the Corporation after such record date fixed as aforesaid.

ARTICLE VI

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Section 6.1.     Fiscal Year . The fiscal year of the Corporation shall begin on the first day of January and end on the thirty-first day of December of each year.

Section 6.2.     Dividends . The Board of Directors may from time to time declare, and the Corporation may pay, dividends on its outstanding shares in the manner and upon the terms and conditions provided by law and the Certificate of Incorporation.

Section 6.3.     Seal . The Seal of the Corporation shall be circular in form, containing the words “CONSOL ENERGY INC.” CNX RESOURCES CORPORATION and “DELAWARE” on the circumference, surrounding the words “SEAL” and the date “1991.” The Seal shall be in the custody of the Secretary.

Section 6.4.     Waiver of Notice . Whenever any notice is required to be given to any stockholder or director of the Corporation under the provisions of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware or these Bylaws, a waiver thereof in writing, signed by the person or persons entitled to such notice, whether before or after the time stated therein, shall be deemed equivalent to the giving of such notice. Neither the business to be transacted at, nor the purpose of, any annual or special meeting of the stockholders or the Board of Directors or committee thereof need be specified in any waiver of notice of such meeting.

Section 6.5.     Audits . The accounts, books and records of the Corporation shall be audited upon the conclusion of each fiscal year by an independent certified public accountant selected by the Audit Committee, and it shall be the duty of the Board of Directors to cause such audit to be done annually.

Section 6.6.     Resignations . Any director or any officer, whether elected or appointed, may resign at any time by giving written notice of such resignation to the Chairman of the Board, the President, or the Secretary, and such resignation shall be deemed to be effective as of the

 

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close of business on the date said notice is received by the Chairman of the Board, the President, or the Secretary, or at such later time as is specified therein. No formal action shall be required of the Board of Directors or the stockholders to make any such resignation effective.

Section 6.7.     Indemnification and Insurance .

(A)    Each person who was or is made a party or is threatened to be made a party to or is otherwise involved in any action, suit, or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (hereinafter a “proceeding”), by reason of the fact that he or she or a person of whom he or she is the legal representative is or was, at any time during which this Bylaw is in effect (whether or not such person continues to serve in such capacity at the time any indemnification or payment of expenses pursuant hereto is sought or at the time any proceeding relating thereto exists or is brought), a director or officer of the Corporation or is or was serving at the request of the Corporation as a director, officer, trustee, employee or agent of another corporation or of a partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, including service with respect to employee benefit plans maintained or sponsored by the Corporation, whether the basis of such proceeding is alleged action in an official capacity as a director, officer, trustee, employee or agent or in any other capacity while serving as a director, officer, trustee, employee or agent, shall be indemnified and held harmless by the Corporation to the fullest extent authorized by the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware as the same exists or may hereafter be amended (but, in the case of any such amendment, only to the extent that such amendment permits the Corporation to provide broader indemnification rights than said law permitted the Corporation to provide prior to such amendment), against all expense, liability and loss (including attorneys’ fees, judgments, fines, ERISA excise taxes or penalties and amounts paid or to be paid in settlement) reasonably incurred or suffered by such person in connection therewith and such indemnification shall continue as to a person who has ceased to be a director, officer, trustee, employee or agent and shall inure to the benefit of his or her heirs, executors and administrators; provided, however, that except as provided in paragraph (C) of this Bylaw, the Corporation shall indemnify any such person seeking indemnification in connection with a proceeding (or part thereof) initiated by such person only if such proceeding (or part thereof) was authorized by the Board of Directors. The right to indemnification conferred in this Bylaw shall include the right to be paid by the Corporation the expenses incurred in defending any such proceeding in advance of its final disposition, such advances to be paid by the Corporation within 20 days after the receipt by the Corporation of a statement or statements from the claimant requesting such advance or advances from time to time; provided, however, that if the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware requires, the payment of such expenses incurred by a director or officer in his or her capacity as a director or officer (and not in any other capacity in which service was or is rendered by such person while a director or officer, including, without limitation, service to an employee benefit plan) in advance of the final disposition of a proceeding, shall be made only upon delivery to the Corporation of an undertaking by or on behalf of such director or officer, to repay all amounts so advanced if it shall ultimately be determined by final judicial decision from which there is no further right of appeal that such director or officer is not entitled to be indemnified under this Bylaw or otherwise. The rights conferred in this Bylaw shall be contract rights that vest at the time of such person’s service to or at the request of the Corporation and such rights shall continue as to an indemnitee who has ceased to be a director, officer, trustee, employee or agent and shall inure to the benefit of the indemnitee’s heirs, executors and administrators.

 

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(B)    To obtain indemnification under this Bylaw, a claimant shall submit to the Corporation a written request, including therein or therewith such documentation and information as is reasonably available to the claimant and is reasonably necessary to determine whether and to what extent the claimant is entitled to indemnification. Upon written request by a claimant for indemnification pursuant to the first sentence of this paragraph (B), a determination, if required by applicable law, with respect to the claimant’s entitlement thereto shall be made as follows: (1) if requested by the claimant, by Independent Counsel (as hereinafter defined), or (2) if no request is made by the claimant for a determination by Independent Counsel, (i) by the Board of Directors by a majority vote of a quorum consisting of Disinterested Directors (as hereinafter defined), or (ii) if a quorum of the Board of Directors consisting of Disinterested Directors is not obtainable or, even if obtainable, such quorum of Disinterested Directors so directs, by Independent Counsel in a written opinion to the Board of Directors, a copy of which shall be delivered to the claimant, or (iii) if a quorum of Disinterested Directors so directs, by the stockholders of the Corporation. In the event the determination of entitlement to indemnification is to be made by Independent Counsel at the request of the claimant, the Independent Counsel shall be selected by the Board of Directors unless there shall have occurred within two years prior to the date of the commencement of the action, suit or proceeding for which indemnification is claimed a “Change of Control” as defined in the Change of Control Severance Agreements of the Corporation, in which case the Independent Counsel shall be selected by the claimant unless the claimant shall request that such selection be made by the Board of Directors. If it is so determined that the claimant is entitled to indemnification, payment to the claimant shall be made within 10 days after such determination.

(C)    If a claim under paragraph (A) of this Bylaw is not paid in full by the Corporation within 30 days after a written claim pursuant to paragraph (B) of this Bylaw has been received by the Corporation, the claimant may at any time thereafter bring suit against the Corporation to recover the unpaid amount of the claim and, if successful in whole or in part, the claimant shall be entitled to be paid also the expense of prosecuting such claim. It shall be a defense to any such action (other than an action brought to enforce a claim for expenses incurred in defending any proceeding in advance of its final disposition where the required undertaking, if any is required, has been tendered to the Corporation) that the claimant has not met the standard of conduct which makes it permissible under the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware for the Corporation to indemnify the claimant for the amount claimed, but the burden of proving such defense shall be on the Corporation. Neither the failure of the Corporation (including its Board of Directors, Independent Counsel or stockholders) to have made a determination prior to the commencement of such action that indemnification of the claimant is proper in the circumstances because he or she has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, nor an actual determination by the Corporation (including its Board of Directors, Independent Counsel or stockholders) that the claimant has not met such applicable standard of conduct, shall be a defense to the action or create a presumption that the claimant has not met the applicable standard of conduct.

 

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(D)    If a determination shall have been made pursuant to paragraph (B) of this Bylaw that the claimant is entitled to indemnification, the Corporation shall be bound by such determination in any judicial proceeding commenced pursuant to paragraph (C) of this Bylaw.

(E)    The Corporation shall be precluded from asserting in any judicial proceeding commenced pursuant to paragraph (C) of this Bylaw that the procedures and presumptions of this Bylaw are not valid, binding and enforceable and shall stipulate in such proceeding that the Corporation is bound by all the provisions of this Bylaw.

(F)    The right to indemnification and the payment of expenses incurred in defending a proceeding in advance of its final disposition conferred in this Bylaw (i) shall not be exclusive of any other right which any person may have or hereafter acquire under any statute, provision of the Certificate of Incorporation, Bylaws, agreement, vote of stockholders or Disinterested Directors or otherwise and (ii) cannot be terminated by the Corporation, the Board of Directors or the stockholders of the Corporation with respect to a person’s service prior to the date of such termination. Any amendment, modification, alteration or repeal of this Bylaw that in any way diminishes, limits, restricts, adversely affects or eliminates any right of an indemnitee or his or her successors to indemnification, advancement of expenses or otherwise shall be prospective only and shall not in any way diminish, limit, restrict, adversely affect or eliminate any such right with respect to any actual or alleged state of facts, occurrence, action or omission then or previously existing, or any action, suit or proceeding previously or thereafter brought or threatened based in whole or in part upon any such actual or alleged state of facts, occurrence, action or omission.

(G)    The Corporation may maintain insurance, at its expense, to protect itself and any director, officer, employee or agent of the Corporation or another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against any expense, liability or loss, whether or not the Corporation would have the power to indemnify such person against such expense, liability or loss under the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware. To the extent that the Corporation maintains any policy or policies providing such insurance, each such director or officer, and each such agent or employee to which rights to indemnification have been granted as provided in paragraph (H) of this Bylaw, shall be covered by such policy or policies in accordance with its or their terms to the maximum extent of the coverage thereunder for any such director, officer, employee or agent.

(H)    The Corporation may, to the extent authorized from time to time by the Board of Directors, grant rights to indemnification, and rights to be paid by the Corporation the expenses incurred in defending any proceeding in advance of its final disposition, to any employee or agent of the Corporation to the fullest extent of the provisions of this Bylaw with respect to the indemnification and advancement of expenses of directors and officers of the Corporation.

(I)    If any provision or provisions of this Bylaw shall be held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable for any reason whatsoever: (1) the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions of this Bylaw (including, without limitation, each portion of any paragraph of this Bylaw containing any such provision held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, that is not itself held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable) shall not in any way

 

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be affected or impaired thereby; and (2) to the fullest extent possible, the provisions of this Bylaw (including, without limitation, each such portion of any paragraph of this Bylaw containing any such provision held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable) shall be construed so as to give effect to the intent manifested by the provision held invalid, illegal or unenforceable.

(J)    For purposes of this Bylaw:

(1)    “Disinterested Director” means a director of the Corporation who is not and was not a party to the matter in respect of which indemnification is sought by the claimant.

(2)    “Independent Counsel” means a law firm, a member of a law firm, or an independent practitioner, that is experienced in matters of corporation law and shall include any person who, under the applicable standards of professional conduct then prevailing, would not have a conflict of interest in representing either the Corporation or the claimant in an action to determine the claimant’s rights under this Bylaw.

(K)    Any notice, request or other communication required or permitted to be given to the Corporation under this Bylaw shall be in writing and either delivered in person or sent by telecopy, telex, telegram, overnight mail or courier service, or certified or registered mail, postage prepaid, return receipt requested, to the Secretary of the Corporation and shall be effective only upon receipt by the Secretary.

Section 6.8.     Forum Selection . Unless the Corporation consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the sole and exclusive forum for (A) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Corporation, (B) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee of the Corporation to the Corporation or the Corporation’s stockholders, (C) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law, or (D) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine shall be a state court located within the State of Delaware or, if no state court located within the State of Delaware has jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware, in all cases subject to the court having personal jurisdiction over the indispensable parties named as defendants therein. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring or holding any interest in shares of capital stock of the Corporation shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the provisions of this Section  6.8 .

ARTICLE VII

CONTRACTS, PROXIES, ETC.

Section 7.1.     Contracts . Except as otherwise required by law, the Certificate of Incorporation or these Bylaws, any contracts or other instruments may be executed and delivered in the name and on the behalf of the Corporation by such officer or officers of the Corporation as the Board of Directors may from time to time direct. Such authority may be general or confined to specific instances as the Board may determine. The Chairman of the Board, the President or any Vice President (including any Executive Vice President or Senior Vice President) may execute bonds, contracts, deeds, leases and other instruments to be made or executed for or on

 

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behalf of the Corporation. Subject to any restrictions imposed by the Board of Directors or the Chairman of the Board, the President or any Vice President of the Corporation may delegate contractual powers to others under his or her jurisdiction, it being understood, however, that any such delegation of power shall not relieve such officer of responsibility with respect to the exercise of such delegated power.

Section 7.2.     Proxies . Unless otherwise provided by resolution adopted by the Board of Directors, the Chairman of the Board, the President or any Vice President may from time to time appoint an attorney or attorneys or agent or agents of the Corporation, in the name and on behalf of the Corporation, to cast the votes which the Corporation may be entitled to cast as the holder of stock or other securities in any other corporation, any of whose stock or other securities may be held by the Corporation, at meetings of the holders of the stock or other securities of such other corporation, or to consent in writing, in the name of the Corporation as such holder, to any action by such other corporation, and may instruct the person or persons so appointed as to the manner of casting such votes or giving such consent, and may execute or cause to be executed in the name and on behalf of the Corporation and under its corporate seal or otherwise, all such written proxies or other instruments as he or she may deem necessary or proper in the premises.

ARTICLE VIII

AMENDMENTS

Section 8.1.     Amendments . These Bylaws may be altered, amended, or repealed at any meeting of the Board of Directors or of the stockholders, provided notice of the proposed change was given in the notice of the meeting and, in the case of a meeting of the Board of Directors, in a notice given not less than two days prior to the meeting.

 

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Exhibit 10.1

TRANSITION SERVICES AGREEMENT

TRANSITION SERVICES AGREEMENT (this “ Agreement ”) is made and entered into as of November 28, 2017, by and among CONSOL Energy, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“ Parent ”), and CONSOL Mining Corporation, a Delaware corporation (“ CoalCo ” and, together with Parent, the “ Parties ” and each a “ Party ”).

RECITALS

A.    The Parties have entered into that certain Separation and Distribution Agreement dated November 28, 2017 (the “ Separation Agreement ”), pursuant to which one hundred percent (100%) of the outstanding common stock of CoalCo will be distributed to the stockholders of Parent and CoalCo will become a separate public company, all as more fully described therein.

B.    In order to ensure an orderly transition of the Coal Business (as defined in the Separation Agreement) to CoalCo and as a condition to consummating the transactions contemplated by the Separation Agreement, CoalCo has requested to receive from Parent certain services and Parent has requested to receive from CoalCo certain services, in each case, on a transitional basis and subject to the terms and conditions set forth herein.

AGREEMENT

In consideration of the premises and mutual covenants contained herein and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt of which are hereby acknowledged, the Parties hereby agree as follows:

ARTICLE I

DEFINITIONS

Section 1.1     Definitions . Capitalized terms used but not defined in this Agreement shall have the meanings assigned thereto in the Separation Agreement. In the case of capitalized terms defined herein by definitions inconsistent with the definitions ascribed to such terms in the Separation Agreement, the definitions provided herein shall be regarded as controlling for the purposes of this Agreement.

ARTICLE II

SERVICES

Section 2.1     Description of Initial Services . On the terms and conditions of this Agreement, (i) Parent shall provide to CoalCo, or cause to be provided to CoalCo, the initial transition services set forth on Exhibit A and (ii) CoalCo shall provide to Parent, or cause to be provided to Parent, the initial transition services set forth on Exhibit B (the services designated therein, as adjusted in accordance with this Agreement and as supplemented by Exhibit C, collectively, the “ Transition Services ”), in each case, subject to the completion of the Distribution and following the Closing. The Party providing a Transition Service under this Agreement is referred to herein as the “ Service Provider ” and the Party receiving such a Transition Service is referred to herein as the “ Recipient .”


Section 2.2     Omitted, Additional or Modified Services .

(a)    If during the 60 day period following Closing, either Parent or CoalCo reasonably determines that services that have previously been provided by a Service Provider to a Recipient which are necessary to effect an orderly transition of the separation of the Coal Business from other operations of Parent and its Affiliates (each such service an “ Omitted Service ”) have been omitted from the initial Transition Services listed on Exhibit A and Exhibit B , as supplemented by Exhibit C, then the applicable Service Provider will be obligated to provide any Omitted Service and the Parties hereto will negotiate in good faith an amendment to Exhibit A or Exhibit B , as supplemented by Exhibit C, as applicable, setting forth the Omitted Service and the terms and conditions for the provision of such Omitted Service.

(b)    During the 60 day period following Closing, a Recipient may also identify services in addition to the Omitted Services, which services are of the type previously provided by a Service Provider to a Recipient and that are necessary to conduct the Coal Business or Parent Business, as applicable, in substantially the same manner as conducted prior to Closing (each such service an “ Additional Service ”). Similarly, during the 60 day period following Closing, a Recipient may request modifications to any Transition Services currently being provided (a “ Modified Service ”). Upon receipt by the Service Provider of written notice from the Recipient requesting Additional Services or Modified Services during the applicable time period set forth above, the Parties hereto will negotiate in good faith an amendment to Exhibit A or Exhibit B , as applicable, setting forth the Additional Service or Modified Service and the terms and conditions for the provision of such Additional Service or Modified Service.

(c)    If, during the Term, the Recipient anticipates needing any of the Transition Services beyond the original term of such service, the Recipient may notify the Service Provider of such anticipated need and the Parties shall negotiate an extension to provide such services, provided that, no such extension may extend beyond 30 days of the original term for such service.

Section 2.3     Third Party Services . The Parties have set forth on Exhibit A or Exhibit B or Exhibit C their expectations as to any initial Transition Services to be provided by a Person that is neither a Party nor an Affiliate or employee of any Party or its Affiliates (a “ Third Party ”) (it being understood that the absence of a Transition Service to be designated as a Transition Service to be provided by a Third Party on Exhibit A or Exhibit B , as supplemented by Exhibit C, shall not preclude the Service Provider from using a Third Party to provide such Transition Service). The Service Provider shall use commercially reasonable efforts, at the Recipient’s sole cost and expense, to cause such Third Party to provide such Transition Services to Recipient. In addition, one or more Third Parties may provide Omitted Services, Additional Services or Modified Services to a Recipient. If any such Third Party is unable or unwilling to provide any such Transition Services, the Service Provider shall use commercially reasonable efforts to provide such Transition Services in an alternative manner that is reasonably acceptable

 

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to the Recipient. A Recipient shall have the right to pre-approve any Third Party to the extent that such Third Party is not providing services to any Party prior to the date of this Agreement. If the Service Provider intends to engage a Third Party that would be subject to the pre-approval right set forth in the immediately preceding sentence to provide one or more Transition Services, the Service Provider shall provide advance notice to the Recipient, and the Recipient shall promptly notify the Service Provider whether the Recipient consents to such engagement (such consent shall not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed). The Service Provider will advise any Third Party of its obligations to comply with the confidentiality provisions in Article VI and use reasonable efforts to include similar confidentiality obligations in any agreement with such Third Party.

Section 2.4     Consents; Resources . A Service Provider shall, and shall cause its Affiliates to, use commercially reasonable efforts, at the Recipient’s sole cost and expense, to obtain all consents, approvals or authorizations (i) for any software or other Intellectual Property necessary to enable the Service Provider, its designee or a Third Party to perform the Transition Services in accordance with this Agreement and (ii) necessary to allow the Service Provider to provide the Transition Services and to allow the Recipient to access and use the Transition Services. Unless otherwise expressly agreed under the terms of a Transition Schedule as set forth in Exhibit A or Exhibit B or Exhibit C , as applicable, or otherwise agreed to by the Parties in writing, in providing the Transition Services, neither the Service Provider, nor any of its Affiliates, shall be obligated to: (i) expend funds and other resources beyond levels that would be customary and commercially reasonable for any similar service provider (all such expenses to be reimbursed by the Recipient in accordance with this Agreement); (ii) maintain the employment of any specific employee or subcontractor; (iii) purchase, lease or license any additional equipment or materials; or (iv) pay any of the Recipient’s costs related to its receipt of such Transition Services.

Section 2.5     Standard of Services . Each Service Provider shall provide, and shall use commercially reasonable efforts to cause any relevant Third Party to provide, the Transition Services in a manner and to the extent that is substantially similar in scope, nature, quality and timeliness to the services provided to (or with respect to) the Coal Business or Parent Business, as applicable, prior to the Closing Date, provided that, in any case, the Transition Services shall be provided (i) in a professional and workmanlike manner with the same degree of care, skill, and prudence that the Service Provider would exercise when performing such services on its own behalf and (ii) in compliance with all applicable Laws. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, neither the Service Provider nor any of its Affiliates will be responsible for the quality of any services provided by a Third Party or the non-compliance with Laws by such Third Party. In the event that a Third Party providing Transition Services on behalf of a Service Provider breaches or fails to perform under any agreement a Service Provider or any of its Affiliates has with such Third Party and such breach or non-performance has a material adverse impact on the Recipient, Service Provider will use commercially reasonable efforts, at the Recipient’s sole cost and expense, to enforce any claims the Service Provider (or its Affiliate) has against such Third Party for such breach or non-performance in the same manner with which the Service Provider would seek to enforce such claim in respect of a breach adversely affecting

 

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the Service Provider (or its Affiliate) and Service Provider will pay to Recipient from the damages or other amounts that Service Provider or its Affiliates, as the case may be, recoup from such Third Party with respect to such breach or non-performance an amount equal to the losses suffered by Recipient as a result of such breach or non-performance.

Section 2.6     Provision of Services

(a)     Employment and Supervision . Except for reimbursement of employee costs by the Recipient as set forth herein, the Service Provider shall have the sole responsibility to employ, pay, supervise, direct and discharge all of its employees used in the provision of Transition Services hereunder. Except for reimbursement of employee costs by the Recipient as set forth herein, the Service Provider shall be solely responsible for the payment of all employee benefits and any other direct and indirect compensation for any of such Service Provider’s employees assigned to perform services under this Agreement, as well as such personnel’s worker’s compensation insurance, employment taxes, and other employer liabilities relating to such personnel as required by Law.

(b)     Independence . The Service Provider shall be an independent contractor in connection with the performance of Transition Services hereunder for any and all purposes (including federal or state Tax purposes), and the employees performing Transition Services in connection herewith shall not be deemed to be employees or agents of the Recipient or any of its Affiliates and nothing contained herein shall be deemed to create a joint venture or partnership.

(c)     Coordination . The Recipient shall provide the Service Provider with any and all information on a timely basis as is reasonably necessary and requested by the Service Provider to enable the performance by the Service Provider (or any Third Party) of the Transition Services. In the event of a conflict in scheduling of available employees, contractors or other resources by the Service Provider between the internal needs of the Service Provider (and its Affiliates) and the requirements of providing the Transition Services, the Service Provider shall allocate such available employees, contractors and resources in a commercially reasonable manner using a substantially similar allocation as if it were performing the Transition Services for itself.

(d)     Access . In order to enable the provision of the Transition Services by a Service Provider, the Recipient agrees that it shall provide to the Service Provider and any Third Party providing Transition Services on behalf of a Service Provider, at no cost to the Service Provider, reasonable access to the facilities, assets and books and records of the Recipient during regular and normal business hours to the extent necessary for the Service Provider to fulfill its obligations under this Agreement; provided, however, that each Service Provider, consistent with Section 6.1, will ensure that access to technology systems is reasonably limited to those individuals or entities for whom access to such information is essential to perform their job, so as to minimize and avoid the inadvertent unauthorized access to sensitive employee information or other data.

 

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Section 2.7     Cooperation . During the Term, the Parties shall, and shall cause each of their respective Affiliates and each of the foregoing entities’ respective employees, agents, auditors and representatives to, cooperate with each other in good faith (a) to implement or give effect to this Agreement and (b) to facilitate an orderly and efficient transition of services, processes and functions contemplated in this Agreement, and in each case in a manner consistent with the intent of this Agreement and without undue burden on any Party thereto.

Section 2.8     Service Interruption . Except as provided in this Section  2.8 and subject to the terms of Section  2.9 , the Transition Services shall be provided during regular and normal business hours during the Term. Upon reasonable prior written notice to the Recipient given the circumstances (provided such notice shall be no less than 72 hours), the Service Provider may temporarily interrupt the provision of any Transition Services only when, and for such period of time, it is the commercially reasonable judgment of the Service Provider (or the relevant Third Party providing such Transition Services for the Service Provider) that such action is necessary, including for routine maintenance purposes. With respect to any Transition Services provided by any Third Party, the Service Provider shall forward promptly (which will be within two business days after Service Provider’s receipt of) any notice received from any such Third Party regarding the interruption of such Transition Services. In the event of any temporary interruptions, the Service Provider shall use commercially reasonable efforts to minimize the impact on the Recipient of such interruption, including by minimizing each period of interruption and scheduling such period of interruption so as to not inconvenience or impair the conduct of the Recipient’s business. Subject to the notice provisions set forth in this Section  2.8 , the Service Provider shall consult with the Recipient prior to temporary interruptions to the extent reasonably practicable or, if not reasonably practicable, promptly thereafter.

Section 2.9     Force Majeure .

(a)    No Party will be held liable or responsible to another Party or be deemed to have defaulted under or breached this Agreement for failure or delay in fulfilling or performing any term of this Agreement when such failure or delay is caused by or results from events beyond the reasonable control of the non-performing Party, including war, acts of war, riot, rebellion, civil disturbances, terrorism, power failures, embargos, shortages, epidemics, pandemics, quarantines, shortage of fuel, raw materials or components, nuclear accident, strikes, lockouts or other labor disturbances, flood, storm, fire and earthquake or other natural disasters or acts of God or acts, omissions or delays in acting by any governmental authority, or any breach by any Third Party of any of such Third Party’s obligations to the Service Provider or any of its Affiliates (solely caused by the failure of such Third Party to perform its obligations and not due to the failure of a Party to provide necessary instructions or information or to otherwise perform under any arrangement such Party has with the relevant Third Party) (collectively, each of the foregoing a “ Force Majeure Event ”). The suspension of performance as a result of a Force Majeure Event shall be of no greater in scope or longer in duration than is necessary. The non-performing Party will use commercially reasonable efforts to remedy its inability to perform and will keep the other Party reasonably informed with respect thereto. The other Party will agree to cooperate with the non-performing Party to seek other solutions that may be mutually satisfactory.

 

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(b)    The Recipient shall be free to acquire any Transition Services from an alternate source for the period and to the extent reasonably necessitated by such non-performance pursuant to Section  2.9(a) , and the Service Provider shall cooperate with, provide information to and take such other actions as may be reasonably required to assist such alternate source to provide such Transition Services. The Recipient shall not be obligated to pay for any Transition Services during any period when such Transition Services are not being provided to the Recipient; provided, however that the Recipient shall pay Fees in accordance with Section 3.1 hereof for the assistance provided by the Service Provider to an alternative source.

(c)    Subject to Section  2.9(b) , the Parties hereto agree that this Section  2.9 shall not otherwise be construed so as to excuse a Party hereto of its obligations to otherwise perform in accordance with Article III at all other times during the term of this Agreement.

Section 2.10     Service Coordinators . Each of Parent and CoalCo shall identify one of its employees to serve as the primary point of contact (the “ Service Coordinator ”) for the other Party hereto with respect to the Transition Services. Each of Parent and CoalCo shall cause its Service Coordinator to be reasonably available to the other Party hereto to facilitate communication among the Parties and the identification, awareness and resolution of any interruption, deficiency or concern with respect to the Transition Services.

ARTICLE III

FEES AND PAYMENT

Section 3.1     Fees . The fees payable for any Transition Service (the “ Fees ”) shall be as set forth for such Transition Service on Exhibit A and Exhibit B , exclusive of any applicable taxes, including any value added tax, sales tax or duty of any kind (other than taxes based on the Service Provider’s income), which as applicable shall be added to the Fees. It is the intent that the Recipient shall also reimburse the Service Provider and its Affiliates for all actual expenses, which shall expressly include any employee or subcontractor wage, benefit or other employment expenses related to the time spent providing the Transition Services not otherwise expressly included in the Fees, which the Service Provider or any of its Affiliates incur in connection with performing the Transition Services, including actual and documented out-of-pocket expenses incurred and paid by the Service Provider or any of its Affiliates to any Third Party (other than expenses expressly included in the Fees) (“ Third-Party Expenses ”) in connection with performing the Transition Services (collectively, “ Expenses ”). With respect to any health or welfare benefits that CoalCo requests Parent to continue following the Closing and which are self-insured by Parent, CoalCo shall promptly reimburse Parent upon Parent’s payment of claims for such health or welfare benefits.

Section 3.2    Invoice and Payment. The Fees for the Transition Services, along with any Omitted Services, Additional Services, or Modified Services, shall be paid on a monthly basis in advance starting on the date of this Agreement and any Fees owed by one Party may be netted against Fees owed by the other Party. The Service Provider shall prepare and send an invoice to the Recipient by the 15th day of each month reflecting the Fees for the Transition

 

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Services, along with any Omitted Services, Additional Services, or Modified Services to be incurred in the upcoming month. The Service Provider shall also invoice the Recipient for the Expenses incurred in connection with the Transition Services as such Expenses are incurred. Each such invoice shall be accompanied by a statement properly supported and reasonably itemized, including the names of and containing copies of invoices from any Third Party with respect to any Third-Party Expenses included in the invoiced Expenses and any other documentation reasonably requested by Recipient to evidence any out-of-pocket expenses included therein. The Recipient shall pay all undisputed amounts of any invoice no later than ten (10) days after the Recipient’s receipt of a properly submitted invoice (the “ Invoice Due Date ”). Any amounts outstanding after the Invoice Due Date shall accrue interest at a rate which is the lower of one and one half percent (1.5%) per month or the highest monthly rate allowed by law.

Section 3.3     Disputes and Resolution . The Recipient shall promptly notify the Service Provider in writing of any amounts billed to the Recipient that the Recipient, in good faith, determines to be in dispute along with a reasonable description of the Recipient’s reason for disputing such amounts. Upon receipt of such notice, the Service Provider will research the items in question in a reasonably prompt manner and cooperate with the Service Provider to resolve any such dispute for a period of five (5) days. In the event that the Parties agree, or a court of competent jurisdiction determines, that any amount that was paid was not properly owed, the Service Provider shall refund such amount to the Recipient within five (5) business days of such agreement (or, alternatively, at the option of the Service Provider, such amount may be deducted from the amount payable under the next invoice submitted for payment). The Service Provider shall continue providing the Transition Services in accordance with this Agreement pending resolution of any dispute.

ARTICLE IV

DISCLAIMER AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

Section 4.1     Disclaimer of Warranties . EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE EXPRESSLY SET FORTH HEREIN OR IN THE SEPARATION AGREEMENT, EACH PARTY ACKNOWLEDGES AND AGREES THAT ALL SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS-IS” BASIS, AND THAT EACH PARTY MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WHATSOEVER, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO THE TRANSITION SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED BY IT OR OTHERWISE WITH RESPECT TO THIS AGREEMENT.

Section 4.2     Limitation on Certain Damages . NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THIS AGREEMENT, IN NO EVENT SHALL EITHER PARTY BE LIABLE TO THE OTHER OR ANY AFFILIATES OF THE OTHER FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, EVEN IF SUCH PARTY HAS BEEN INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, OTHER THAN IN THE CASE OF GROSS NEGLIGENCE, FRAUD OR WILLFUL MISCONDUCT AND EXCEPT IN THE CASE OF ANY SUCH LIABILITY WITH RESPECT TO A THIRD-PARTY CLAIM.

 

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ARTICLE V

OWNERSHIP OF ASSETS

Section 5.1     Parent Systems and Data . Any information system, software, computer network, database, data file, record or other information owned, licensed, leased or provided by Parent or any of its Affiliates that is used by Parent, or any of its Affiliates or provided to, or stored or accessed by, CoalCo or any of its Affiliates in connection with provision of any Transition Service shall remain the sole and exclusive property of Parent or its Affiliates, as the case may be.

Section 5.2     CoalCo Systems and Data . Any information system, software, computer network, database, data file, record or other information owned, licensed, leased or provided by CoalCo or any of its Affiliates that is used by CoalCo, or any of its Affiliates, or provided to, or stored or accessed by, Parent or any of its Affiliates in connection with any Transition Service shall remain the sole and exclusive property of CoalCo or its Affiliates, as the case may be.

Section 5.3     Other Assets . All procedures, methods, systems, strategies, tools, equipment, facilities and other resources owned, licensed or leased by any Party or its Affiliates and used or provided by such Party, any of its Affiliates or any relevant Third Party in connection with this Agreement shall remain the property of such Party or its Affiliates and, except as otherwise provided herein, shall at all times be under the sole direction and control of such Party, its Affiliates or such Third Party.

ARTICLE VI

CONFIDENTIALITY

Section 6.1     Confidentiality . Each Party acknowledges and agrees that the provisions on confidentiality set forth in Section 6.9 of the Separation Agreement shall be incorporated into this Agreement by reference. The Parties further agree that confidential information shall also include any other confidential information or data received in the course of providing or receiving any Transition Services.

ARTICLE VII

INSURANCE AND INDEMNIFICATION

Section 7.1     Insurance . During the Term, each Party shall maintain insurance coverage substantially similar to the insurance maintained by such Party on the date of this Agreement.

Section 7.2     Parent Indemnification . Parent shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless CoalCo and its Affiliates from and against any Losses suffered or incurred by CoalCo or any of its Affiliates arising out of or relating to any breach of applicable Law or the willful misconduct or gross negligence of Parent or its Affiliates related to this Agreement or the performance or

 

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non-performance of the Transition Services (including any performance or non-performance by any Third Party engaged by Parent or any of its Affiliates solely to the extent the Losses from performance or non-performance arise from any willful misconduct or gross negligence by Parent or such Affiliate under such Third Party agreement or arrangement).

Section 7.3     CoalCo Indemnification . CoalCo shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless Parent and its Affiliates from and against any Losses suffered or incurred by Parent or any of its Affiliates arising out of or relating to any breach of applicable Law or the willful misconduct or gross negligence of CoalCo or its Affiliates related to this Agreement or the performance or non-performance of the Transition Services (including any performance or non-performance by any Third Party engaged by CoalCo or any of its Affiliates solely to the extent the Losses from performance or non-performance arise from any willful misconduct or gross negligence by CoalCo or such Affiliate under such Third Party agreement or arrangement).

ARTICLE VIII

TERM AND TERMINATION

Section 8.1     Term .

(a)     Term of Agreement . The term of this Agreement (the “ Term ”) shall commence on the date hereof and shall end on the earliest of: (i) the date all Service Terms have expired in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, (ii) the date all Transition Services have been terminated in accordance with the terms of this Agreement or (iii) the date on which this Agreement is terminated pursuant to Section  8.3 .

(b)     Term of Services . The applicable Service Provider shall provide each Transition Service beginning on the date hereof, or as otherwise set forth in Exhibit A, or Exhibit B or Exhibit C , as applicable, or agreed to by each of the Parties hereto in writing, and continuing for a period equal to the service term set forth in Exhibit A, or Exhibit B or Exhibit C , as applicable (the “ Service Term ”), or as otherwise agreed to by each of the Parties hereto in writing, unless renewed or sooner terminated in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement.

Section 8.2     Termination of Services .

(a)     Voluntary Termination . A Recipient may terminate its right to receive any particular Transition Services for any or no reason, by providing the Service Provider written notice of termination (the “ Termination Notice ”), not less than ten (10) days prior to the date on which such Transition Services shall be terminated (the “ Termination Date ”) setting forth in reasonable detail such Transition Services to be terminated (the “ Terminated Services ”) and the Termination Date for each Terminated Service.

(b)     Termination for Breach . If a Recipient materially breaches any of its obligations under this Agreement with respect to any Transition Services received by such

 

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Recipient, and does not cure such default within thirty (30) days after receiving written notice thereof from the Service Provider, then the Service Provider may, at its option, terminate any Transition Services affected by such breach by providing written notice of such termination to the Service Provider, for which termination the effective Termination Date shall be the date of receipt of such written notice.

(c)     Termination for Illegal Agreement . If a final and non-appealable order has been entered determining that the provision or use of any of the Transition Services hereunder violates any applicable Law, then any Party hereto may terminate such Transition Services by providing written notice of such termination to the other Party, for which termination the effective Termination Date shall be the date of receipt of such written notice.

(d)     Procedures on Termination of Services . Beginning on the Termination Date, the Recipient shall not be obligated to pay any Fees in connection with such Terminated Services other than Fees owed by such Recipient to the Service Provider for such Terminated Services rendered prior to the Termination Date for which payment has not yet been made; provided, that, if the Service Provider (or its Affiliate) entered into a contract with a Third Party service provided to provide such services to the Recipient, the Recipient shall reimburse the Service Provider for any Losses incurred by the Service Provider in connection with the early termination of such services.

Section 8.3     Termination of the Transition Services Agreement .

(a)     By Mutual Consent . This Agreement may be terminated by mutual written consent of the Parties in writing at any time.

(b)     Termination for Non-Payment . A Party may terminate this Agreement if such other Party fails to pay any undisputed Fees by the applicable Invoice Due Date; provided that the terminating Party has given the breaching Party written notice of such failure to pay, and the breaching Party has not cured such failure to pay within five (5) days following the date of such written notice.

(c)     Bankruptcy Termination . This Agreement may be terminated by either Party hereto upon at least thirty (30) days prior written notice if the other Party hereto is declared insolvent or bankrupt, or makes an assignment for the benefit of creditors, or a receiver is appointed or any proceeding is demanded by, for or against the other under any provision of the Federal Bankruptcy Act. Any termination of this Agreement pursuant to this Section  8.3(c) shall be without prejudice to any rights or obligations of the Parties hereto accruing prior to such termination including the right to payment of unpaid Fees and reimbursable costs owing for Transition Services performed prior to termination.

Section 8.4     Procedures on Termination of the Agreement . Following any termination of this Agreement or termination of any services to be rendered hereunder, each Party hereto will cooperate with the other Party as reasonably necessary to avoid material disruption of the ordinary course of the other Party’s and its Affiliates’ businesses.

 

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Section 8.5     Effect of Termination; Survival . Upon the expiration of the Term, this Agreement will be of no further force and effect; provided that no Party shall be relieved of any liability for any breach or nonfulfillment of any provision of this Agreement or any obligations under Article  VII prior to the expiration of the Term (including any liability to pay for Transition Services provided, or expenses incurred in connection therewith, prior to termination); provided , further , that any claims relating to breach or nonfulfillment or for indemnification under Article  VII shall have been made in writing prior to the expiration of the Term. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Articles  III , IV , V , and IX , and this Section  8.5 shall survive any expiration or termination of this Agreement. Article VI shall survive any expiration or termination of this Agreement until the second anniversary of the date of the Separation Agreement.

ARTICLE IX

MISCELLANEOUS

Section 9.1     Amendment and Modification . This Agreement may not be amended, modified or supplemented in any manner, whether by course of conduct or otherwise, except by an instrument in writing specifically designated as an amendment hereto, signed on behalf of each Party and making specific reference to this Agreement.

Section 9.2     Waiver . No failure or delay of either Party in exercising any right or remedy hereunder shall operate as a waiver thereof, nor shall any single or partial exercise of any such right or power, or any abandonment or discontinuance of steps to enforce such right or power, or any course of conduct, preclude any other or further exercise thereof or the exercise of any other right or power. The rights and remedies of the Parties hereunder are cumulative and are not exclusive of any rights or remedies which they would otherwise have hereunder. Any agreement on the part of either Party to any such waiver shall be valid only if set forth in a written instrument executed and delivered by a duly authorized officer on behalf of such Party. No course of dealing between or among any Persons having an interest in this Agreement shall be deemed effective to amend, supplement, modify or waive any part of this Agreement or any rights or obligations of any Person under or by reason of this Agreement.

Section 9.3     Notices . All notices, requests, claims, demands and other communications under this Agreement shall be given or made and shall be deemed to have been given in accordance with the notice provision set forth in the Separation Agreement.

Section 9.4     Interpretation and Conflicts . When a reference is made in this Agreement to a Section, Article or Exhibit such reference shall be to a Section, Article or Exhibit of this Agreement unless otherwise indicated. The headings contained in this Agreement or in any Exhibit are for convenience of reference purposes only and shall not affect in any way the meaning or interpretation of this Agreement. All words used in this Agreement will be construed to be of such gender or number as the circumstances require. Any capitalized terms used in any Exhibit but not otherwise defined therein shall have the meaning as defined in this Agreement. All Exhibits annexed hereto or referred to herein are hereby incorporated in and made a part of this Agreement as if set forth herein. The word “including” and words of similar import when

 

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used in this Agreement will mean “including, without limitation,” unless otherwise specified. This Agreement is being executed pursuant to the terms of the Separation Agreement. In the event that any provision in this Agreement conflicts with or inconsistent with any provision in the Separation Agreement, the provisions of the Separation Agreement will control. In the event that the Distribution does not occur, then no Party will have any further obligation under this Agreement.

Section 9.5     Entire Agreement . This Agreement (including the Exhibits hereto) together with the Separation Agreement constitute the entire agreement, and supersedes all prior written agreements, arrangements, communications and understandings and all prior and contemporaneous oral agreements, arrangements, communications and understandings between the Parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and thereof.

Section 9.6     No Third-Party Beneficiaries . Except as provided in Article VII , nothing in this Agreement, express or implied, is intended to or shall confer upon any Person other than the Parties and their respective successors and permitted assigns any legal or equitable right, benefit or remedy of any nature under or by reason of this Agreement.

Section 9.7     Governing Law . It is the intent of the Parties that the laws which govern this Agreement be consistent with the governing law set forth in the Separation Agreement. As such, the provision of the Separation Agreement which sets forth governing law is incorporated herein by reference.

Section 9.8     Assignment . Neither this Agreement nor any of the rights, interests or obligations under this Agreement may be assigned or delegated, in whole or in part, by operation of law or otherwise, by either Party without the prior written consent of the other Party, and any such assignment without such prior written consent shall be null and void. This Agreement will be binding upon, inure to the benefit of, and be enforceable by, the Parties and their respective successors and permitted assigns. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a Party may assign any or all of its rights, interests and obligations under this Agreement to any direct or indirect wholly-owned subsidiary without the consent of the other party so long as such assignment does not have any adverse consequences to the other Party or its Affiliates. No assignment will relieve the assigning Party from any of its obligations under this Agreement and the assigning Party will remain primarily liable for all of its obligations under this Agreement.

Section 9.9     Severability . Whenever possible, each provision or portion of any provision of this Agreement shall be interpreted in such manner as to be effective and valid under applicable Law, but if any provision or portion of any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect under any applicable Law or rule in any jurisdiction, such invalidity, illegality or unenforceability shall not affect any other provision or portion of any provision in such jurisdiction, and this Agreement shall be reformed, construed and enforced in such jurisdiction as if such invalid, illegal or unenforceable provision or portion of any provision had never been contained herein.

 

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Section 9.10     Waiver of Jury Trial . EACH OF THE PARTIES TO THIS AGREEMENT HEREBY IRREVOCABLY WAIVES ALL RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY IN ANY ACTION, PROCEEDING OR COUNTERCLAIM ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT OR THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY.

Section 9.11     Counterparts . This Agreement may be executed in two or more counterparts, including electronic counterparts, all of which shall be considered one and the same instrument and shall become effective when one or more counterparts have been signed by each of the parties and delivered to the other party.

Section 9.12     Nonrecourse . This Agreement may only be enforced against, and any claims or causes of action that may be based upon, arise out of or relate to this Agreement, or the negotiation, execution or performance of the Agreement may only be made against, the entities that are expressly identified as parties hereto. No past, present or future director, officer, employee, member, partner, stockholder, Affiliate, agent, attorney or representative of any party or its Affiliates shall have any liability for any obligations or liabilities of such party under this Agreement or for any claim based on, in respect of, or by reason of, the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby.

[Signature page follows on next page]

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF , the undersigned have executed or caused this Agreement to be executed by their respective officers thereunto duly authorized, each with the intent to be legally bound, as of the date first written above.

 

PARENT:
    CONSOL ENERGY INC.
    By:  

/s/ Stephen W. Johnson

    Name:   Stephen W. Johnson
    Title:   Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer

 

COALCO:
    CONSOL MINING CORPORATION
    By:  

/s/ James A. Brock

    Name:   James A. Brock
    Title:   Chief Executive Officer

 

[Signature Page to Transition Services Agreement]


Exhibit A

Transition Services Provided by Parent

 

Functional

Area

  

Service Component Description

 

Service Term

Accounts Receivable   

•       Bifurcate any remaining shared accounts and receive and process cash receipts in accordance with standard internal control procedures

  30 days with an option for an additional 30 days.
Purchasing   

•       Facilitate system support for requisition and ordering of any materials, supplies or services as needed for day-to-day operations of the Coal Business as directed by CoalCo.

  30 days with an option for an additional 30 days.
Accounts Payable   

•       Bifurcate any remaining shared accounts and receive and process vendor invoices for payments in accordance with standard internal control procedures.

 

•       Provide all supporting documentation and/or electronic files to CoalCo for procurement from and payments to vendors.

  30 days with an option for an additional 30 days.
Benefits   

•       Assist in the transition of employee benefits and related vendors to CoalCo. Provide appropriate supporting documentation and electronic files to CoalCo related to employee and benefit (vendor) payments made on behalf of CoalCo, including reporting for ACA.

 

•       Maintain those employee benefits set forth on Exhibit C during the term that these benefit transition services are provided.

 

•       Coordinate benefits.

 

•       Assist in implementation of new system.

 

•       Ensure the continuation of the Baltimore hourly employee benefit plans through April 1, 2018.

 

•       Provide access to systems and maintain appropriate licenses to enable CoalCo. personnel to operate payroll, payment and benefits systems on Exhibit C.

  180 days with an option for an additional 30 days, subject to approval from any third party necessary for such extension and subject to certain exceptions on Exhibit C.
Information Technology – System Support   

•       Assist in the development and execution of a system transition plan.

  360 days with an option for an additional 30 days.
Information Technology – Data Support   

•       Share data and support for the HR data and systems until June 30, 2018, including Retiree Medical Benefits and Pension payroll data and processing.

 

•       Provide CoalCo with appropriate data files to facilitate uploading to CoalCo’s systems including, by way of example, all transaction activity consummated on behalf of CoalCo post-closing, historical and set-up information for vendors, fixed assets, warehouse materials and supplies, employee records and other financial related information.

 

•       Provide CoalCo with data and records such as land records, drill hole data and other engineering and operational information.

  360 days with an option for an additional 30 days.


Functional

Area

  

Service Component Description

 

Service Term

Information Technology – Infrastructure Support   

•       Facilitate the transition from Parent’s existing software, hardware, telephone, security, internet and other systems to CoalCo’s systems.

  360 days with an option for an additional 30 days.
Information Technology – Equipment Rentals   

•       Cost of ongoing equipment rentals

  240 days with an option for an additional 60 days.
Information Technology – Professional Services   

•       Professional services and support on infrastructure components.

  240 days with an option for an additional 60 days.
Information Technology – Telephone   

•       Ongoing telephone and telegraph support until transferred.

  240 days with an option for an additional 60 days.
Information Technology – Quorum   

•       Support for Quorum.

  240 days with an option for an additional 60 days.
Land Data Systems   

•       Facilitate the transition of data from Parent’s existing hard records and software related to the Coal Assets, including data pertaining to mineral, real estate and personal property taxes, other land related payments (including royalties) and other systems to CoalCo’s systems.

  180 days with an option for an additional 60 days.
Land Data Systems - ERC   

•       Facilitate RoW, surface use and associated agreement coordination for surface properties transitioning to CoalCo.

  180 days with an option for an additional 60 days.


Functional

Area

  

Service Component Description

 

Service Term

Land Related Taxed   

•       Facilitate the transition of current property tax preparation and filing responsibility.

  300 days with an option for an additional 90 days.
Legal/Litigation   

•       Ensuring the continuation of any current and implement any new Litigation holds in effect at the time of the spin transaction.

 

•       Provide general administrative assistance for the transfer of the legal files.

  150 days with an option for an additional 30 days.
Leatherwood   

•       Facilitate the transition of billing, royalty payments, field services, gas marketing services, and other services related to the ongoing activities of the Leatherwood entity and associated wells.

  180 days with an option for an additional 60 days.
Tax   

•       Assist in the annual tax preparation

 

•       Assist in the 2017 CNXC MLP K-1 preparation

  330 days with an option for an additional 60 days.
Business Processes and Controls   

•       Ensure master data maintenance and testing in the accounting system.

  240 days with an option for an additional 60 days.
Health, Safety and Environmental Data   

•       Facilitate the transition of the Health, Safety and Environmental data.

 

•       Support for filing federal and state HSE obligations.

  30 days with an option for an additional 30 days.


Exhibit B

Transition Services Provided by CoalCo

 

Functional

Area

  

Service Component Description

 

Service Term

Payroll and Benefits   

•       Assist in the transition of employee benefits and related vendors to ParentCo. Provide appropriate supporting documentation and electronic files to ParentCo related to employee and benefit (vendor) payments made on behalf of ParentCo, including reporting for ACA.

 

•       Coordinate payroll payment and benefits.

 

•       Assist in the implementation of payroll function of Parent. Provide appropriate supporting documentation and electronic files to Parent related to this Service component.

 

•       Assist and facilitate the transition of existing payroll, payment and benefit functions to new Parent personnel.

  180 days with an option for an additional 30 days, subject to approval from any third party necessary for such extension and subject to certain exceptions on Exhibit C.
Accounts Receivable   

•       Bifurcate any remaining shared accounts and receive and process cash receipts in accordance with standard internal control procedures

  30 days with an option for an additional 30 days.
Legal/Litigation   

•       Ensuring the continuation of any current and implement and new Litigation holds in effect at the time of the spin transaction.

 

•       Provide general administrative assistance for the transfer of legal files.

  150 days with an option for an additional 30 days.
Land Permitting   

•       Support for gas permitting when drilling through coal pillars.

  60 days with an option for an additional 30 days.


Exhibit C

Benefits to be Maintained

This Exhibit is qualified in its entirety by the Employee Matters Agreement (EMA).

Health and Welfare

Long Term Disability

 

I. Active Benefits Parent to Maintain the following benefit programs for Coal until 1/1/2018 and until 3/31/18 for Baltimore Terminal Employees:

Medical

Drug

Vision

Dental

HSA – Administration

HRA – Administration

Benefit Eligibility Administration

Company provided HSA/HRA dollars

Life

Short Term Disability (Coal to assume for Coal personnel 1/1/18 per EMA)

Long Term Disability (Coal to assume for Coal personnel 1/1/18 per EMA)

Voluntary Benefits

 

II. COBRA Parent to maintained for COBRA for select COBRA enrollees for COBRA period for certain employees (per EMA)

 

III. Payroll/Payment/Benefit Processing Coal to provide these services for the following benefits:

401(k)

Pension

LTIC

Active payroll and other compensation

Nonqualified Plan

Equity Compensation

Reporting/Disclosure assistance for health and welfare


Maintenance Period: As needed, with anticipated end date not later than July 1, 2018, with an exception for 2018 year end reporting matters.

 

IV. Benefit transitioning- operations of payroll/payment/benefit processes to new Parent Personnel.

Coal personnel to assist new parent personnel in operation of arrangements in Section III for up to one benefit plan cycle, with anticipated services decreasing over time.

 

V. All Maintenance periods herein are subject to reasonable extension as circumstances may warrant.

Exhibit 10.2

TLA1

THIS TRADEMARK LICENSE AGREEMENT (this “ Agreement ”), made and entered into as of this 28 th day of November, 2017 (the “ Effective Date ”), by and between CNX RESOURCES CORPORATION, a corporation organized under the laws of the state of Delaware (“ Licensor ”) and CONSOL ENERGY INC. , a corporation organized under the laws of the state of Delaware (“ Licensee ”).

WHEREAS , Licensor owns all right, title, and interest to the trademarks identified and set forth in Schedule 1 annexed hereto and made a part hereof (collectively, the “Licensed Marks ”);

WHEREAS , Licensor further owns all right, title, and interest to the domain names identified and set forth in Schedule 2 annexed hereto and made a part hereof (collectively, the “Domain Names ”);

WHEREAS , Licensor and Licensee and other businesses formerly operated as, or as businesses of, Licensor;

WHEREAS , Licensor and Licensee are now two, separate, publically traded companies;

WHEREAS , Licensor and Licensee entered into a Separation Agreement having an effective date of November 28, 2017 (“Separation Agreement”); unless specifically defined in this Agreement, any capitalized term in this Agreement shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation Agreement.

WHEREAS , Licensee continues to sell, and offer for sale products and services related to the coal industry, in conjunction with the Licensed Marks as of the Effective Date (“ Licensed Products ”) (the license terms of each of which are set forth in Schedule 3);

WHEREAS , Licensee wishes to obtain from Licensor, subject to the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement, the right and license to use, have used, manufacture, have manufactured, sell, have sold, advertise, have advertised, import, have imported, export, have exported, offer for sale, and have offered for sale the Licensed Products using the Licensed Marks (the “ Licensed Purpose ”);

WHEREAS , Licensor is willing to grant such rights, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in this Agreement.

NOW, THEREFORE , in consideration of the mutual agreements, provisions and covenants contained in this Agreement, and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the parties, intending to be legally bound, hereby agree as follows:

1.     GRANT AND SCOPE OF LICENSE .

(a)     Grant of License . Licensor hereby grants to Licensee the limited licenses to use and have used the Licensed Marks for the Licensed Products as set forth on Schedule 3 under the terms set forth in Schedule 3.

(b)     Domain Names . Licensor hereby grants to Licensee the limited right to use the Domain Names under the terms set forth in Schedule 3.

(c)     Goodwill. Licensee expressly recognizes and acknowledges that its use of the Licensed Marks shall inure solely to the benefit of Licensor, and shall not confer on Licensee any ownership rights to the Licensed Marks. Licensee agrees and covenants that it shall not challenge, contest, or take any actions inconsistent with Licensor’s exclusive rights of ownership of the Licensed Marks.

(d)     Trademark Notices. All print and electronic displays of the Licensed Marks by Licensee shall include at Licensor’s option, a notice to the effect that the Licensed Marks is owned by Licensor and used by Licensee under license from Licensor.

(e)     Licensee Cooperation. Licensee agrees to reasonably cooperate with Licensor in achieving registration of the Licensed Marks worldwide, and in maintaining and protecting existing registrations therefor at Licensor’s sole expense. Licensee shall execute any and all documents which Licensor may reasonably request in support of such registrations, and, at Licensor’s request, Licensee shall provide use evidence, testimony, and documentation that may be required in any ex parte or inter partes administrative proceedings and prosecutions, maintenance and renewals involving registrations of the Licensed Marks, at Licensee’s sole expense.

 

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(f)     Quality Control, Licensor Approvals. Licensor as owner of the Licensed Marks shall have the right at all times to control and approve the nature and quality of the Licensed Products, and to inspect Licensee’s business operations upon reasonable prior notice for the purpose of ensuring that a high level of quality of the Licensed Products is being maintained by Licensee. At Licensor’s reasonable request during each calendar year, Licensee shall submit samples of Licensed Products to Licensor, at no cost to Licensor, and shall not materially depart therefrom without Licensor’s prior express written consent. The Licensed Products, as well as all promotional, packaging and advertising material relative thereto, shall include all appropriate legal notices as required by Licensor. No more frequently than once per year, a third party auditor chosen by Licensor and approved by Licensee, such approval not to be unreasonably withheld, shall be entitled at any time on reasonable notice to the Licensee to enter, during regular business hours, any premises used by the Licensee or its manufacturers for the manufacture, packaging, storage, or performance of the Licensed Products, to inspect such premises, all plant, workforce and machinery used for manufacture, packaging, storage, or performance of Licensed Products and all other aspects of the manufacture, packaging, storage, and performance of Licensed Products (“Access Rights”). Prior to exercising such Access Rights, the third party auditor shall enter into a nondisclosure agreement with Licensee that, among other terms deemed acceptable by Licensee and such third party auditor, shall: (a) limit the content of any report made by the third party auditor to Licensor to a description of the manner in which, and the conditions under which, the Licensed Marks is used by Licensee or its manufacturers; and (b) prevent the disclosure of any of Licensee’s trade secrets and/or Confidential Information. To the extent reasonably practicable, all Licensed Products shall include notices on labeling, packaging, adverting, and other promotion material for the Licensed Products stating that the Licensed Marks are owned by Licensor and used by Licensee under license from Licensor. The Licensed Products shall be of a quality commensurate with previous products and services provided by Licensee prior to execution of the Separation Agreement. If the quality of a class of the Licensed Products falls below such standards, Licensee shall use commercially reasonable efforts to restore such quality. In the event that Licensee has not taken appropriate steps to restore such quality within ninety (90) days after notification by Licensor, Licensor shall have the right to terminate this Agreement.

(g)     Compliance with Trademark Usage Guidelines. Licensee agrees to comply with Licensor’s trademark usage guidelines and any other policies and requirements applicable to the Licensed Marks.

2.     ENFORCEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.

(a)     Third Party Infringement. In the event that Licensee becomes aware that any third party is infringing the Licensed Marks, Licensee shall promptly notify Licensor and provide pertinent details. Licensor shall have the right in its sole discretion to bring a legal action for infringement against the third party, together with the right to enforce and collect any judgment thereon. If Licensor elects to exercise such right, Licensee shall, at Licensor’s request, provide reasonable assistance to Licensor, at the sole expense of Licensor. In the event that Licensor declines to bring a legal action for infringement against a third party operating in the coal business identified by Licensee, Licensee shall have the right to bring a legal action for infringement against the third party upon receiving the prior written approval of Licensor, such approval not to be unreasonably withheld.

3.     INDEMNIFICATION.

(a)    Licensee shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless Licensor and its officers, directors, employees, agents, corporate subsidiaries, parents, and affiliates ( “Licensor Indemnitees” ) from and against any and all demands, claims, actions or causes of action, assessments, deficiencies, damages, losses, liabilities and expenses (including, without limitation, reasonable expenses of investigation and attorneys’ fees and expenses), incurred in conjunction with or arising out of or relating to any third-party claim concerning the Licensed Products and any acts or omissions of Licensee, including without limitation Licensee’s performance of its obligations under this Agreement. The Licensor Indemnitees agree to cooperate with Licensee, at Licensee’s expense, to provide copies of any documents or materials reasonably requested by Licensee in support of its defense of the Licensor Indemnitees.

4.     TERM AND TERMINATION.

(a)     Term. The Term of this Agreement will commence on the Effective Date and shall continue for the time periods set forth in Schedule 2 unless sooner terminated in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.

(b)     Termination for Breach. Licensor and Licensee will be entitled to terminate this Agreement by written notice to the other party in the event the other party is in material breach of any of its obligations hereunder and shall fail to remedy any such default within ninety (90) days after notice thereof by the non-breaching party.

 

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(c)     Termination Upon Bankruptcy. Either party may terminate this Agreement by written notice to the other in the event of: (a) the other party’s making assignment for the benefit of its creditors or filing a voluntary petition under any bankruptcy or insolvency law, under the reorganization or arrangement provisions of the United States Bankruptcy Code, or under the provisions of any law of like import; or (b) the filing of an involuntary petition against the other party under any bankruptcy or insolvency law, under the reorganization or arrangement provisions of the United States Bankruptcy Code, or under any law of like import; or (c) the appointment of a trustee or receiver for the party or its property.

(d)     Survival of Obligations; Return of Confidential Information. Notwithstanding any expiration or termination of this Agreement, Sections 1(d), 3(a), 4(d), 5(a), 5(b), and 6(a) through 6(j) shall survive and continue to be enforceable as set forth herein. Upon any expiration or termination of this Agreement, Licensee shall promptly return to Licensor, or at Licensor’s direction, destroy all confidential information and all copies thereof in Licensee’s possession.

5.     REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES.

(a)    Licensor represents and warrants to Licensee that Licensor’s performance of its obligations under this Agreement is not in conflict with, and will not result in a breach of or constitute a default under, any other contract, instrument, rule of law or order of any court or governmental agency to which Licensor is a party or by which Licensor is bound.

(b)    Licensee represents and warrants to Licensor that Licensee’s performance of its obligations under this Agreement are not in conflict with, and will not result in a breach of or constitute a default under, any other contract, instrument, rule of law or order of any court or governmental agency to which Licensee is a party or by which Licensee is bound.

6.     MISCELLANEOUS.

(a)     Governing Law. This Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania without regard to its conflicts of law principles.

(b)     Waive r. The waiver by any party of a breach or a default of any provision of this Agreement by any other party shall not be construed as a waiver of any succeeding breach of the same or any other provision, nor shall any delay or omission on the part of a party to exercise or avail itself of any right, power or privilege that it has or may have hereunder operate as a waiver of any right, power or privilege by such party.

(c)     Waiver of Jury Trial. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law each party hereby irrevocably waives all right of trial by jury in any action, proceeding, claim, or counterclaim arising out of or in connection with this Agreement or any matter arising hereunder.

(d)     No Agency. Nothing herein shall be deemed to constitute Licensor, on the one hand, or Licensee, on the other hand, as the agent or representative of the other, or as joint venturers or partners for any purpose. Neither Licensor, on the one hand, nor Licensee, on the other hand, shall be responsible for the acts or omissions of the other. No party will have authority to speak for, represent or obligate the other party in any way without prior written authority from such other party.

(e)     Entire Agreement. This Agreement and the Separation Agreement together contain the full understanding of the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes all prior understandings and writings relating thereto. No waiver, alteration or modification of any of the provisions hereof shall be binding unless made in writing and signed by the parties.

(f)     Headings. The headings contained in this Agreement are for convenience of reference only and shall not be considered in construing this Agreement.

 

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(g)     Notices. All notices required or permitted hereunder will be in writing and will be deemed effectively given: (a) upon personal delivery to the party to be notified, (b) when sent by confirmed facsimile transmission if sent during normal business hours of the recipient; if not, then on the next business day, (c) five (5) days after having been sent by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid, or (d) one (1) day after deposit with a nationally recognized overnight courier, specifying next day delivery, with written verification of receipt. All communications will be sent to the party to be notified at the address as set forth below or at such other address as such party may designate by written notice to the other parties hereto. Notices shall be provided to the addresses set forth below:

 

If to Licensor: Stephanie Gill   If to Licensee: Martha Wiegand
CNX Resources Corporation   CONSOL Energy Inc.

Address: 1000 CONSOL Energy

Drive, Canonsburg, PA 15317

 

Address: 1000 CONSOL Energy

Drive, Canonsburg, PA 15317

Attn: General Counsel   Attn: General Counsel
Phone No.: 724-485-4234   Phone No.: 724-485-4009

(h)     Severability. In the event that any provision of this Agreement is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unenforceable because it is invalid or in conflict with any law of any relevant jurisdiction, the validity of the remaining provisions shall not be affected and the invalid provision shall be severed herefrom.

(i)     Assignment. This Agreement may not be assigned or otherwise transferred by Licensee in any manner without the prior written consent of Licensor in its sole discretion, including without limitation by operation of law, a change of control, merger, acquisition, or otherwise. Licensor may freely assign any or all of its rights or obligations under this Agreement. Subject to the foregoing, this Agreement will inure to the benefit of and will be binding on the parties hereto and their respective permitted assigns.

(j)     Counterparts ; Images Signatures. This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original but all of such together shall constitute one and the same instrument. Scanned PDF copies of signatures and facsimile copies of signatures may be deemed original signatures.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF , the parties have caused this Agreement to be executed by their respective authorized officers as of the Effective Date.

 

CNX RESOURCES CORPORATION     CONSOL ENERGY INC.
By:  

/s/ Stephen W. Johnson

    By:  

/s/ James A. Brock

Name:   Stephen W. Johnson     Name:   James A. Brock
Date:   November 28, 2017     Date:   November 28, 2017

 

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SCHEDULE 1

LICENSED MARKS

United States Trademarks

 

Word Mark

  Serial Number     Reg. Number  

CNXC

    86/656,210    

CNX COAL RESOURCES LP

    86/655,972    

 

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SCHEDULE 2

DOMAIN NAMES

 

  cnxcoalresources.com  
  cnxcoalresourceslp.com  
  cnxmetcoalinternational.com  
  cnxmetcoalinternationalinc.com  
  cnxcresources.com  
  cnxlp.com  
  cnxcoal.com  
  cnxmarineterminals.com  

 

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SCHEDULE 3

LICENSE TERMS

1.    The license granted to use and have used the Licensed Marks with respect to, and in conjunction with, the manufacture, offer for sale, sale, importation, exportation, and provision of Licensed Products is non-exclusive, worldwide and royalty-free and includes the right to sublicense to Licensee’s subsidiaries and affiliates.

2.    Licensor further grants Licensee the right to sublicense the Licensed Marks to any third party which currently is licensed to use the Licensed Marks in connection with any Licensee related business. The term of this grant will be 1 year.

3.    Licensee is expressly prohibited from using the Licensed Marks with respect to, in conjunction with, the manufacture, offer for sale, sale, importation, exportation, or provision of products or services in the natural gas business.

4.    The term of the license granted for Licensed Products is 1 year from the Effective Date.

5.    Licensor agrees that for a term of 5 years, it shall not use nor license others to use the Licensed Marks in the coal business.

6.    The license granted herein shall not include any right for Licensee, nor any sublicensee, to use any corporate name, fictitious name, or other corporate identifier that includes or comprises the Licensed Marks. Nothing herein shall be construed as prohibiting Licensee from making factually accurate statements concerning its contractual relationship with Licensor, provided that the wording of such statements shall be subject to Licensor’s prior written approval, such approval not to be unreasonably withheld.

7.    The term of the license granted for Domain Names is 1 year from the Effective Date.

8.    Upon the termination of the license to use the Domain Name, Licensee shall disable and cease using the domain name and transfer administrative control to Licensor.

 

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Exhibit 10.3

TLA2

THIS TRADEMARK LICENSE AGREEMENT (this “ Agreement ”), made and entered into as of this 28 th day of November, 2017 (the “ Effective Date ”), by and between CONSOL ENERGY INC. , a corporation organized under the laws of the state of Delaware (“ Licensor ”) and CNX RESOURCES CORPORATION, a corporation organized under the laws of the state of Delaware (“ Licensee ”).

WHEREAS , Licensor owns all right, title, and interest to the trademarks “CONSOL” and certain other trademarks identified and set forth in Schedule 1 annexed hereto and made a part hereof (collectively, the “Licensed Marks ”);

WHEREAS , Licensor and Licensee and other businesses formerly operated as, or as businesses of, Licensee;

WHEREAS , Licensor and Licensee are now two, separate, publically traded companies;

WHEREAS , Licensor and Licensee entered into a Separation Agreement having an effective date of November 28, 2017 (“Separation Agreement”); unless specifically defined in this Agreement, any capitalized term in this Agreement shall have the meaning set forth in the Separation Agreement.

WHEREAS , Licensee continues to sell, and offer for sale products and services related to the natural gas industry in conjunction with the Licensed Marks as of the Effective Date (“ Licensed Products ”) (the license terms of each of which are set forth in Schedule 2);

WHEREAS , Licensee wishes to obtain from Licensor, subject to the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement, the right and license to use, have used, manufacture, have manufactured, sell, have sold, advertise, have advertised, import, have imported, export, have exported, offer for sale, and have offered for sale the Licensed Products using the Licensed Marks (the “ Licensed Purpose ”);

WHEREAS , Licensor is willing to grant such rights, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in this Agreement.

NOW, THEREFORE , in consideration of the mutual agreements, provisions and covenants contained in this Agreement, and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the parties, intending to be legally bound, hereby agree as follows:

 

1. GRANT AND SCOPE OF LICENSE.

(a)     Grant of License . Licensor hereby grants to Licensee the limited licenses to use and have used the Licensed Marks for the Licensed Products as set forth on Schedule 2 under the terms set forth in Schedule 2.

(b)     Goodwill. Licensee expressly recognizes and acknowledges that its use of the Licensed Marks shall inure solely to the benefit of Licensor, and shall not confer on Licensee any ownership rights to the Licensed Marks. Licensee agrees and covenants that it shall not challenge, contest, or take any actions inconsistent with Licensor’s exclusive rights of ownership of the Licensed Marks.

(c)     Trademark Notices. All print and electronic displays of the Licensed Marks by Licensee shall include at Licensor’s option, a notice to the effect that the Licensed Marks is owned by Licensor and used by Licensee under license from Licensor.

(d)     Licensee Cooperation. Licensee agrees to reasonably cooperate with Licensor in achieving registration of the Licensed Marks worldwide, and in maintaining and protecting existing registrations therefor at Licensor’s sole expense. Licensee shall execute any and all documents which Licensor may reasonably request in support of such registrations, and, at Licensor’s request, Licensee shall provide use evidence, testimony, and documentation that may be required in any ex parte or inter partes administrative proceedings and prosecutions, maintenance and renewals involving registrations of the Licensed Marks, at Licensee’s sole expense.

 

1


(e)     Quality Control, Licensor Approvals. Licensor as owner of the Licensed Marks shall have the right at all times to control and approve the nature and quality of the Licensed Products, and to inspect Licensee’s business operations upon reasonable prior notice for the purpose of ensuring that a high level of quality of the Licensed Products is being maintained by Licensee. At Licensor’s reasonable request during each calendar year, Licensee shall submit samples of Licensed Products to Licensor, at no cost to Licensor, and shall not materially depart therefrom without Licensor’s prior express written consent. The Licensed Products, as well as all promotional, packaging and advertising material relative thereto, shall include all appropriate legal notices as required by Licensor. No more frequently than once per year, a third party auditor chosen by Licensor and approved by Licensee, such approval not to be unreasonably withheld, shall be entitled at any time on reasonable notice to the Licensee to enter, during regular business hours, any premises used by the Licensee or its manufacturers for the manufacture, packaging, storage, or performance of the Licensed Products, to inspect such premises, all plant, workforce and machinery used for manufacture, packaging, storage, or performance of Licensed Products and all other aspects of the manufacture, packaging, storage, and performance of Licensed Products (“Access Rights”). Prior to exercising such Access Rights, the third party auditor shall enter into a nondisclosure agreement with Licensee that, among other terms deemed acceptable by Licensee and such third party auditor, shall: (a) limit the content of any report made by the third party auditor to Licensor to a description of the manner in which, and the conditions under which, the Licensed Marks is used by Licensee or its manufacturers; and (b) prevent the disclosure of any of Licensee’s trade secrets and/or Confidential Information. To the extent reasonably practicable, all Licensed Products shall include notices on labeling, packaging, adverting, and other promotion material for the Licensed Products stating that the Licensed Marks are owned by Licensor and used by Licensee under license from Licensor. The Licensed Products shall be of a quality commensurate with previous products and services provided by Licensee prior to execution of the Separation Agreement. If the quality of a class of the Licensed Products falls below such standards, Licensee shall use commercially reasonable efforts to restore such quality. In the event that Licensee has not taken appropriate steps to restore such quality within ninety (90) days after notification by Licensor, Licensor shall have the right to terminate this Agreement.

(f)     Compliance with Trademark Usage Guidelines. Licensee agrees to comply with Licensor’s trademark usage guidelines and any other policies and requirements applicable to the Licensed Marks.

 

2. ENFORCEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.

(a)     Third Party Infringement. In the event that Licensee becomes aware that any third party is infringing the Licensed Marks, Licensee shall promptly notify Licensor and provide pertinent details. Licensor shall have the right in its sole discretion to bring a legal action for infringement against the third party, together with the right to enforce and collect any judgment thereon. If Licensor elects to exercise such right, Licensee shall, at Licensor’s request, provide reasonable assistance to Licensor, at the sole expense of Licensor. In the event that Licensor declines to bring a legal action for infringement against a third party operating in the gas business identified by Licensee, Licensee shall have the right to bring a legal action for infringement against the third party upon receiving the prior written approval of Licensor, such approval not to be unreasonably withheld.

 

3. INDEMNIFICATION.

(a)    Licensee shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless Licensor and its officers, directors, employees, agents, corporate subsidiaries, parents, and affiliates ( “Licensor Indemnitees” ) from and against any and all demands, claims, actions or causes of action, assessments, deficiencies, damages, losses, liabilities and expenses (including, without limitation, reasonable expenses of investigation and attorneys’ fees and expenses), incurred in conjunction with or arising out of or relating to any third-party claim concerning the Licensed Products and any acts or omissions of Licensee, including without limitation Licensee’s performance of its obligations under this Agreement. The Licensor Indemnitees agree to cooperate with Licensee, at Licensee’s expense, to provide copies of any documents or materials reasonably requested by Licensee in support of its defense of the Licensor Indemnitees.

 

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4. TERM AND TERMINATION.

(a)     Term. The Term of this Agreement will commence on the Effective Date and shall continue for the time periods set forth in Schedule 2 unless sooner terminated in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.

(b)     Termination for Breach. Licensor and Licensee will be entitled to terminate this Agreement by written notice to the other party in the event the other party is in material breach of any of its obligations hereunder and shall fail to remedy any such default within ninety (90) days after notice thereof by the non-breaching party.

(c)     Termination Upon Bankruptcy. Either party may terminate this Agreement by written notice to the other in the event of: (a) the other party’s making assignment for the benefit of its creditors or filing a voluntary petition under any bankruptcy or insolvency law, under the reorganization or arrangement provisions of the United States Bankruptcy Code, or under the provisions of any law of like import; or (b) the filing of an involuntary petition against the other party under any bankruptcy or insolvency law, under the reorganization or arrangement provisions of the United States Bankruptcy Code, or under any law of like import; or (c) the appointment of a trustee or receiver for the party or its property.

(d)     Survival of Obligations; Return of Confidential Information. Notwithstanding any expiration or termination of this Agreement, Sections 1(d), 3(a), 4(d), 5(a), 5(b), and 6(a) through 6(j) shall survive and continue to be enforceable as set forth herein. Upon any expiration or termination of this Agreement, Licensee shall promptly return to Licensor, or at Licensor’s direction, destroy all confidential information and all copies thereof in Licensee’s possession.

 

5. REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES.

(a)    Licensor represents and warrants to Licensee that Licensor’s performance of its obligations under this Agreement is not in conflict with, and will not result in a breach of or constitute a default under, any other contract, instrument, rule of law or order of any court or governmental agency to which Licensor is a party or by which Licensor is bound.

(b)    Licensee represents and warrants to Licensor that Licensee’s performance of its obligations under this Agreement are not in conflict with, and will not result in a breach of or constitute a default under, any other contract, instrument, rule of law or order of any court or governmental agency to which Licensee is a party or by which Licensee is bound.

 

6. MISCELLANEOUS.

(a)     Governing Law. This Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania without regard to its conflicts of law principles.

(b)     Waive r. The waiver by any party of a breach or a default of any provision of this Agreement by any other party shall not be construed as a waiver of any succeeding breach of the same or any other provision, nor shall any delay or omission on the part of a party to exercise or avail itself of any right, power or privilege that it has or may have hereunder operate as a waiver of any right, power or privilege by such party.

(c)     Waiver of Jury Trial. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law each party hereby irrevocably waives all right of trial by jury in any action, proceeding, claim, or counterclaim arising out of or in connection with this Agreement or any matter arising hereunder.

(d)     No Agency. Nothing herein shall be deemed to constitute Licensor, on the one hand, or Licensee, on the other hand, as the agent or representative of the other, or as joint venturers or partners for any purpose. Neither Licensor, on the one hand, nor Licensee, on the other hand, shall be responsible for the acts or omissions of the other. No party will have authority to speak for, represent or obligate the other party in any way without prior written authority from such other party.

 

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(e)     Entire Agreement. This Agreement and the Separation Agreement together contain the full understanding of the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes all prior understandings and writings relating thereto. No waiver, alteration or modification of any of the provisions hereof shall be binding unless made in writing and signed by the parties.

(f)     Headings. The headings contained in this Agreement are for convenience of reference only and shall not be considered in construing this Agreement.

(g)     Notices. All notices required or permitted hereunder will be in writing and will be deemed effectively given: (a) upon personal delivery to the party to be notified, (b) when sent by confirmed facsimile transmission if sent during normal business hours of the recipient; if not, then on the next business day, (c) five (5) days after having been sent by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid, or (d) one (1) day after deposit with a nationally recognized overnight courier, specifying next day delivery, with written verification of receipt. All communications will be sent to the party to be notified at the address as set forth below or at such other address as such party may designate by written notice to the other parties hereto. Notices shall be provided to the addresses set forth below:

 

If to Licensor: Martha Wiegand

   If to Licensee: Stephanie Gill

CONSOL Energy Inc.

   CNX Resources Corporation

Address: 1000 CONSOL Energy

Drive, Canonsburg, PA 15317

  

Address: 1000 CONSOL Energy

Drive, Canonsburg, PA 15317

Attn: General Counsel

   Attn: General Counsel

Phone No.: 724-485-4009

   Phone No.: 724-485-4234

(h)     Severability. In the event that any provision of this Agreement is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unenforceable because it is invalid or in conflict with any law of any relevant jurisdiction, the validity of the remaining provisions shall not be affected and the invalid provision shall be severed herefrom.

(i)     Assignment. This Agreement may not be assigned or otherwise transferred by Licensee in any manner without the prior written consent of Licensor in its sole discretion, including without limitation by operation of law, a change of control, merger, acquisition, or otherwise. Licensor may freely assign any or all of its rights or obligations under this Agreement. Subject to the foregoing, this Agreement will inure to the benefit of and will be binding on the parties hereto and their respective permitted assigns.

(j)     Counterparts ; Images Signatures. This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original but all of such together shall constitute one and the same instrument. Scanned PDF copies of signatures and facsimile copies of signatures may be deemed original signatures.

[Remainder of this Page Intentionally Left Blank]

 

4


IN WITNESS WHEREOF , the parties have caused this Agreement to be executed by their respective authorized officers as of the Effective Date.

 

CONSOL ENERGY INC.     CNX RESOURCES CORPORATION
By:  

/s/ James A. Brock

    By:  

/s/ Stephen W. Johnson

Name:   James A. Brock     Name:   Stephen W. Johnson
Date:   November 28, 2017     Date:   November 28, 2017

 

5


SCHEDULE 1

LICENSED MARKS

United States Trademarks

 

Word Mark

   Serial Number      Reg. Number  

CONSOL ENERGY

     77/799,873        4,242,300  

CONSOL ENERGY

     75/924,231        2,756,594  

 

LOGO

  

 

 

 

77/799,903

 

 

  

 

 

 

4,242,301

 

 

LOGO

     75/924,232        2,756,595  

 

6


SCHEDULE 2

LICENSE TERMS

1.    The license granted to use and have used the Licensed Marks with respect to, and in conjunction with, the manufacture, offer for sale, sale, importation, exportation, and provision of Licensed Products is non-exclusive, worldwide and royalty-free and includes the right to sublicense to Licensee’s subsidiaries and affiliates.

2.    Licensor further grants Licensee the right to sublicense the Licensed Marks to any third party which currently is licensed to use the Licensed Marks in connection with any Licensee related business. The term of this grant will be 1 year.

3.    Licensee is expressly prohibited from using the Licensed Marks with respect to, in conjunction with, the manufacture, offer for sale, sale, importation, exportation, or provision of products or services in the coal business.

4.    The term of the license granted for Licensed Products is 1 year from the Effective Date.

5.    Licensor agrees that for a term of 5 years, it shall not use nor license others to use the Licensed Marks in the natural gas business.

6.    The license granted herein shall not include any right for Licensee, nor any sublicensee, to use any corporate name, fictitious name, or other corporate identifier that includes or comprises the Licensed Marks. Nothing herein shall be construed as prohibiting Licensee from making factually accurate statements concerning its contractual relationship with Licensor, provided that the wording of such statements shall be subject to Licensor’s prior written approval, such approval not to be unreasonably withheld.

 

7

Exhibit 10.4

Execution Version

FIRST AMENDMENT TO

THE FIRST AMENDED AND RESTATED OMNIBUS AGREEMENT

THIS FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE FIRST AMENDED AND RESTATED OMNIBUS AGREEMENT (the “ Amendment ”) is made as of this 28 th day of November, 2017 by and among CONSOL Energy Inc., a Delaware corporation (“ CONSOL ”), CNX Coal Resources GP LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “ General Partner ”), CNX Coal Resources LP, a Delaware limited partnership (the “ Limited Partnership ”), CONSOL Mining Corporation, a Delaware corporation (“ CONSOL Mining ”), and the other parties on the signature pages to this Amendment (the “ Exhibit A Parties ”) and together, with CONSOL, the General Partner, the Partnership and CONSOL Mining, the “ Parties ” and each a “ Party ”).

RECITALS:

WHEREAS , CONSOL, the General Partner, the Limited Partnership and the Exhibit A Parties (collectively, the “ Original Parties ”) are party to that certain First Amended and Restated Omnibus Agreement dated as of September 30, 2016 (the “ Original Omnibus Agreement ”);

WHEREAS , Section 6.3 of the Original Omnibus Agreement provides that the Original Omnibus Agreement may be immediately terminated upon a Partnership Change of Control by either CONSOL or the Partnership; provided that all indemnification obligations under Article II of the Original Omnibus Agreement will, to the fullest extent permitted by law, survive any termination of the Original Omnibus Agreement in accordance with their respective terms;

WHEREAS , although the Spin-Off (as defined below), when consummated, will result in a Partnership Change of Control, CONSOL, the Partnership and the other Original Parties (1) have agreed not to terminate the Original Omnibus Agreement in connection with the Spin-Off, and (2) desire to amend the Original Omnibus Agreement as more fully described herein;

WHEREAS , this Amendment is being entered into in connection with the Spin-Off, and shall become effective as of the effective date of the consummation of the Spin-Off (the “ Spin-Off Date ”).

AGREEMENTS:

NOW, THEREFORE , in consideration of the mutual agreements, covenants, and conditions herein contained, the Parties hereby agree as follows:

ARTICLE I

AMENDMENT

1.1     New Party to Omnibus Agreement . The Parties agree that CONSOL Mining be, and it hereby is, made a party to the Omnibus Agreement, and by its signature below CONSOL Mining agrees to be bound by the Omnibus Agreement, as amended hereby (the “ Omnibus Agreement ”). For the avoidance of doubt, all references to “Parties” and a “Party” in the Omnibus Agreement following the Spin-Off Date shall be deemed to include a reference to CONSOL Mining, as applicable, but will exclude any reference to CONSOL (other than with respect to Article II).


1.2     Assignment of Rights and Obligations . The Parties agree that CONSOL hereby assigns all of its rights and obligations under the Original Omnibus Agreement (except for all rights or obligations remaining with CONSOL under Article II of the Original Omnibus Agreement, as modified by Section 1.4 of this Amendment) to CONSOL Mining, and CONSOL Mining hereby accepts all such rights and assumes all such obligations under the Original Omnibus Agreement (except for all rights or obligations remaining with CONSOL under Article II of the Original Omnibus Agreement, as modified by Section 1.4 of this Amendment). Following the Spin-Off Date and except with respect to Article II of the Original Omnibus Agreement, as amended by Section 1.4 of this Amendment, CONSOL shall no longer be a party to the Omnibus Agreement and CONSOL shall no longer have any rights or obligations thereunder. Except for any references in Article II, which are solely addressed by Section 1.4 of this Amendment, the term “CONSOL Group” as it appears in the Original Omnibus Agreement shall be replaced wherever such term appears by the term “Parent Group” (as defined below) and the term “CONSOL Group Member” as it appears in the Original Omnibus Agreement shall be replaced wherever such term appears by the term “Parent Group Member” (as defined below).

1.3     New Definitions added to Appendix 1 . The following defined terms be, and they hereby are, added to Appendix 1 of the Original Omnibus Agreement:

(a) “ Parent ” shall mean CONSOL Mining Corporation, a Delaware corporation.

(b) “ Parent Group ” shall mean the Parent and each of its Subsidiaries, (other than

a Partnership Group Member).

(c) “ Parent Group Member ” shall mean a member of the Parent Group.

(d) “ Spin-Off ” shall mean that certain separation and distribution of CONSOL’s coal business from its gas business, as more fully described in that certain Registration Statement on Form 10 filed by Parent with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 11, 2017, as amended from time to time.

1.4     Article II – Indemnification .

 

  (a) From and after the Spin-Off Date, (i) Sections 2.1(h)(iii) and 2.1(h)(v) are deleted in their entirety and the remainder of 2.1(h) is renumbered accordingly and (ii) Sections 2.2(b)(v) and 2.2(b)(viii) are hereby deleted in their entirety and the remainder of 2.2(b) is renumbered accordingly.

 

  (b) From and after the Spin-Off Date, CONSOL Mining will replace CONSOL to the extent that any indemnification right or obligation under Article II arises out of or is related to any facts, circumstances or events that occur on or after the Spin-Off Date.

 

  (c) CONSOL affirms that it shall continue to have all of the rights and obligations under Article II to the extent that any indemnification right or obligation under Article II arises out of or is related to any facts, circumstances or events that occur before the Spin-Off Date.

 

2


1.5     Article III – Services; Reimbursements . All references to “CONSOL” in Article III of the Original Omnibus Agreement be, and they hereby are, deleted and replaced with “Parent”.

1.6     Article IV – Right of First Offer . Article IV of the Original Omnibus Agreement will terminate in its entirety on the Spin-Off Date.

1.7     Article V – Tax Matters . All references to “CONSOL” in Article V of the Original Omnibus Agreement be, and they hereby are, deleted and replaced with “Parent”.

1.8     Section 6.3 – Termination . Section 6.3 of the Original Omnibus Agreement be, and it hereby is, deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:

6.3 Termination of Agreement . This Agreement, other than the provisions set forth in Article II hereof, may be terminated (a) by the written agreement of all of the Parties (other than CONSOL) or (b) by the Parent or the Partnership immediately upon a Partnership Change of Control by written notice given to the other Parties to this Agreement; provided, however, that the Parties agree that the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the Spin-Off shall not give rise to any right to terminate this Agreement by CONSOL, the Parent or any other Party. For the avoidance of doubt, the Parties’ indemnification obligations under Article II shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, survive the termination of this Agreement in accordance with their respective terms.

1.9     Section 6.4 – Notice . Section 6.4 of the Original Omnibus Agreement be, and it hereby is, amended to include the following after the notice information for any Partnership Group Member:

If to Parent:

CONSOL Mining Corporation

1000 CONSOL Energy Drive

Canonsburg, Pennsylvania 15317

Attention: General Counsel and Secretary

E-mail: marthawiegand@cnxlp.com

1.10.     Section 6.7(b) – Loan Documents . Section 6.7(b) of the Original Omnibus Agreement be, and it hereby is, deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:

(b) Each of the Parties (i) acknowledges that the Partnership Group and the Parent Group (and in each case, as applicable, any Substitute Owner) has entered into or will enter into one or more credit agreements, security agreements, and other security instruments (collectively, the “ Loan Documents ”) with the administrative agent, collateral agent or other agent party thereto (the “ Agent ”)

 

3


for the benefit of certain lenders, (ii) consents in all respects to the collateral assignment under the Loan Documents of all of the Partnership Group’s and/or the Parent Group’s (or, in each case, as applicable, any Substitute Owner’s) right, title and interest in, to and under this Agreement, (iii) acknowledges the right of the Agent or its designee(s) or assignee(s), in the exercise of the Agent’s rights and remedies under the Loan Documents, to make all demands, give all notices, take all actions and exercise all rights of the Partnership Group and/or the Parent Group under this Agreement (the “ Assigned Interests ”) and (iv) acknowledges that the Agent, its initial or subsequent designee(s) or assignee(s) and any other purchaser of the Assigned Interests in or following a judicial or nonjudicial foreclosure, insolvency, bankruptcy or similar sale (each, a “ Substitute Owner ”) shall be substituted for and have all of the rights and obligations of the Partnership Group and/or the Parent Group, as applicable, for all purposes under this Agreement. In the case of any assignment pursuant to this Section 6.7(b), the non-assigning Parties acknowledge that the assignee shall be substituted for and have all of the rights and obligations of the assignor under this Agreement and shall continue to perform, and shall cause each of its Affiliates to continue to perform, its obligations under this Agreement in favor of such assignor.

ARTICLE II

MISCELLANEOUS

2.1     Definitions . For purposes hereof, the capitalized terms used herein and not otherwise defined have the meanings set forth in the Omnibus Agreement.

2.2     Amendment Compliance . The Parties acknowledge that this Amendment complies with the requirements to amend the Omnibus Agreement, as stated in Section 6.6 of the Omnibus Agreement.

2.3     References . All references to the Omnibus Agreement in any document, instrument or agreement shall hereafter be deemed to refer to the Omnibus Agreement as amended hereby.

2.4     Counterparts . This Amendment may be executed in any number of counterparts, and each such counterpart hereof shall be deemed to be an original instrument, but all of such counterparts shall constitute for all purposes one agreement. Any signature hereto delivered by a Party by electronic mail shall be deemed an original signature hereto.

2.5     Ratification . The Original Omnibus Agreement, as amended herein, is ratified and confirmed and, except as otherwise amended herein, all terms of the Original Omnibus Agreement as set forth in the Omnibus Agreement remain in full force and effect.

2.6     Miscellaneous . The Articles and Sections of the Omnibus Agreement referenced in Article I of this Amendment are incorporated herein by this reference as if set out fully herein and shall apply in all respects to this Amendment, mutatis mutandis .

 

4


2.7     Governing Law . This Amendment shall be subject to and governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, excluding any conflicts-of-law rule or principle that might refer the construction or interpretation of this Amendment to the laws of another state.

[signature page follows]

 

5


IN WITNESS WHEREOF , the Parties have executed this Agreement effective as of the Spin-Off Date.

 

CONSOL ENERGY INC.     CNX COAL RESOURCES GP LLC
By:  

/s/ Stephen W. Johnson

    By:  

/s/ James A. Brock

Name:   Stephen W. Johnson     Name:   James A. Brock
Title:   Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer     Title:   Chief Executive Officer
CNX COAL RESOURCES LP     CNX OPERATING LLC
By:   CNX Coal Resources GP LLC, its general partner      
By:  

/s/ James A. Brock

    By:  

/s/ James A. Brock

Name:   James A. Brock     Name:   James A. Brock
Title:   Chief Executive Officer     Title:   Chief Executive Officer
CNX THERMAL HOLDINGS LLC     CONRHEIN COAL COMPANY
By:  

/s/ James A. Brock

    By:  

/s/ James A. Brock

Name:   James A. Brock     Name:   James A. Brock
Title:   Chief Executive Officer     Title:   Manager
CONSOL PENNSYLVANIA COAL COMPANY LLC     CNX GAS COMPANY LLC
By:  

/s/ James A. Brock

    By:  

/s/ Stephen W. Johnson

Name:   James A. Brock     Name:   Stephen W. Johnson
Title:   President     Title:   Senior Vice President
CNX MARINE TERMINALS, LLC     CNX WATER ASSETS LLC
By:  

/s/ Stephen W. Johnson

    By:  

/s/ Stephen W. Johnson

Name:   Stephen W. Johnson     Name:   Stephen W. Johnson
Title:   President and Chairman     Title:   President
CONSOL ENERGY SALES COMPANY     CONSOL MINING CORPORATION
By:  

/s/ James A. Brock

    By:  

/s/ James A. Brock

Name:   James A. Brock     Name:   James A. Brock
Title:   President and Chief Executive Officer     Title:   Chief Executive Officer

 

6

Table of Contents

Exhibit 99.1

 

CONSOL Energy Inc.

1000 CONSOL Energy Drive, Canonsburg, PA 15317-6506

T (724) 485-4000

www.consolenergy.com

   LOGO

Dear CONSOL Stockholders:

In December 2016, we announced our intention to separate CONSOL Energy Inc. (ParentCo) into two independent, publicly traded companies: a coal company and a natural gas exploration and production (E&P) company. This separation provides current stockholders ownership in two leading and focused companies, each positioned to capitalize on distinct opportunities for growth and profitability, and has been approved by our Board of Directors. The coal company will include our Pennsylvania Mining Complex (PAMC), our ownership interest in CNX Coal Resources LP (CNXC), our marine terminal at the Baltimore Port, our undeveloped coal reserves located in the Northern Appalachian, Central Appalachian and Illinois basins and certain related coal assets and liabilities (collectively, the Coal Business). The Coal Business is held by CONSOL Mining Corporation (CoalCo), which is currently a wholly owned subsidiary of ParentCo. The E&P company will include developed and undeveloped oil and gas properties, both leased and owned in fee, located primarily in Appalachia (Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and Virginia), with a primary focus in the continued development of Marcellus Shale acreage and the delineation and development of Utica Shale acreage, along with certain water services and land resource management services (collectively, the Gas Business). The Gas Business is held through subsidiaries of ParentCo separate from CoalCo.

Management believes that the separation and spin-off of the Coal Business will:

 

  -

improve business and operational decision-making and strategic and management focus for each respective business;

  -

improve each company’s ability to attract, retain and incentivize employees;

  -

improve the Gas Business’s access to capital, while eliminating competition for capital among the two businesses; and

  -

by creating an independent equity structure for each business, improve the understanding of each business in the capital and investor markets, lead to a stronger, more focused investor base for each business, allow each company to use its stock as consideration for acquisitions and enhance the value of its equity-based compensation programs, thereby enabling each business to more fully realize its value.

To implement the separation, ParentCo currently plans to distribute all of the outstanding shares of CoalCo common stock on a pro rata basis to ParentCo stockholders. Each ParentCo stockholder will receive one share of CoalCo common stock for every eight shares of ParentCo common stock held by such stockholder of record as of the close of business on November 15, 2017, the record date, in a distribution that is intended to qualify as generally tax-free to the ParentCo stockholders for U.S. federal income tax purposes, except with respect to any cash received in lieu of fractional shares. No fractional shares of CoalCo common stock will be issued. If you would otherwise have been entitled to receive a fractional share of common stock in the distribution, you will receive the net cash proceeds of the sale of such fractional share instead.

In conjunction with the separation, CoalCo will apply for authorization to list its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CEIX.” Upon completion of the separation, each ParentCo stockholder as of the record date will continue to own shares of ParentCo and will own a pro rata share of the outstanding shares of common stock of CoalCo. The CoalCo common stock will be issued in book-entry form only, which means that no physical share certificates will be issued. No vote of ParentCo stockholders is required for the distribution.

You do not need to take any action to receive shares of CoalCo common stock to which you are entitled as a ParentCo stockholder, and you do not need to pay any consideration or surrender or exchange your ParentCo common stock. I invite you to read the enclosed information statement, which describes the spin-off in detail and provides other important business and financial information about CoalCo.

We believe the separation provides tremendous opportunities for our businesses and our stockholders, as we work to continue to build long-term shareholder value. Thank you for your continued support of CONSOL Energy and your future support of CoalCo.

Very truly yours,

Nicholas J. DeIuliis

President and Chief Executive Officer


Table of Contents

CONSOL Mining Corporation

1000 CONSOL Energy Drive, Canonsburg, PA 15317-6506

T (724) 485-4000

Dear Future CONSOL Mining Corporation Stockholder:

I am excited to welcome you as a future stockholder of CONSOL Mining Corporation (CoalCo), a U.S.-based coal company focused on safely and compliantly producing and selling high-quality bituminous coal from the Northern Appalachian Basin. Our company and its predecessors have been successfully mining coal, primarily in Northern Appalachia, since 1864. We have established ourselves as a leading coal producer in the eastern United States due to our demonstrated ability to efficiently produce and deliver large volumes of high-quality coal with a low cost structure, the strategic location of our mines, our unique marketing strategy, and the industry experience of our management team.

CoalCo will own and operate the Pennsylvania Mining Complex (PAMC), which consists of three underground mines - Bailey, Enlow Fork, and Harvey - and related infrastructure. The PAMC has an annual production capacity of 28.5 million tons, and it controls approximately 767 million tons of proven and probable reserves (as of December 31, 2016). Coal from the PAMC can be sold domestically or abroad, as either high-Btu thermal coal or high-volatile crossover metallurgical coal. The complex includes five longwalls and 15-17 continuous miner sections, which allow us to mine large quantities of coal while maintaining a very competitive cost structure. In addition, CoalCo will own and operate the CNX Marine Terminal, which is located on 200 acres in the Port of Baltimore and gives us access to the seaborne markets for exporting thermal and metallurgical coal. The terminal has a throughput capacity of 15 million tons per year, and it is the only coal marine terminal on the East Coast to be served by two rail lines – Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation. Our management team has decades of experience in developing, operating, and expanding large-scale coal mining operations using the latest technology. Over the last several years, we have created a diversified portfolio of top-performing, environmentally-controlled, rail-served power plant customers in our core market areas in the eastern United States, while also opportunistically participating in the export and crossover metallurgical markets and employing a flexible operating strategy focused on delivering strong cash flows.

The assets of CoalCo, and the team that operates them, have consistently generated significant amounts of free cash flow and have withstood the recent volatility in the coal markets. The separation of CoalCo from ParentCo provides a new opportunity in that CoalCo will now be able to capitalize on its own free cash flow generation and strategic vision to build value for the CoalCo shareholders. Management intends to accomplish this by judiciously selecting from several options, including capitalizing on organic growth opportunities that exist within PAMC and the 1.6 billion tons of additional greenfield reserves that we control, pursuing acquisitions or other business arrangements that complement our operations and expertise, returning capital to our shareholders through dividends or share repurchases, or repaying any outstanding indebtedness. The separation from the combined E&P and coal entity will enable the CoalCo management team to foster its strategic goals and enhance value per share.

In connection with the separation, CoalCo will be renamed CONSOL Energy Inc., and we intend to list CoalCo’s common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CEIX.”

As we prepare to become a standalone company, we look to build upon our rich heritage, ready to seize the future and excel.

Sincerely,

James Brock

Chief Executive Officer


Table of Contents

INFORMATION STATEMENT

CONSOL Mining Corporation

 

 

This information statement is being furnished to the holders of common stock of CONSOL Energy Inc. (ParentCo) in connection with the distribution by ParentCo to its stockholders of all of the outstanding shares of common stock of CONSOL Mining Corporation (CoalCo or We). CoalCo is a wholly owned subsidiary of ParentCo that was formed to hold and operate ParentCo’s Pennsylvania Mining Operations (PAMC) and certain related coal assets, including ParentCo’s ownership interest in CNX Coal Resources LP (CNXC), which owns a 25% stake in PAMC, ParentCo’s terminal operations at the Port of Baltimore (the CNX Marine Terminal), undeveloped coal reserves and certain related coal assets and liabilities (collectively, the Coal Business). The Coal Business focuses primarily on the extraction, preparation and sale of coal in the Appalachian Basin. To implement the separation, ParentCo currently plans to distribute all of the outstanding shares of CoalCo common stock on a pro rata basis to ParentCo stockholders in a distribution that is intended to qualify as generally tax-free to the ParentCo stockholders for United States (U.S.) federal income tax purposes, except with respect to any cash received in lieu of fractional shares. We refer to the pro rata distribution of our common stock as the “distribution.”

The distribution is subject to certain conditions, as described in this information statement. You should consult your own tax advisor as to the particular consequences of the distribution to you, including the applicability and effect of any U.S. federal, state and local and non-U.S. tax laws.

For every eight shares of common stock of ParentCo held of record by you as of the close of business on November 15, 2017, the record date for the distribution, you will receive one share of CoalCo common stock. You will receive cash in lieu of any fractional shares of CoalCo common stock that you would have received after application of the above ratio. We expect the shares of CoalCo common stock to be distributed by ParentCo to you on November 28, 2017. We refer to the date of the distribution of CoalCo common stock as the “distribution date.” Until the separation occurs, CoalCo will be a wholly owned subsidiary of ParentCo and consequently, ParentCo will have the sole and absolute discretion to determine and change the terms of the separation, including the establishment of the record date for the distribution and the distribution date.

No vote of ParentCo stockholders is required to effect the distribution. Therefore, you are not being asked for a proxy, and you are requested not to send ParentCo a proxy, in connection with the distribution. You do not need to pay any consideration, exchange or surrender your existing shares of ParentCo common stock or take any other action to receive your shares of CoalCo common stock.

CoalCo was organized as a Delaware corporation on June 21, 2017. ParentCo currently owns all of the outstanding equity of CoalCo. Accordingly, there is no current trading market for CoalCo common stock, although we expect that a limited market, commonly known as a “when-issued” trading market, will develop on or shortly before the record date for the distribution. We expect “regular-way” trading of CoalCo common stock to begin on the first trading day following the distribution date. As discussed under “The Separation and Distribution—Trading Between the Record Date and the Distribution Date,” if you sell your ParentCo common stock in the “regular-way” market after the record date and before the distribution date, you also will be selling your right to receive shares of CoalCo common stock in connection with the separation and distribution. CoalCo will change its name to CONSOL Energy Inc., and intends to have its common stock authorized for listing on the New York Stock Exchange (the NYSE) under the symbol “CEIX.” ParentCo will be renamed “CNX Resources Corporation” and will retain its current stock symbol “CNX” in connection with the separation.

 

 

In reviewing this information statement, you should carefully consider the matters described under the caption “ Risk Factors ” beginning on page 1.

Neither the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved these securities or determined if this information statement is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

This information statement does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities.

References in this information statement to specific codes, legislation or other statutory enactments are to be deemed as references to those codes, legislation or other statutory enactments, as amended from time to time.

The date of this information statement is November 3, 2017.

This information statement was first made available to ParentCo stockholders on or about November 6, 2017.


Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT THE SEPARATION AND DISTRIBUTION

     iii  

INFORMATION STATEMENT SUMMARY

     x  

SUMMARY HISTORICAL AND UNAUDITED PRO FORMA COMBINED FINANCIAL DATA

     xxvii  

RISK FACTORS

     1  

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

     29  

THE SEPARATION AND DISTRIBUTION

     32  

DIVIDEND POLICY

     40  

CAPITALIZATION

     40  

SELECTED HISTORICAL COMBINED FINANCIAL DATA

     42  

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED COMBINED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

     42  

BUSINESS

     50  

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

     73  

MANAGEMENT

     103  

BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOLLOWING THE SEPARATION

     104  

DIRECTOR COMPENSATION

     112  

COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

     113  

EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

     126  

COALCO INCENTIVE ARRANGEMENTS AND PLANS

     152  

CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

     156  

MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES

     166  

DESCRIPTION OF MATERIAL INDEBTEDNESS

     170  

SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT

     172  

DESCRIPTION OF COALCO CAPITAL STOCK

     175  

WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

     179  

APPENDIX A NON-GAAP RECONCILIATION

     A-1  

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

     F-1  


Table of Contents

Presentation of Information

Unless the context otherwise requires:

 

   

The information included in this information statement about CoalCo, including the Combined Financial Statements of CoalCo, which primarily comprise the assets and liabilities of ParentCo’s Pennsylvania Mining Complex (PAMC) and certain related coal assets, including ParentCo’s ownership interest in CNX Coal Resources LP (CNXC), which owns a 25% stake in PAMC, ParentCo’s terminal operations at the Port of Baltimore (the CNX Marine Terminal), undeveloped coal reserves and certain other coal-related assets and liabilities (collectively, the Coal Business), assumes the completion of all of the transactions referred to in this information statement in connection with the separation and distribution.

 

   

References in this information statement to the “Pennsylvania Mining Complex” or “PAMC” refers to coal mines, coal reserves and related assets and operations, located primarily in southwestern Pennsylvania and owned 75% by ParentCo and 25% by CNXC.

 

   

References in this information statement to “CoalCo,” “we,” “our,” “us,” “our company” and “the company” refer to CONSOL Mining Corporation, a Delaware corporation and its subsidiaries, after giving effect to the separation and distribution.

 

   

References in this information statement to “ParentCo” refer to CONSOL Energy Inc., a Delaware corporation, and its consolidated subsidiaries, including CoalCo and the Coal Business prior to completion of the separation.

 

   

References in this information statement to “GasCo” refer to ParentCo after the completion of the separation and the distribution, in connection with which ParentCo will change its name to CNX Resources Corporation, and at which time its business will comprise the oil and natural gas exploration and production (E&P) business, focused on Appalachian area natural gas and liquids activity, including production, gathering, processing and acquisition of natural gas properties in the Appalachian Basin (collectively the Gas Business).

 

   

References in this information statement to the “separation” refer to the separation of the Coal Business from ParentCo’s other businesses and the creation, as a result of the distribution, of an independent, publicly traded company, CoalCo, to hold the assets and liabilities associated with the Coal Business after the distribution.

 

   

References in this information statement to the “distribution” refer to the distribution of CoalCo’s issued and outstanding shares of common stock to ParentCo stockholders as of the close of business on the record date for the distribution.

 

   

References in this information statement to CoalCo’s per share data assume a distribution ratio of one share of CoalCo common stock for every eight shares of ParentCo common stock.

 

   

References in this information statement to CoalCo’s historical assets, liabilities, products, businesses or activities generally refer to the historical assets, liabilities, products, businesses or activities of the Coal Business as the business was conducted as part of ParentCo prior to the completion of the separation.

 

i


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Industry Information

Unless indicated otherwise, the information concerning our industry contained in this information statement is based on CoalCo’s general knowledge of and expectations concerning the industry. CoalCo’s market position, market share and industry market size are based on estimates using CoalCo’s internal data and estimates, based on data from various industry analyses, our internal research and adjustments and assumptions. Industry publications and surveys generally state that the information contained therein has been obtained from sources that are believed to be reliable. While we have not been able to independently verify data from industry analyses, we believe based on management’s knowledge that such information is sufficient and reliable for purposes of its inclusion within this information statement. Further, CoalCo’s estimates and assumptions involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change based on various factors, including those discussed in the “Risk Factors” section. These and other factors could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the estimates and assumptions.

 

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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT THE SEPARATION AND DISTRIBUTION

 

What is CoalCo and why is ParentCo separating CoalCo’s business and distributing CoalCo stock?   

CoalCo, currently a wholly owned subsidiary of ParentCo, was formed on June 21, 2017 to own and operate ParentCo’s Coal Business. The separation of CoalCo from ParentCo and the distribution of CoalCo common stock are intended, among other things, to (1) result in improved business and operational decision-making and greater strategic and management focus for each respective business; (2) improve each company’s ability to attract, retain and incentivize employees; (3) improve access to capital for each business while eliminating competition for capital; and (4) create an independent equity structure for each business, resulting in an improved understanding of each business in the capital and investor markets, and a stronger, more focused investor base for each business. We believe that the separation will allow each business to more fully realize its value, and each company to use its stock as consideration for acquisitions and enhance the value of its equity-based compensation programs. ParentCo expects that the separation will result in enhanced long-term performance of each business for the reasons discussed in the sections entitled “The Separation and Distribution—Reasons for the Separation.”

Why am I receiving this document?   

ParentCo is delivering this document to you because you hold shares of ParentCo common stock. If you are a holder of shares of ParentCo common stock as of the close of business on November 15, 2017, the record date of the distribution, you will be entitled to receive one share of CoalCo common stock for every eight shares of ParentCo common stock that you hold at the close of business on such date, resulting in a distribution of all of the outstanding shares of CoalCo common stock (without accounting for cash to be issued in lieu of fractional shares). This document will help you understand how the separation and distribution will affect your post-separation ownership in GasCo and CoalCo.

How will the separation of CoalCo from ParentCo work?   

As part of the separation, and prior to the distribution, ParentCo and its subsidiaries expect to complete an internal restructuring in order to transfer to CoalCo the assets and liabilities associated with the Coal Business that CoalCo will own following the separation. To accomplish the separation, ParentCo will, following the internal restructuring, distribute to its stockholders all of our common stock. Following the separation, the number of shares of ParentCo common stock you own will not change as a result of the separation.

What is the record date for the distribution?   

The record date for the distribution will be November 15, 2017.

When will the distribution occur?   

We expect that the shares of CoalCo common stock will be distributed by ParentCo at 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on November 28, 2017, to holders of record of shares of ParentCo common stock at the close of business on November 15, 2017, the record date for the distribution.

 

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What do stockholders need to do to participate in the distribution?   

Stockholders of ParentCo as of the record date for the distribution will not be required to take any action to receive CoalCo common stock in the distribution, but you are urged to read this entire information statement carefully. No stockholder approval of the distribution is required. You are not being asked for a proxy. You do not need to pay any consideration, exchange or surrender your existing shares of ParentCo common stock, or take any other action to receive your shares of CoalCo common stock. Please do not send in your ParentCo stock certificates. The distribution will not affect the number of outstanding shares of ParentCo common stock or any rights of ParentCo stockholders, although it will affect the market value of each outstanding share of ParentCo common stock.

How will shares of CoalCo common stock be issued?   

You will receive shares of CoalCo common stock through the same channels that you currently use to hold or trade shares of ParentCo common stock, whether through a brokerage account, 401(k) plan or other channel. Receipt of CoalCo shares will be documented for you in the same manner that you typically receive stockholder updates, such as monthly broker statements and 401(k) statements.

  

If you own shares of ParentCo common stock as of the close of business on the record date for the distribution, including shares owned in certificate form, ParentCo, with the assistance of Computershare Trust Company, N.A. (Computershare), the distribution agent, will electronically distribute shares of CoalCo common stock to you or to your brokerage firm on your behalf in book-entry form. Computershare will mail you a book-entry account statement that reflects your shares of CoalCo common stock, or your bank or brokerage firm will credit your account for the shares.

How many shares of CoalCo common stock will I receive in the distribution?   

ParentCo will distribute to you one share of CoalCo common stock for every eight shares of ParentCo common stock held by you as of close of business on the record date for the distribution. Based on approximately 224.4 million shares of ParentCo common stock outstanding as of October 31, 2017, and applying the distribution ratio (without accounting for cash to be issued in lieu of fractional shares), a total of approximately 28.0 million shares of CoalCo common stock will be distributed to ParentCo’s stockholders. For additional information on the distribution, see “The Separation and Distribution.”

Will CoalCo issue fractional shares of its common stock in the distribution?   

No. CoalCo will not issue fractional shares of its common stock in the distribution. Fractional shares that ParentCo stockholders would otherwise have been entitled to receive will be aggregated and sold in the public market by Computershare. The net cash proceeds of these sales will be distributed pro rata (based on the fractional share such holder would otherwise be entitled to receive) to those stockholders who would otherwise have been entitled to receive fractional shares. Recipients of cash in lieu of fractional shares will not be entitled to any interest on the amounts of payment made in lieu of fractional shares.

 

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What are the conditions to the distribution?   

The distribution is subject to the satisfaction (or waiver by ParentCo in its sole discretion) of the following conditions, among others:

 

•    the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) declaring effective the registration statement of which this information statement forms a part; there being no order suspending the effectiveness of the registration statement in effect; and no proceedings for such purposes having been instituted or threatened by the SEC;

 

•    the mailing of this information statement or a notice of Internet availability of this information statement to ParentCo stockholders;

 

•    the receipt by ParentCo of a private letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service (the IRS), which was received on October 16, 2017, and one or more opinions of its tax advisors, in each case satisfactory to the ParentCo Board of Directors, regarding certain U.S. federal income tax matters relating to the separation and distribution, including, with respect to the opinion of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, to the effect that the distribution will be a transaction described in Section 355(a) of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code);

 

•    the internal reorganization having been completed and the transfer of assets and liabilities of the Coal Business from ParentCo to CoalCo, and the transfer of certain assets and liabilities of the Gas Business from CoalCo to ParentCo, having been completed in accordance with the separation and distribution agreement;

 

•    the receipt of one or more opinions from an independent appraisal firm to the ParentCo Board of Directors as to the solvency of ParentCo and CoalCo after the completion of the distribution, in each case in a form and substance acceptable to the ParentCo Board of Directors in its sole and absolute discretion;

  

•    all actions necessary or appropriate under applicable U.S. federal, state or other securities or blue sky laws and the rule and regulations thereunder having been taken or made and, where applicable, having become effective or been accepted;

 

•    the execution of certain agreements contemplated by the separation and distribution agreement;

 

•    no order, injunction or decree issued by any government authority of competent jurisdiction or other legal restraint or prohibition preventing the consummation of the separation, the distribution or any of the related transactions being in effect;

 

 

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•    the shares of CoalCo common stock to be distributed having been accepted for listing on the NYSE, subject to official notice of distribution;

 

•    CoalCo having entered into the financing arrangements described under “Description of Material Indebtedness” and ParentCo being satisfied in its sole and absolute discretion that, as of the effective time of the distribution, it will have no further liability under such arrangements;

  

 

•    ParentCo having received $425 million in cash from CoalCo; and

 

•    no other event or development existing or having occurred that, in the judgment of ParentCo’s Board of Directors, in its sole and absolute discretion, makes it inadvisable to effect the separation, the distribution and the other related transactions.

 

ParentCo and CoalCo cannot assure you that any or all of these conditions will be met, or that the separation will be consummated even if all of the conditions are met. ParentCo can decline at any time to go forward with the separation. In addition, ParentCo may waive any of the conditions to the distribution. For a complete discussion of all of the conditions to the distribution, see “The Separation and Distribution—Conditions to the Distribution.”

What is the expected date of completion of the separation?   

The completion and timing of the separation are dependent upon a number of conditions. We expect that the shares of CoalCo common stock will be distributed by ParentCo at 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on November 28, 2017, to the holders of record of shares of ParentCo common stock at the close of business on November 15, 2017, the record date for the distribution. However, no assurance can be provided as to the timing of the separation or that all conditions to the distribution will be met, by November 28, 2017 or at all.

Will CoalCo and ParentCo be renamed in conjunction with the Separation?   

Yes. In connection with the separation, CoalCo will change its name to CONSOL Energy Inc. and will apply for authorization to list its common stock on the NYSE under the symbol “CEIX.” ParentCo will change its name to CNX Resources Corporation and will retain its current stock symbol “CNX” on the NYSE.

Can ParentCo decide to cancel the distribution of CoalCo common stock even if all the conditions have been met?   

Yes. Until the distribution has occurred, ParentCo has the right to terminate the distribution, even if all of the conditions are satisfied.

What if I want to sell my ParentCo common stock or my CoalCo common stock?   

You should consult with your financial advisors, such as your stockbroker, bank or tax advisor.

 

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What is “regular-way” and “ex-distribution” trading of ParentCo common stock?   

Beginning on or shortly before the record date for the distribution and continuing up to and through the distribution date, we expect that there will be two markets in ParentCo common stock: a “regular-way” market and an “ex-distribution” market. ParentCo common stock that trades in the “regular-way” market will trade with an entitlement to shares of CoalCo common stock distributed pursuant to the distribution. Shares that trade in the “ex-distribution” market will trade without an entitlement to CoalCo common stock distributed pursuant to the distribution. If you decide to sell any shares of ParentCo common stock before the distribution date, you should make sure your stockbroker, bank or other nominee understands whether you want to sell your ParentCo common stock with or without your entitlement to CoalCo common stock pursuant to the distribution.

Where will I be able to trade shares of CoalCo common stock?   

CoalCo intends to apply for authorization to list its common stock on the NYSE under the symbol “CEIX.” CoalCo anticipates that trading in shares of its common stock will begin on a “when-issued” basis on or shortly before the record date for the distribution and will continue up to and through the distribution date, and that “regular-way” trading in CoalCo common stock will begin on the first trading day following the completion of the distribution. If trading begins on a “when-issued” basis, you may purchase or sell CoalCo common stock up to and through the distribution date, but your transaction will not settle until after the distribution date. CoalCo cannot predict the trading prices for its common stock before, on or after the distribution date.

What will happen to the listing of ParentCo common stock?   

ParentCo common stock will continue to trade on the NYSE after the distribution under its current stock symbol “CNX.” ParentCo will be renamed CNX Resources Corporation upon completion of the separation and distribution.

Will the number of shares of ParentCo common stock that I own change as a result of the distribution?   

No. The number of shares of ParentCo common stock that you own will not change as a result of the distribution.

Will the distribution affect the market price of my ParentCo common stock?   

Yes. As a result of the distribution, ParentCo expects the trading price of shares of GasCo common stock immediately following the distribution to be different from the “regular-way” trading price of ParentCo shares immediately prior to the distribution because the trading price will no longer reflect the value of the Coal Business. There can be no assurance whether the aggregate market value of the GasCo common stock and the CoalCo common stock following the separation will be higher or lower than the market value of ParentCo common stock if the separation did not occur. This means, for example, that the combined trading prices of eight shares of GasCo common stock and one share of CoalCo common stock after the distribution may be equal to, greater than or less than the trading price of eight shares of ParentCo common stock before the distribution.

What are the material U.S. federal income tax consequences of the separation and the distribution?   

It is a condition to the distribution that ParentCo receive a private letter ruling from the IRS, which was received October 16, 2017, and one or more opinions of its tax advisors, in each case

 

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satisfactory to the ParentCo Board of Directors, regarding certain U.S. federal income tax matters relating to the separation and distribution, including, with respect to the opinion of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, to the effect that the distribution will be a transaction described in Section 355(a) of the Code. Accordingly, it is expected that you generally will not recognize any gain or loss, and no amount will be included in your income, upon your receipt of CoalCo common stock pursuant to the distribution. You will, however, recognize gain or loss for U.S. federal income tax purposes with respect to cash received in lieu of a fractional share of CoalCo common stock.

  

You should consult your own tax advisor as to the particular consequences of the distribution to you, including the applicability and effect of any U.S. federal, state and local tax laws, as well as any foreign tax laws. For more information regarding the material U.S. federal income tax consequences of the distribution, see the section entitled “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences.”

What will CoalCo’s relationship be with GasCo following the separation?   

Following the distribution, ParentCo stockholders will own all of the outstanding shares of CoalCo common stock, and CoalCo will be a separate company from ParentCo. CoalCo will enter into a separation and distribution agreement with ParentCo to effect the separation and to provide a framework for CoalCo’s relationship with GasCo after the separation, and will enter into certain other agreements, including but not limited to a transition services agreement, a tax matters agreement, an employee matters agreement, an intellectual property matters agreement and other agreements related to operations of CoalCo post-separation. These agreements will provide for the allocation between CoalCo and GasCo of the assets, employees, liabilities and obligations (including investments, property and employee benefits and tax-related assets and liabilities) of ParentCo and its subsidiaries attributable to periods prior to, at and after CoalCo’s separation from ParentCo and will govern the relationship between CoalCo and GasCo subsequent to the completion of the separation. For additional information regarding the separation and distribution agreement and other transaction agreements, see the sections entitled “Risk Factors—Risks Related to the Separation” and “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”

Who will manage CoalCo after the separation?   

Led by James Brock, CoalCo’s management team will possess deep knowledge of, and extensive experience in, the coal industry generally. For more information regarding CoalCo’s directors and management, see “Management” and “Board of Directors Following the Separation.”

Are there risks associated with owning CoalCo common stock?   

Yes. Ownership of CoalCo common stock is subject to both general and specific risks relating to CoalCo’s business, the coal industry in which it operates, its ongoing contractual relationships with GasCo and its status as a separate, publicly traded company. Ownership of CoalCo common stock is also subject to risks relating to the separation. Certain of these risks are described in the “Risk Factors” section of this information statement, beginning on page 1. We encourage you to read that section carefully.

 

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Does CoalCo plan to pay dividends?   

The declaration and payment of any dividends in the future by CoalCo with respect to the common stock will be subject to the sole discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend upon many factors. See “Dividend Policy.”

How will equity-based and other long-term incentive compensation awards held by ParentCo employees be affected as a result of the separation?   

The currently anticipated treatment of equity-based and other long-term incentive compensation awards that may be held by our named executives as of the time of separation is discussed under the section entitled, “The Separation and Distribution— Treatment of Equity-Based Compensation.” Additional information regarding the treatment of such awards is included in the Employee Matters Agreement, the form of which is filed as Exhibit 2.3.

Will CoalCo incur any indebtedness prior to or at the time of the distribution?   

Subject to market conditions and other factors, prior to or concurrent with the separation, CoalCo intends to secure new borrowings from third-party financing sources, a portion of which is anticipated to be distributed to GasCo. See “Description of Material Indebtedness” and “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business.”

Who will be the distribution agent for the distribution and transfer agent and registrar for CoalCo common stock?   

The distribution agent, transfer agent and registrar for the CoalCo common stock will be Computershare Trust Company, N.A. For questions relating to the transfer or mechanics of the stock distribution, you should contact Computershare toll free at 1-800-622-6757 or non-toll free at 1-781-575-2879.

Where can I find more information about ParentCo and CoalCo?   

Before the distribution, if you have any questions relating to ParentCo’s business performance, you should contact:

 

CONSOL Energy Inc.

1000 CONSOL Energy Drive

Canonsburg, PA 15317-6506

Attention: Investor Relations

 

After the distribution, CoalCo stockholders who have any questions relating to CoalCo’s business performance should contact CoalCo at:

 

CONSOL Energy Inc.

1000 CONSOL Energy Drive

Canonsburg, PA 15317-6506

Attention: Investor Relations

 

The CoalCo investor website ( www.consolenergy.com ) will be operational on or around November 29, 2017. The CoalCo website and the information contained therein or connected thereto are not incorporated into this information statement or the registration statement of which this information statement forms a part, or in any other filings with, or any information furnished or submitted to, the SEC.

 

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INFORMATION STATEMENT SUMMARY

The following is a summary of material information discussed in this information statement. This summary may not contain all the details concerning the separation or other information that may be important to you. To better understand the separation and distribution and CoalCo’s business and financial position, you should carefully review this entire information statement. Unless the context otherwise requires, the information included in this information statement about CoalCo, including the Combined Financial Statements of CoalCo, assumes the completion of all of the transactions referred to in this information statement in connection with the separation and distribution. Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this information statement to “CoalCo,” “we,” “us,” “our,” “our company” and “the company” refer to CONSOL Mining Corporation, a Delaware corporation, and its subsidiaries. Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this information statement to “ParentCo” refer to CONSOL Energy Inc., a Delaware corporation, and its consolidated subsidiaries, including the Coal Business prior to completion of the separation and GasCo refers to the ParentCo entity and operations following the separation.

Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this information statement to our historical assets, liabilities, products, businesses or activities of our businesses are generally intended to refer to the historical assets, liabilities, products, businesses or activities of ParentCo’s Pennsylvania Mining Operations (PAMC), ParentCo’s ownership interest in CNX Coal Resources LP (CNXC) which owns a 25% stake in PAMC, the CNX Marine Terminal, and the undeveloped coal reserves located in the Northern Appalachian, Central Appalachian and Illinois basins (the Greenfield Reserves), as such operations were conducted as part of ParentCo prior to completion of the separation.

Our Company

We are a leading, low-cost producer of high-quality bituminous coal from the Northern Appalachian Basin (NAPP) with excellent access to major U.S. and international coal markets and a highly experienced management team. Our company and its predecessors have been mining coal, primarily in NAPP, since 1864. We are a leading producer of high-Btu thermal coal in the NAPP and the eastern United States due to our ability to efficiently produce and deliver large volumes of high-quality coal at competitive prices, the strategic location of our mines, and the industry experience of our management team.

We have the capacity to produce up to 28.5 million tons per year of thermal and crossover metallurgical coal from our PAMC, which consists of three highly productive, well-capitalized underground mines in the Pittsburgh No. 8 coal seam and the largest coal preparation plant in the United States. Coal from the PAMC is valued because of its high energy content (as measured in British thermal units, or Btu, per pound), relatively low levels of sulfur and other impurities, and strong thermoplastic properties that enable it to be used in metallurgical as well as thermal applications. We take advantage of these desirable quality characteristics and our extensive logistical network, which is directly served by both the Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads, to aggressively market our product to a broad base of strategically-selected, top-performing power plant customers in the eastern United States.

We also capitalize on the operational synergies afforded by our wholly-owned CNX Marine Terminal in the Port of Baltimore to export our coal to thermal and metallurgical end-users in Europe, Asia, South America, and Canada. Our operations, including the PAMC and the CNX Marine Terminal, have consistently generated strong free cash flows. The PAMC controls 766.7 million tons of high-quality Pittsburgh seam reserves (as of December 31, 2016), enough to allow for approximately 27 years of full-capacity production. In addition, we own or control approximately 1.6 billion tons of Greenfield Reserves in the eastern United States that could provide us with a solid growth platform in the future. Our vision is to maximize cash flow generation through the safe, compliant, and efficient operation of this world-class core asset base, while strategically reducing debt, returning capital through share buybacks or dividends, and when prudent, allocating capital toward compelling growth opportunities.

 



 

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Our major assets include:

   

~90% economic ownership and full operational control of the PAMC, consisting of:

  o

75% undivided interest in the PAMC;

  o

~60% limited partner interest, a 1.7% general partner interest (reflecting 100% of the general partner units) and incentive distribution rights in CNX Coal Resources LP (referred to herein as CNXC), a growth-oriented master limited partnership formed in 2015 to manage and further develop our active coal operations in Pennsylvania, and which owns the remaining 25% stake in PAMC;

   

the CNX Marine Terminal; and

   

1.6 billion tons of Greenfield Reserves in NAPP, the Central Appalachian Basin (CAPP), and the Illinois Basin (ILB).

These assets and the diverse markets they serve provide robust flexibility for generating cash across a wide variety of demand and pricing scenarios. This flexibility begins with the low-cost structure and optionality afforded by our PAMC. The three mines at the PAMC, which include the Bailey, Enlow Fork, and Harvey mines, produce coal from the Pittsburgh No. 8 Coal Seam using longwall mining, a highly automated underground mining technique that produces large volumes of coal at lower costs compared to alternative mining methods. These three mines collectively operate five longwalls, and the production from all three mines is processed at a single, centralized preparation plant, which is connected via conveyor belts to each mine. The Bailey Central Preparation Plant, which can clean and process up to 8,200 raw tons of coal per hour, provides economies of scale while also maintaining the ability to segregate and blend coals based on quality. This infrastructure enables us to tailor our production levels and quality specifications to meet market demands. It also results in a highly productive, low-cost operation as compared to other NAPP coal mines. The PAMC was the most productive longwall operation in NAPP during 2015-2016, producing 6.77 tons of coal per employee hour, compared with an average of 4.94 tons per employee hour for all other currently-operating NAPP longwalls. As of June 30, 2017, productivity further increased from year-end 2016 results to 7.43 tons of coal per employee hour, compared with an average of 5.24 tons per employee hour for all other currently-operating NAPP longwalls. Our high productivity helps drive a low cost structure, which according to Wood Mackenzie was in the first quartile

 



 

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among NAPP coal mines in 2016. Our efficiency strengthens our margins throughout the commodity cycle, and has allowed us to continue to generate positive margins even in challenging pricing environments.

 

LOGO

Coal from the PAMC is versatile in that it can be sold either domestically or abroad, in the thermal coal market or as a crossover product in the high-volatile metallurgical coal market. Domestically, we have a well-established and diverse blue chip customer base, the majority of which is comprised of domestic utility companies located across the eastern United States. In 2016, we shipped coal to 38 plants located in 18 eastern U.S. states. As of June 30, 2017, the PAMC is fully contracted for 2017. For 2018 and 2019, our contracted position as of October 9, 2017 is at 80% and 41%, respectively, assuming a 27 million ton coal sales volume. These committed and contracted sales positions represent the volumes that we currently expect our customers will take under our existing contracts in each of 2017 and 2018, given current market conditions. Certain of our sales contracts include provisions that allow our customers to nominate additional volumes at their option, to carry a portion of their committed tonnage over from

 



 

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one calendar year into a future year, or to increase or decrease their volume commitment for a given time period (e.g., year or quarter) within a specified tonnage range. Each of these provisions could have an impact within each contract, either positively or negatively, on the volume of coal that we are required to deliver under said contracts.

We also sell coal under both short-term and multi-year contracts (as well as in the spot market) that may contain base prices that are subject to pre-established price adjustments that reflect (i) variances in the quality characteristics of coal delivered to the customer beyond threshold quality characteristics specified in the applicable sales contract, (ii) the actual calorific value of coal delivered to the customer, and/or (iii) changes in electric power prices in the markets in which CoalCo’s customers operate, as adjusted for any factors set forth in the applicable contract. Such price adjustments, as well as “price reopener” or similar provisions in our multi-year coal sales contracts discussed above, may reduce the protection from coal price volatility traditionally provided by coal supply contracts. We believe our committed and contracted position is well-balanced in hedging against market downside risk while allowing us to continue to build out the customer portfolio strategically and opportunistically as the market evolves.

Going forward, we plan to continue to execute our sales strategy of targeting top-performing, environmentally-controlled, rail-served power plants in our core market areas in the eastern United States. Our top 15 domestic power plant customers in 2016, which accounted for 82% of our domestic power plant shipments that year, operated at a 15% higher capacity factor than other NAPP rail-served plants in 2016, and have consistently consumed more than 50 million tons of coal per year over the past five years. We have grown our share at these plants from 12% in 2011 to 32% in 2016, and we believe that we can continue to grow this share. Our customer plants consume coal from all four primary coal producing basins in the United States. However, we believe that we are favorably positioned to compete with producers from these basins primarily because of: (i) our significant transportation cost advantage compared to producers in the ILB and the Powder River Basin (PRB), which incur higher rail transportation rates to deliver coal to many of our core market areas in the eastern United States, (ii) our favorable operating environment compared to producers in CAPP, where production has been declining and is expected to continue to decline primarily due to the basin’s high cost production profile, reserve degradation and difficult permitting environment, and (iii) the attractive quality characteristics of our coal, which enable us to compete for demand from a broader range of coal-fired power plants as compared to (x) mining operations in basins that typically produce coal with a comparatively lower heat content, such as the ILB and PRB, (y) mining operations in basins that typically produce coal with a comparatively higher sulfur content, such as the ILB and most areas in NAPP, and (z) mining operations in basins that typically produce coal with a comparatively higher chlorine content, such as certain areas in the ILB.

The PAMC and our 100%-owned CNX Marine Terminal allow us to participate in the international thermal and metallurgical coal markets. The CNX Marine Terminal provides coal transshipments directly from rail cars to ocean-going vessels for both PAMC and third-party shippers, and is the only coal marine terminal on the East Coast served by two rail lines (Norfolk Southern and CSX). Located on 200 acres, the terminal has a throughput capacity of 15 million tons per year, as well as extensive blending capabilities and significant ground storage capacity of 1.1 million tons. In 2016, approximately 8.1 million tons of coal were shipped through the CNX Marine Terminal, with approximately 57% of that amount having been produced at our PAMC. The ability to serve both domestic and international markets with premium thermal and crossover metallurgical coal provides us with significant diversification and optionality, allowing us to pursue upside while helping to minimize both pricing and volume risk. Since 2014, our domestic thermal shipments from the PAMC have ranged from 17.3 to 22.8 million tons per year, our export thermal shipments have ranged from 2.1 to 4.4 million tons per year, and our export metallurgical shipments have ranged from 1.2 to 2.0 million tons per year. After accounting for PAMC tons, the CNX Marine Terminal still has significant surplus capacity that may be used to generate additional revenue by providing services to third parties.

Finally, the 1.6 billion tons of Greenfield Reserves that we control in NAPP, CAPP, and ILB, which are in addition to the substantial reserve base associated with PAMC, feature both thermal and metallurgical reserves.

 



 

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Included among these are approximately 591 million tons and 377 million tons of contiguous greenfield reserves associated with the River Mine and Mason Dixon Mine projects, respectively, which are among the last remaining greenfield Pittsburgh No. 8 coal seam projects in the Northern Appalachian region. Also included are 26 million tons of low-volatile metallurgical coal reserves associated with our Itmann property, 40 million tons of high-volatile metallurgical coal reserves associated with our Martinka property, and 117 million tons of reserves associated with our Birch and Canfield properties that are classified as thermal but that have strong potential as a high-vol or crossover metallurgical product. Our Greenfield Reserves provide additional optionality for organic growth or monetization as market conditions allow.

Industry Overview and Market Outlook

Coal is an abundant and relatively inexpensive natural resource that continues to play a critical role in the electric power generation and steelmaking industries, both in the United States and globally. Coal quality largely depends upon rank (which correlates with heat content, with anthracite, bituminous, sub-bituminous and lignite coal representing the highest to lowest ranking, respectively), level of impurities (such as ash, sulfur, chlorine, and other non-hydrocarbon constituents), and the presence or absence of coking properties. Thermal coal, which is sometimes referred to as “steam” coal, is primarily used by electric utilities and independent power producers to generate electricity, while metallurgical coal, which is sometimes referred to as “coking” coal, is primarily used by steel companies to produce metallurgical coke for use in the steel making process. Coal is also used in certain other industrial processes, such as cement kilns, blast furnaces, and electric arc furnaces, as a source of energy or carbon.

Thermal coal consumption patterns are influenced by many factors, including the demand for electricity, power generation infrastructure, transportation costs, governmental and environmental regulations, and technological developments, as well as the location, availability and cost of other sources of energy such as natural gas, nuclear power, and renewable sources of electricity generation such as hydroelectric, wind, and solar power. Demand for metallurgical coal, on the other hand, is influenced primarily by the worldwide demand for steel. Thermal coal produced in NAPP, where the PAMC is located, is marketed primarily to electric utilities in the eastern United States, as they tend to prefer to source coal with higher heat content at the lowest all-in cost.

Coal accounts for approximately 89% of U.S. fossil energy reserves on a Btu basis, according to the National Mining Association. According to the 2017 BP Statistical Review published in June 2017 (the BP Statistical Review), worldwide proven coal reserves totaled approximately 1,139 billion metric tons at 2016 year end. The United States has the largest proven reserve base in the world with approximately 252 billion metric tons, or 22.1% of total world proven coal reserves. According to the BP Statistical Review, U.S. coal reserves represent over 380 years of domestic supply based on 2016 production rates.

Coal is a major contributor to the world’s energy supply. According to the BP Statistical Review, coal represented approximately 28% of the world’s primary energy consumption in 2016, including approximately 16% and 49% of the regional energy consumption of the United States and the Asia Pacific Region, respectively.

In the United States, in particular, thermal coal continues to be an abundant, low-cost resource. A substantial portion of the power generation infrastructure in the United States remains coal-fired. Although recent environmental regulations together with low-cost natural gas and the subsidized buildout of renewable energy sources have eroded coal’s predominant market share, thermal coal is expected to remain a core fuel for electricity generation. Coal’s share of the U.S. electric power generation mix fell from 39% in 2014 to 30% in 2016, largely as a result of the aforementioned factors and abnormally mild winter weather in 2015-2016, which put additional downward pressure on gas and power prices. However, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects in its 2017 Annual Energy Outlook that coal’s share of the generation mix will rebound from 30% to 32% in 2021, while gas’s share declines from 35% to 28%, driven largely by rising gas prices and the prospects of a more favorable policy stance under the current U.S. presidential administration. The expectation of rising gas prices is supported by EIA’s prediction that annual U.S. net exports of natural gas will grow by 4.6 Tcf from 2016-2021, and industrial demand for natural gas will grow by 0.8 Tcf, while production grows by just 4.4 Tcf.

 



 

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Globally, thermal coal demand from new generating capacity is expected to remain robust, particularly in the seaborne market. According to AME’s Q2 2017 Export Thermal Coal Strategic Market Study (AME Q2 2017 Thermal Coal Study), global seaborne thermal coal demand is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 2.6% between 2016 and 2030, slowing from the 4.4% CAGR witnessed between 2007 and 2016. Although China’s government has communicated an intention to reduce its economy’s carbon intensity through greater energy efficiency and a more diversified energy mix, this is offset by India’s seaborne thermal coal demand, which is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 4.5% between 2016 and 2030 due to robust infrastructure development and industrialization. AME expects India to be the largest source of demand for seaborne thermal coal by 2030 at approximately 20% of total global demand, as compared to approximately 15% in 2016. Moreover, electrification in other rapidly growing Southeast Asian countries is expected to serve as an additional strong source of future thermal coal demand due to coal’s cost-competitiveness relative to other fuels. As a result, according to the AME Q2 2017 Thermal Coal Study, thermal coal’s share of total primary energy demand globally is expected to remain relatively constant through 2030 at approximately 29%. As the long-term global demand for thermal coal in the Asia Pacific region continues to rise, however, use of low-quality thermal coal in those markets is expected to become increasingly less desirable as consumers continue to push for higher efficiencies and lower emissions. This interplay is expected to benefit U.S. coal exports, and we believe that it will especially benefit exports of coal from NAPP because of its high Btu content and its favorable access to export infrastructure.

In the seaborne metallurgical coal markets, on the other hand, persistent oversupply in recent years began to subside in 2016 due to a number of international developments impacting both demand and supply. Most importantly, in China, the combination of a stimulus package released by the Chinese government in early 2016 and supply side reforms restricting domestic coal mines to 276 days of operations (down from 330 days) resulted in a sharp increase in Chinese imports of metallurgical coal. According to AME’s Q2 2017 Export Metallurgical Coal Strategic Market Study (AME Q2 2017 Met Coal Study), Chinese imports of metallurgical coal increased 25% in 2016 compared to 2015 to reach 60.0 million metric tons. Coupled with weather-related production issues in Australia, hard coking coal prices reached the highest levels since 2011.

Coking coal prices have receded somewhat since their recent spike as supply has begun to return to the market from China and Australia. Nevertheless, the market is expected to remain well supported on the back of an expected growth in global demand for seaborne metallurgical coal from 2016 to 2030 at a CAGR of approximately 3.2%, according to AME’s Q2 2017 Met Coal Study. This trend is underpinned by the robust growth expected out of India, at a CAGR of approximately 7.8% from 2016-2030 according to AME, making the country the largest importer of metallurgical coal by 2023. Due to the strategic location and quality of its coal reserves, we believe NAPP coal is among the best-suited in the U.S. to take advantage of this expected uptick in global seaborne metallurgical coal demand.

Our Core Strengths

We believe we are well-positioned to successfully execute our business strategies because of the following competitive strengths:

Focus on free cash flow generation supported by industry-leading margins and optimized production levels

We intend to continue our focus on maintaining high margins by optimizing production from our high-quality reserves and leveraging our extensive logistics infrastructure and broad market reach. The PAMC’s low-cost structure, high-quality product, favorable access to rail and port infrastructure, and diverse base of end-use customers allow it to move large volumes of coal at positive cash margins throughout a variety of market conditions. For example, despite challenging domestic market conditions in 2016, which caused total U.S. coal production to fall by 19% year-on-year, PAMC managed to grow production by 8%. For the year ended December 31, 2016, the PAMC generated an average cash margin per ton of $15.22 compared to the median cash margin per ton of $9.97 generated by other coal companies for domestic bituminous thermal coal operations,

 



 

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based on management review of publicly available data for the year ended December 31, 2016. Through our recent capital investment program, we have optimized our mining operations and logistics infrastructure to sustainably drive down our cash operating costs. Furthermore, our significant portfolio of multi-year, committed and priced contracts with our longstanding customer base will enhance our ability to sustain high margins in varied commodity price environments. We believe that these factors will help enable us to maintain higher margins per ton on average than our competitors and better position us to maintain profitability throughout commodity price cycles.

Extensive, High-Quality Reserve Base

The PAMC has extensive high-quality reserves of bituminous coal. We mine our reserves from the Pittsburgh No. 8 Coal Seam, which is a large contiguous formation of uniform, high-Btu coal that is ideal for high productivity, low-cost longwall operations. As of December 31, 2016, the PAMC included 766.7 million tons of proven and probable coal reserves that are sufficient to support at least 27 years of full-capacity production. The advantageous qualities of our coal enable us to compete for demand from a broader range of coal-fired power plants compared to mining operations in basins that typically produce coal with a comparatively lower heat content (ILB and PRB), higher sulfur content (ILB and most areas in NAPP) and higher chlorine content (certain areas of ILB). Our remaining reserves have an average as-received gross heat content of 12,970 Btu/lb (on an as-received basis), while production from the PRB, ILB, CAPP, and the rest of NAPP averages approximately 8,700 Btu/lb, 11,400 Btu/lb, 12,300 Btu/lb, and 12,400 Btu/lb, respectively (based on the average quality reported by EIA for U.S. power plant deliveries for the three years ended June 30, 2017). Moreover, our remaining reserves have an average sulfur content of 2.38% (on an as-received basis), while production from the Illinois Basin averages ~2.9% sulfur and production from the rest of NAPP averages ~3.3% sulfur (again based on EIA power plant delivery data for the three years ended June 30, 2017). With our high Btu content and low-cost structure, our 2016 total costs averaged $1.32 per mmBtu, which is lower than any monthly average Louisiana Henry Hub natural gas spot price during the past 20+ years, and provides a strong foundation for competing against natural gas even after accounting for differences in delivered costs and power plant efficiencies. In addition to the substantial reserve base associated with the PAMC, our 1.6 billion tons of Greenfield Reserves in NAPP, CAPP, and ILB feature both thermal and metallurgical reserves and provide additional optionality for organic growth or monetization as market conditions allow.

World-Class, Well-Capitalized, Low-Cost Longwall Mining Complex

Since 2006, we have invested over $2.0 billion at the PAMC ($1.4 billion of which has been invested in the past five years) to develop technologically advanced, large-scale longwall mining operations and related production and logistics infrastructure. We also have permanently sealed off 85 square miles of already-mined area, reducing the active areas of the mine to just 24.4 square miles and significantly limiting the area that we must ventilate and maintain. As a result, the PAMC is the most productive and efficient coal mining complex in NAPP, averaging 6.77 tons of coal production per employee hour in 2015-2016, compared to 4.94 tons of coal production per employee hour for other currently-operating NAPP longwall mines. As of June 30, 2017, productivity further increased from year-end 2016 results to 7.43 tons of coal per employee hour, compared with an average of 5.24 tons per employee hour for all other currently-operating NAPP longwalls. We believe our substantial capital investment in the PAMC will enable us to maintain high production volumes, low operating costs and a strong safety and environmental compliance record, which we believe are key to supporting stable financial performance and cash flows throughout business and commodity price cycles. As a result, we expect to be able to mine the remaining 27+ years of reserves at the PAMC with only maintenance-of-production levels of capital expenditure.

 



 

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Strategically Located Mining Operations with Advanced Distribution Capabilities and Excellent Access to Key Logistics Infrastructure

Our logistics infrastructure and proximity to coal-fired power plants in the eastern United States provide us with operational and marketing flexibility, reduce the cost to deliver coal to our core markets, and allow us to realize higher netback prices. We believe that we have a significant transportation cost advantage compared to many of our competitors, particularly producers in the ILB and PRB, for deliveries to customers in our core markets and to East Coast ports for international shipping. For example, based on publicly available data and internal estimates, we believe that the transportation cost advantage from our mines compared to ILB mines (not accounting for Btu differences) is approximately $3 to $8 per ton for coal delivered to foreign consumers in Europe and India, $4 to $8 per ton for coal delivered to domestic customers in the Carolinas, and an even more pronounced cost advantage for coal delivered to domestic customers in the mid-Atlantic states. Our ability to accommodate multiple unit trains at the Bailey Central Preparation Plant, which includes a dual-batch loadout facility capable of loading up to 9,000 tons of clean coal per hour and 19.3 miles of track with three sidings, allows for the seamless transition of locomotives from empty inbound trains to fully loaded outbound trains at our facility. Furthermore, the PAMC has among the best access to export infrastructure in the United States. Through our 100%-owned CNX Marine Terminal, served by both the Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads, we are able to participate in the world’s seaborne coal markets with premium thermal and crossover metallurgical coal, providing tremendous optionality.

Strong, Well-Established Customer Base Supporting Contractual Volumes

We have a well-established and diverse blue chip customer base, comprised primarily of domestic electric-power-producing companies located in the eastern United States. We have had success entering into multi-year coal sales agreements with our customers due to our longstanding relationships, reliability of production and delivery, competitive pricing and high coal quality. About 90% of our sales in 2016 were to customers that were in our 2015 portfolio, and each of our top 15 domestic power plant customers in 2016 have been in our portfolio for at least three consecutive years. In addition, to mitigate our exposure with respect to coal-fired power plant retirements, we have strategically developed our customer base to include power plants that are economically positioned to continue operating for the foreseeable future and that are equipped with state-of-the-art environmental controls. In 2016, approximately 4% of our total sales were to domestic power plant customers that have announced plans to retire between 2017 and 2023. Moreover, none of our top 15 customer plants, which accounted for 82% of our domestic power plant shipments in 2016, have announced plans to retire. These top 15 plants operated at a 15% higher capacity factor than other NAPP rail-served plants in 2016, highlighting their economic competitiveness even in a challenging power market. In addition to our robust domestic customer base, we also have favorable access to seaborne coal markets through a long-standing commercial and contractual relationship with a leading coal trading and brokering company, Xcoal Energy & Resources, that maintains a broad market presence with foreign coal consumers. We have consistently exported 3.4 to 5.6 million tons of PAMC coal to the seaborne thermal and crossover metallurgical markets in each of the past 5+ years, which represents approximately 20% of annual sales volume.

Highly Experienced Management Team and Operating Team

Our management and operating teams have (i) significant expertise owning, developing and managing complex thermal and metallurgical coal mining operations, (ii) valuable relationships with customers, railroads and other participants across the coal industry, (iii) technical wherewithal and demonstrated success in developing new applications and customers for our coal products, in both the thermal and metallurgical markets, and (iv) a proven track record of successfully building, enhancing and managing coal assets in a reliable and cost-effective manner throughout all parts of the commodity cycle. We intend to leverage these qualities to continue to successfully develop our coal mining assets while efficiently and flexibly managing our operations to maximize operating cash flow.

 



 

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Our Strategy

Our strategy is to safely and compliantly operate our assets to increase shareholder value through the execution of our strategic objectives:

Selectively pursue growth opportunities that maximize shareholder value by capitalizing on synergies with our assets and expertise

We plan to judiciously direct the cash generated by our operations toward those opportunities that present the greatest potential for value creation to our shareholders, particularly those that take advantage of synergies with our asset base and/or with the expertise of our management team. To effectuate this, we plan to regularly and rigorously evaluate opportunities both for organic growth and for acquisitions, joint ventures, and other business arrangements in the coal industry and related industries that complement our core operations. In addition, our ownership interest in CNXC provides us with a unique vehicle for generating cash and raising capital, through the potential future drop down of assets into CNXC, which if utilized will allow us to generate cash to assist in the execution of our growth strategy. Both the PAMC and our Greenfield Reserves present the potential for organic growth projects if long-term market conditions are favorable. For example, we are currently evaluating a project to improve the recovery and processing of fine coal from the Bailey Central Preparation Plant, which has the potential to add up to 1.5 million tons per year of additional clean coal production without additional mining of raw tons. Moreover, the Harvey Mine’s existing infrastructure, including its bottom development, slope belt, and material handling system, is able to support an additional permanent longwall mining system with moderate additional capital investment in mining equipment. Such an investment would further increase the annual production capacity of the PAMC by 5 million tons. Our Greenfield Reserves associated with the Mason Dixon and River Mine projects present additional organic growth opportunities in NAPP, and our Greenfield Reserves associated with the Itmann Mine, Martinka Mine, and Birch Mine provide actionable organic growth opportunities in the metallurgical coal space, should market conditions warrant. Our management team is well-qualified to evaluate organic and external growth opportunities. We intend to prudently use our interest in CNXC to benefit our growth strategy, and plan to carefully weigh any capital investment decisions against alternate uses of the cash to help ensure we are delivering the most value to our shareholders.

Continue to grow our share at top-performing rail-served power plants in our core market areas, while opportunistically pursuing export and crossover metallurgical opportunities

We plan to seek to minimize our market risk and maximize realizations by continuing to focus on selling coal to strategically-selected, top-performing, rail-served power plants located in our core market areas in the eastern United States. Our top 15 power plant customers in 2016 have consistently consumed more than 50 million tons of coal per year in each of the past five years, have operated at a greater capacity factor than other NAPP rail-served plants, and have not announced plans to retire. We have grown our share at these plants from 12% in 2011 to 32% in 2016, and we believe we can continue to grow this share by displacing less competitive supply from NAPP, CAPP, and other basins. We also plan to continue to work on identifying and penetrating new customer plants that we believe are aligned with our strategic objectives and would be a good fit for our coal. To this end, we tested PAMC coal at five new customer plants in 2016. While the majority of our production is directed toward our established base of domestic power plant customers, many of which are secured through annual or multi-year contracts, we also plan to continue to flexibly and opportunistically place a smaller portion of our production in shorter-term opportunities in the export and crossover metallurgical markets. These markets provide us with pricing upside when markets are strong and with volume stability when markets are weak. As of June 30, 2017, the PAMC is fully contracted for 2017. For 2018 and 2019, our contracted position as of October 9, 2017 is at 80% and 41%, respectively, assuming a 27 million ton coal sales volume. We believe our committed and contracted position is well-balanced in hedging against market downside risk while allowing us to continue to build out our portfolio strategically and opportunistically as the market evolves.

 



 

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Drive operational excellence through safety, compliance, and continuous improvement

We intend to continue focusing on our core values of safety, compliance and continuous improvement. We operate some of the most productive, lowest-cost underground mines in the coal industry, while simultaneously setting some of the industry’s highest standards for safety and compliance. From 2013 through 2016, our Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) reportable incident rate was approximately 42% lower than the national average underground bituminous coal mine incident rate. Furthermore, our MSHA significant and substantial (S&S) citation rate per 100 inspection hours was approximately 23.5% lower than the industry’s average MSHA S&S citation rate over the twelve-month period ended June 30, 2017. We believe that our focus on safety and compliance promotes greater reliability in our operations, which fosters long-term customer relationships and lower operating costs that support higher margins. Consistent with our core value of continuous improvement, we have improved our productivity from 5.69 tons per employee hour in 2014 to 7.52 tons per employee hour in 2016, and have reduced our cash costs of coal sold per ton by 22.6% over this same period. We intend to continue to grow the economic competiveness of our operations by proactively identifying, pursuing, and implementing efficiency improvements and new technologies that can drive down unit costs without compromising safety or compliance.

Ability to Grow Cash Flow through Drop-Downs into CNXC

Our controlling ownership interest in CNX Coal Resources LP provides us with a unique vehicle for generating cash and raising capital to pursue our growth strategy. Over time we may drop down assets into CNXC. We believe that such drop-downs, if utilized, would allow us to grow CNXC’s ability to make distributions and potentially increase the value of the common units, preferred units and incentive distribution rights of CNXC that we hold. Furthermore, the cash generated from these drop-downs could help us to accelerate the execution of our growth strategy. Finally, we believe that our different classes of securities (C-Corp and MLP) provide us with multiple options for accessing capital markets and taking advantage of the best available cost of capital at any given point in time. We believe this is a unique advantage for us compared to other companies in the coal industry.

Risks Associated with Our Business

An investment in our company is subject to a number of risks, including risks relating to our business, risks related to the separation and risks related to our common stock. Set forth below is a high-level summary of some, but not all, of these risks. Please read the information in the section captioned “Risk Factors,” beginning on page 1 of this information statement, for a more thorough description of these and other risks.

Risks Related to Our Business

 

   

Deterioration in the global economic conditions in any of the industries in which our customers operate, foreign currency fluctuations, a worldwide financial downturn, or negative credit market conditions may have a materially adverse effect on our liquidity, results of operations, business and financial condition that we cannot predict.

 

   

Volatility of coal prices, which can fluctuate widely based upon a number of factors beyond our control including oversupply, weather and the price and availability of alternative fuels.

 

   

Risks related to our customer contracts, including failure to extend, renew or obtain new contracts, the terms of such contracts, and our ability to collect payments under the contracts, all of which could adversely affect CoalCo profitability.

 

   

The multiple sources of competition that our business faces, both within the coal industry itself, and also as it relates to alternative fuel sources, can negatively impact our financial results and results of operations.

 



 

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Our required compliance and adherence to various environmental, safety and other governmental regulations and requirements impacts our business, and failure to obtain, maintain and renew governmental permits and approvals and effectuate other required governmental compliance may adversely affect our operations and our profitability.

Risks Related to the Separation

 

   

Our historical and pro forma financial information is not necessarily representative of the results that we would have achieved as a separate, publicly traded company and may not be a reliable indicator of our future results.

 

   

We may not achieve some or all of the expected benefits of the separation, and the separation may materially adversely affect our business.

 

   

Our plan to separate into two independent publicly traded companies is subject to various risks and uncertainties and may not be completed in accordance with the expected plans or anticipated timeline, or at all, and will involve significant time and expense, which could disrupt or adversely affect our business.

 

   

The combined post-separation value of eight shares of GasCo common stock and one share of CoalCo common stock may not equal or exceed the pre-distribution value of eight shares of ParentCo common stock.

 

   

In connection with our separation from ParentCo, ParentCo will indemnify us for certain liabilities and we will indemnify ParentCo for certain liabilities. If we are required to pay under these indemnities to ParentCo, our financial results could be negatively impacted. The ParentCo indemnity may not be sufficient to hold us harmless from the full amount of liabilities for which ParentCo will be allocated responsibility, and ParentCo may not be able to satisfy its indemnification obligations in the future.

 

   

If the distribution, together with certain related transactions, does not qualify as a transaction that is generally tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes, ParentCo, CoalCo and ParentCo stockholders could be subject to significant tax liabilities and, in certain circumstances, CoalCo could be required to indemnify ParentCo for material taxes and other related amounts pursuant to indemnification obligations under the tax matters agreement.

 

   

We may not be able to engage in certain corporate transactions after the separation.

 

   

The transfer to us of certain contracts and other assets may require the consents of, or provide other rights to, third parties. If such consents are not obtained, we may not be entitled to the benefit of such contracts and other assets, which could increase our expenses or otherwise harm our business and financial performance.

Risks Related to Our Common Stock

 

   

We cannot be certain that an active trading market for our common stock will develop or be sustained after the separation and, following the separation, our stock price may fluctuate significantly.

 

   

A significant number of shares of our common stock may be sold following the distribution which may cause our stock price to decline.

 

   

We cannot guarantee the timing, amount or payment of dividends on our common stock.

 

   

Provisions contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws could discourage a takeover attempt, which may reduce or eliminate the likelihood of a change of control transaction and, therefore, the ability of our stockholders to sell their shares for a premium.

 



 

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Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will designate the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which will limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain an alternative judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees or agents.

The Separation and Distribution

In December 2016, ParentCo announced its intention to separate its Coal Business from its Gas Business. The separation will occur by means of a pro rata distribution to the ParentCo stockholders of all of the common stock of CoalCo.

CoalCo was formed on June 21, 2017 to hold ParentCo’s PAMC operations, CNX Marine Terminal, ParentCo’s ownership interest in CNXC, the Greenfield Reserves and certain other coal related assets and liabilities. Following the separation, CoalCo will hold the assets and liabilities of ParentCo relating to those businesses and assets and the direct and indirect subsidiary entities that currently operate the Coal Business, subject to certain exceptions. After the separation, GasCo will hold ParentCo’s E&P division and related businesses, including those assets and liabilities of ParentCo and its direct and indirect subsidiary entities that currently operate the Gas Business, subject to certain exceptions.

Following the distribution, CoalCo will be a separate company from GasCo.

On October 30, 2017, the ParentCo Board of Directors approved the distribution of CoalCo’s common stock on the basis of one share of CoalCo common stock for every eight shares of ParentCo common stock held as of the close of business on November 15, 2017, the record date for the distribution.

Internal Reorganization

We are currently a wholly owned subsidiary of ParentCo. In connection with the separation, ParentCo will transfer to us employees, operations, assets and liabilities associated with ParentCo’s Coal Business and certain other current and former businesses and activities of ParentCo.

ParentCo has taken and, prior to the distribution, will continue to implement a series of internal reorganization transactions to facilitate the transfers of entities and the related assets and liabilities described above from ParentCo and its subsidiaries to CoalCo. To the extent that any transfer of entities, employees, operations or assets or assumption of liabilities contemplated in connection with the separation and distribution has not been consummated on or prior to the distribution date, the parties will cooperate with each other to effect such transfers or assumptions in the manner set forth below under “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions—Agreements with GasCo—Separation Agreement.”

References in this information statement to the “contribution” refer to the transfer to CoalCo of the entities and related employees, operations, assets and liabilities of ParentCo’s Coal Business and certain other current and former businesses and activities of ParentCo.

In connection with the separation, CoalCo will make a cash payment of $425 million to ParentCo. This payment will be partially funded by the proceeds expected to be received from a secured notes offering, along with borrowings under new term loan facilities CoalCo expects to enter into in connection with the separation. It is anticipated that the remainder of the proceeds from the new term loan facilities will be used to fund an intercompany loan to CNXC, so that CNXC can repay and terminate its existing revolving credit facility and for general corporate purposes. CoalCo also expects to enter into a new revolving credit facility with borrowing capacity of $300 million and an accounts receivable securitization facility with borrowing capacity of approximately $100 million.

CoalCo’s Post-Separation Relationship with GasCo

CoalCo will enter into a separation and distribution agreement with ParentCo (the separation agreement). In connection with the separation, we will enter into various agreements to effect the separation, and enter into other

 



 

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agreements, or amend or continue under existing agreements that may be in place, to provide a framework for our relationship with GasCo after the separation, including a transition services agreement, a tax matters agreement, an employee matters agreement, an intellectual property matters agreement, licensing agreements and other agreements related to operations of CoalCo post-separation. These agreements will provide for the allocation between CoalCo and GasCo of ParentCo’s assets, employees, liabilities and obligations (including investments, property and employee benefits and tax-related assets and liabilities) attributable to periods prior to, at and after our separation from ParentCo and will govern certain relationships between us and GasCo after the separation.

For additional information regarding the separation agreement and other transaction agreements, see the sections entitled “Risk Factors—Risks Related to the Separation” and “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.” For additional information regarding the internal reorganization, see the section entitled, “The Separation and Distribution—Internal Reorganization.”

Reasons for the Separation

The ParentCo Board of Directors believes that separating its Coal Business from its Gas Business is in the best interests of ParentCo and its stockholders for a number of reasons, including:

 

 

Management Focus and Strategic Decision Making . The separation will position each company to pursue a more focused, industry-specific strategy, will create additional operational flexibility for each company and will enable the management teams of each company to focus on strengthening its core business, operations and other needs, and pursue distinct and targeted opportunities for long-term growth and profitability.

 

 

Allocation of Financial Resources and Access to Capital . The separation will permit each company to efficiently allocate its capital to meet the unique needs of its own business, which will allow each company to intensify its focus on its distinct business priorities. The separation will also facilitate each business having a more appropriate capital structure aligned with its target capital levels and those of its peers, and is expected to increase access to capital by each company.

 

   

Employee Retention and Incentivizing . The separation will result in each business being better positioned to recruit and retain executives and other employees with expertise that is more directly applicable to the needs of its business. Similarly, the Company believes that its efforts to drive financial and operational goals by aligning incentive programs with specific goals applicable to each business are frustrated by its continued operation of two distinct lines of business. As a result of the separation, each business will be able to articulate more defined talent requirements for potential employees, and both recruiters and applicants are expected to have a clearer understanding of the prerequisites and opportunities associated with each business. Additionally, each business will be able to communicate specifically and clearly the goals of incentive programs and how such programs are specifically tailored to and aligned with the financial and operational strategic objectives of each business in connection with recruiting and retaining employees.

 

   

Enhanced Investor Understanding , Corporate Acquisition Currencies and Equity-Based Compensation. The separation brought about by the distribution will improve understanding of each business in the capital markets and allow for a stronger, more focused investor base for each business. Moreover, the separation will create two independent equity structures, enabling each business to use its own business-focused stock as consideration in acquisitions and equity compensation programs and creating a more efficient and valuable transaction currency and compensation tool.

 



 

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The ParentCo Board of Directors also considered a number of potentially negative factors in evaluating the separation, including:

 

   

Risk of Failure to Achieve Anticipated Benefits of the Separation . We may not achieve the anticipated benefits of the separation for a variety of reasons, including, among others: the separation will require significant amounts of management’s time and effort, which may divert management’s attention from operating our business; and following the separation, we may be more susceptible to market fluctuations, including fluctuations in coal prices, and other adverse events than if we were still a part of ParentCo because our business will be less diversified than ParentCo’s business prior to the completion of the separation.

 

   

Increased Administrative Costs . We will incur substantial costs in connection with the separation and the transition to being a standalone public company, which may include accounting, tax, legal and other professional services costs, recruiting and relocation costs associated with hiring key senior management personnel who are new to CoalCo, tax costs and costs to separate information systems. Due to our smaller scale as a standalone company, our cost of performing such functions could be higher than the amounts reflected in our historical financial statements, which would cause our profitability to decrease.

 

   

Limitations on Strategic Transactions . Under the terms of the tax matters agreement that we will enter into with ParentCo, we will be restricted from taking certain actions that could cause the distribution or certain related transactions to fail to qualify as tax-free transactions under applicable law. These restrictions may limit for a period of time our ability to pursue certain strategic transactions and equity issuances or engage in other transactions that might increase the value of our business.

 

   

Uncertainty Regarding Stock Prices . We cannot predict the effect of the separation on the trading prices of CoalCo or GasCo common stock or know with certainty whether the combined market value of one share of our common stock and eight shares of GasCo common stock will be less than, equal to or greater than the market value of eight shares of ParentCo common stock prior to the distribution.

In determining to pursue the separation, the ParentCo Board of Directors concluded the potential benefits of the separation outweighed the foregoing factors. See the sections entitled “The Separation and Distribution—Reasons for the Separation” and “Risk Factors” included elsewhere in this information statement.

Description of Indebtedness

As discussed above, we intend to incur new borrowings from third-party financing sources, which will include an expected secured notes issuance, along with borrowings under new term loan facilities CoalCo expects to enter into in connection with the separation, a portion of which we anticipate will be transferred to ParentCo. It is anticipated that the remainder of the proceeds from the new term loan facilities will be used to fund a loan to CNXC in order to repay and terminate CNXC’s existing revolving credit facility and for general corporate purposes. CoalCo also expects to enter into a new revolving credit facility with borrowing capacity of $300 million and an accounts receivable securitization facility with borrowing capacity of approximately $100 million. In addition, CoalCo intends to retain those 5.75% Maryland Economic Development Corporation Port Facilities Refunding Revenue Bonds (MEDCO Revenue Bonds) due September 2025, for which the principal amount as of September 30, 2017 was $103 million, and for which GasCo will remain as a guarantor with CoalCo providing indemnification with respect to such guarantee. For more information, see “Description of Material Indebtedness.”

Third Quarter Estimates

CoalCo management previously prepared preliminary estimated financial information for the quarter ended September 30, 2017, included below, which reflected assumptions and estimates based only on information

 



 

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available to management as of that time. The estimated financial information was prepared in good faith on a consistent basis with prior periods, and we believe the information provided below continues to be accurate. However, financial closing procedures for the quarter ended September 30, 2017 for CoalCo have not yet been finalized, and actual results could differ from our estimates. No independent public accounting firm has performed any procedures with respect to the below financial information for the quarter ended September 30, 2017, nor have they expressed any opinion or other form of assurance with respect to the estimated ranges presented. During the course of the preparation of our combined financial statements and related notes as of and for the quarter ended September 30, 2017, we or our auditors may identify items that would require us to make adjustments to the below estimates. Therefore, actual results may differ materially from the current expectations expressed below. These estimates should not be viewed as a substitute for full interim financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP.

Third quarter financial information

Based upon information available as of the date of this information statement, we currently estimate for the quarter ended September 30, 2017:

 

   

Total Revenues in the range of $310 million to $360 million.

 

   

PAMC Sales Tons of between 6.0 million Tons and 6.6 million Tons, compared to PAMC Sales Tons for quarter ended September 30, 2016 of 6.0 million Tons.

 

   

Average Cost of Coal Sold Per Ton of between $37.10 per ton and $37.50 per ton, compared to Average Cost of Coal Sold Per Ton for quarter ended September 30, 2016 of $35.79 per ton.

 

   

Average Sales Price Per Ton Sold of between $44.00 per ton and $44.30 per ton, compared to Average Sales Price Per Ton Sold for quarter ended September 30, 2016 of $44.30 per ton.

 

   

PAMC Capital Expenditures of between $24 million and $30 million, compared to PAMC Capital Expenditures for quarter ended September 30, 2016 of $12 million.

 

   

Net Income. Net Income of between $5 million and $11 million.

 

   

EBITDA*. EBITDA* of between $58 million and $68 million.

 

   

Adjusted EBITDA*. Adjusted EBITDA of between $63 million and $74 million.

 

   

Bank Adjusted EBITDA*. Bank Adjusted EBITDA between $51 million and $61 million.

*EBITDA, “Adjusted EBITDA” and “Bank Adjusted EBITDA” are “non-GAAP financial measures,” that is, financial measures that either exclude or include amounts that are not excluded or included in the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”). For an explanation of these measures and a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, see “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

CoalCo management believes that each of these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information that enhances management’s, investors’ and prospective lenders’ ability to evaluate the Company’s operating results and ability to repay its obligations. However, these non-GAAP financial measures are not intended to be used in isolation and should not be considered a substitute for any other performance measure determined in accordance with GAAP. Readers are cautioned that there are material limitations associated with the use of non-GAAP financial measures as an analytical tool, including that other companies may calculate

 



 

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similar non-GAAP financial measures differently than as defined in these materials, limiting their usefulness as a comparative tool. CoalCo compensates for these limitations by providing specific information regarding the GAAP amounts excluded from the non-GAAP financial measures. CoalCo further compensates for the limitations of its use of non-GAAP financial measures by presenting comparable GAAP measures. Readers are encouraged to review the reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures contained herein.

EBITDA is defined as earnings before deducting net interest expense (interest expense less interest income), income taxes and depreciation, depletion and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as EBITDA after adjusting for the discrete items listed below. Bank Adjusted EBITDA is defined as Adjusted EBITDA less between $7 million and $11 million of CNXC EBITDA net of cash distributions attributable to the Company, less between $5 million and $2 million of payments on long term employee liabilities net of expense provision.

Although EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Bank Adjusted EBITDA are not measures of performance calculated in accordance with GAAP, management believes that they are useful to an investor in evaluating the Company because they are widely used to evaluate a company’s operating performance. The Company excludes stock-based compensation from Adjusted EBITDA because it does not believe it accurately reflects the actual operating expense incurred during the relevant period and may vary widely from period to period irrespective of operating results. Investors should not view these metrics as a substitute for measures of performance that are calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. In addition, because all companies do not calculate EBITDA or Adjusted EBITDA uniformly, the presentation here may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.

Reconciliation of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to financial net income is as follows (dollars in 000), with Bank Adjusted EBITDA set forth following the table in narrative form:

 

Dollars in millions    Three Months Ended
September 30, 2017
 
     Low      High  

Net Income (Loss)

   $ 5      $ 11  

Add: Interest Expense

     3        4  

Less: Interest Income

             

Add: Income Taxes

     4        5  

Earnings Before Interest & Taxes (EBIT)

     12        20  

Add: Depreciation, Depletion & Amortization

     46        48  

Earnings Before Interest, Taxes and DD&A (EBITDA) from Continuing Operations

   $ 58      $ 68  

Total Pre-tax Adjustments

     5        6  

Adjusted EBITDA

   $ 63      $ 74  

Less: Adjusted EBITDA Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest

     6        9  

Adjusted EBITDA Attributable to CONSOL Mining Corporation Shareholder

   $ 57      $ 65  

Bank Adjusted EBITDA is calculated as Adjusted EBITDA less between $7 million and $11 million of CNXC EBITDA net of cash distributions attributable to the Company, less between $5 million and $2 million of payments on long term employee liabilities net of expense provision.

Corporate Information

CoalCo was incorporated in Delaware on June 21, 2017 for the purpose of holding ParentCo’s Coal Business in connection with the separation and distribution described herein. Prior to the transfer of these businesses to us by ParentCo, which will occur prior to the distribution, CoalCo will have no operations and limited assets. The address of our principal executive offices will be 1000 CONSOL Energy Drive, Canonsburg, PA 15317-6506.

 



 

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Our telephone number after the distribution will be 724-485-4000. We will as of the time of the separation maintain an Internet site at www.consolenergy.com . Our website and the information contained therein or connected thereto are not incorporated into this information statement or the registration statement of which this information statement forms a part, or in any other filings with, or any information furnished or submitted to, the SEC.

Reason for Furnishing this Information Statement

This information statement is being furnished solely to provide information to ParentCo stockholders who will receive shares of CoalCo common stock in the distribution. It is not and is not to be construed as an inducement or encouragement to buy or sell any of CoalCo’s securities. The information contained in this information statement is believed by CoalCo to be accurate as of the date set forth on its cover. Changes may occur after that date and neither ParentCo nor CoalCo will update the information except as may be required in the normal course of their respective disclosure obligations and practices.

 



 

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SUMMARY HISTORICAL AND UNAUDITED PRO FORMA

COMBINED FINANCIAL DATA

The following summary financial data reflects the combined operations of CoalCo reflecting the historical financial results of the Coal Business. We derived the summary combined income statement data for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, and summary combined balance sheet data as of December 31, 2016 and 2015, as set forth below, from our audited Combined Financial Statements, which are included in the “Index to Financial Statements” section of this information statement. We derived the summary combined income statement data for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016, and summary combined balance sheet data as of June 30, 2017, as set forth below, from our unaudited Combined Financial Statements, included elsewhere in this information statement. The combined financial statements of CoalCo include certain assets and liabilities that have historically been held at ParentCo’s corporate level but are specifically identifiable or otherwise attributable to CoalCo prior to the separation on a historical basis. See “Note 1—The Proposed Separation and Basis of Presentation” to the combined financial statements for additional information. The historical results do not necessarily indicate the results expected for any future period.

The summary unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial data for the year ended December 31, 2016 and for the six months ended June 30, 2017 has been prepared to reflect the separation, including the incurrence of indebtedness of approximately $800 million. The Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Statements of Income presented for the year ended December 31, 2016 and the six months ended June 30, 2017, assumes the separation occurred on January 1, 2016. The Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Balance Sheet as of June 30, 2017 assumes the separation occurred on June 30, 2017. The assumptions used and pro forma adjustments derived from such assumptions are based on currently available information and we believe such assumptions are reasonable under the circumstances.

The historical and summary unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial data is not necessarily indicative of our results of operations or financial condition had the distribution and its anticipated post-separation capital structure been completed on the dates assumed. They may not reflect the results of operations or financial condition that would have resulted had we been operating as an independent, publicly traded company during such periods. In addition, they are not necessarily indicative of our future results of operations or financial results.

You should read this summary financial data together with “Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Statements,” “Capitalization,” “Selected Historical Combined Financial Data,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the Combined Financial Statements and accompanying notes included elsewhere in this information statement.

 



 

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    As of and for the Six months
ended June 30
    As of and for the year ended December 31,  
    Pro
forma
2017
(Unaudited)
    2017
(Unaudited)
    2016
(Unaudited)
    Pro
forma
2016
(Unaudited)
    2016     2015     2014  

Revenue and Other Income:

             

Coal Sales

  $ 620,155     $ 620,155     $ 476,726     $ 1,065,582     $ 1,065,582     $ 1,289,036     $ 1,616,874  

Other Outside Sales

    27,742       27,742       15,767       31,464       31,464       30,967       41,255  

Freight Revenue

    30,045       30,045       24,557       46,468       46,468       20,499       23,133  

Miscellaneous Other Income

    26,356       32,794       36,133       72,814       82,120       68,193       123,604  

Gain on Sale of Assets

    13,536       13,536       3,904       5,228       5,228       13,025       26,312  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total Revenue and Other Income

    717,834       724,272       557,087       1,221,556       1,230,862       1,421,720       1,831,178  

Costs and Expenses:

             

Operating and Other Costs

    452,120       452,876       407,446       876,013       877,177       699,594       1,110,332  
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization     78,503       78,261       77,976       178,561       178,122       195,337       206,684  

Freight Expense

    30,045       30,045       24,557       46,468       46,468       20,499       23,133  
Selling, General, and Administrative Costs     37,417       37,417       18,020       50,044       50,027       55,720       78,724  

Interest Expense

    41,199       7,966       6,496       81,418       14,053       7,544           —  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total Costs and Expenses

    639,284       606,565       534,495       1,232,504       1,165,847       978,694       1,418,873  

Earnings Before Income Tax

    78,550       117,707       22,592       (10,948)       65,015       443,026       412,305  

Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

    3,883       19,017       (193)       (14,795)       14,565       125,605       121,353  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net Income

    74,667       98,690       22,785       3,847       50,450       317,421       290,952  
Less: Net Income Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest     9,777       9,777       2,293       8,954       8,954       10,410             —  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
Net Income Attributable to CONSOL Mining Corporation Shareholder   $ 64,890     $ 88,913     $ 20,492     $ (5,107)     $ 41,496     $ 307,011     $ 290,952  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
Balance Sheet Data (at period end):              
Property, plant and equipment, net   $ 2,102,833     $ 2,118,394     $ 2,253,662       $ 2,180,270     $ 2,325,181     $ 2,529,657  
Total assets   $ 2,781,805     $ 2,626,610     $ 2,758,170       $ 2,687,434     $ 2,867,733     $ 3,092,374  
Total equity   $ 377,335     $ 826,297     $ 854,981       $ 800,124     $ 1,061,839     $ 1,246,192  
Cash Flow Statement Data:              
Net cash provided by operating activities     $ 104,027     $ 95,070       $ 329,107     $ 291,693     $ 543,519  
Net cash used in investing activities     $ (6,244)      $ (22,621)        $ (45,758)      $ (130,274)      $ (127,810)   
Net cash used in financing activities     $ (104,355)      $ (70,038)        $ (276,677)      $ (154,917)      $ (415,839)   
Coal Reserves, Production and Sales Data:              
Recoverable reserves (at period end)(1)     2,347,445,054       2,347,445,054       2,579,430,075       2,361,166,000       2,361,166,000       2,590,819,000             —  
Coal tons produced     13,720,946       13,720,946       11,388,925       24,665,589       24,665,589       22,790,165       26,065,985  
Coal tons sold     13,548,745       13,548,745       11,431,269       24,603,559       24,603,559       22,873,470       26,132,593  
Average sales price per ton   $ 45.77     $ 45.77     $ 41.70     $ 43.31     $ 43.31     $ 56.36     $ 61.88  
Average costs per ton sold   $ 34.65     $ 34.65     $ 33.86     $ 34.35     $ 34.35     $ 41.78     $ 43.63  

Other Data:

             

Capital Expenditures

    $ 23,229     $ 27,206       $ 53,600     $ 143,053     $ 348,846  

 



 

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(1)

Includes third-party recoverable assigned coal reserves of 34.6 million tons for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and for the year ended December 31, 2016. Includes third-party recoverable assigned coal reserves of 88.8 million tons for the six months ended June 30, 2016 and for the year ended December 31, 2015. Recoverable reserves have not been disclosed as of December 31, 2014 due to the impact of prior discontinued operations in that period.

EBITDA is defined as earnings before deducting net interest expense (interest expense less interest income), income taxes and depreciation, depletion and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as EBITDA after adjusting for the discrete items listed below. Although EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are not measures of performance calculated in accordance with GAAP, management believes that they are useful to an investor in evaluating CONSOL Energy because they are widely used to evaluate a company’s operating performance. CoalCo excludes stock-based compensation from Adjusted EBITDA because it does not believe it accurately reflects the actual operating expense incurred during the relevant period and may vary widely from period to period irrespective of operating results. Readers should not view these metrics as a substitute for measures of performance that are calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. In addition, because all companies do not calculate EBITDA or Adjusted EBITDA uniformly, the presentation here may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.

 

     For the six months
ended June 30,
     For the year ended December 31,  
     Pro
forma
2017
     2017      2016      Pro
forma
2016
     2016      2015      2014  

Other Financial Information:

                    

Capital Expenditures

      $ 23,229      $ 27,206         $ 53,600      $ 143,053      $ 348,846  

EBITDA(1)

   $ 198,252      $ 203,934      $ 107,064      $ 249,031      $ 257,190      $ 645,907      $ 618,989  

Adjusted EBITDA(1)

   $ 207,017      $ 212,699      $ 126,124      $ 282,936      $ 291,095      $ 433,642      $ 637,821  

 

(1)

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are non-GAAP financial measures. For a definition of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA and reconciliations to our most directly comparable financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP, please see “—Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

EBIT, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA

The following table presents a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures, EBIT, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, which we use in the analysis of our business. A reconcilement of EBIT, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to financial net income is as follows:

 

    For the six months
ended June 30,
    For the year ended December 31,  
    Pro
forma
2017
    2017     2016     Pro
forma
2016
    2016     2015     2014  

Other Financial Information:

             

Net income

  $ 74,667     $ 98,690     $ 22,785     $ 3,847     $ 50,450     $ 317,421     $ 290,952  

Add: Interest expense

    41,199       7,966       6,496       81,418       14,053       7,544        

Add: Income taxes

    3,883       19,017       (193     (14,795     14,565       125,605       121,353  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Earnings Before Interest & Taxes (EBIT)

    119,749       125,673       29,088       70,470       79,068       450,570       412,305  

Add: Depreciation, depletion and amortization

    78,503       78,261       77,976       178,561       178,122       195,337       206,684  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Earnings Before Interest, taxes and DD&A (EBITDA) from continuing operations

    198,252       203,934       107,064       249,031       257,190       645,907       618,989  

Add: Stock-Based Compensation

    8,765       8,765       5,364       11,710       11,710       8,406       19,860  

Add: Transaction fees(1)

                                  7,581        

Add: Pension settlement

                13,696       22,195       22,195       19,053       24,310  

Add: Gains on sale of assets(2)

                                  (7,551     (25,338

Add: OPEB Plan Changes

                                  (244,475      
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total pre-tax adjustments

    8,765       8,765       19,060       33,905       33,905       (216,986     18,832  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and DD&A (Adjusted EBITDA) from continuing operations

  $ 207,017     $ 212,699     $ 126,124     $ 282,936     $ 291,095     $ 428,921     $ 637,821  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 



 

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(1)

Represents legal and professional fees related to a backstop loan relating to the CNXC initial public offering (IPO), other fees and expenses in relationto CNXC and other failed transaction costs.

(2)

Represents the total gains on sale of assets experienced as a result of asset sales not in the normal course of operations.

CoalCo management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information that enhances management’s, investors’ and prospective lenders’ ability to evaluate the Company’s operating results and ability to repay its obligations. However, these non-GAAP financial measures are not intended to be used in isolation and should not be considered a substitute for any other performance measure determined in accordance with GAAP. Readers are cautioned that there are material limitations associated with the use of non-GAAP financial measures as an analytical tool, including that other companies may calculate similar non-GAAP financial measures differently than as defined in these materials, limiting their usefulness as a comparative tool. CoalCo compensates for these limitations by providing specific information regarding the GAAP amounts excluded from the non-GAAP financial measures. CoalCo further compensates for the limitations of its use of non-GAAP financial measures by presenting comparable GAAP measures. Readers are encouraged to review the reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures contained herein.

 



 

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RISK FACTORS

You should carefully consider the following risks and other information in this information statement in evaluating us and our common stock. The risk factors generally have been separated into three groups: risks related to our business, risks related to the separation and risks related to our common stock and the securities market.

Any of the following risks could materially and adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. Our operations could be affected by various risks, many of which are beyond our control. Based on current information, we believe that the following list identifies the most significant risk factors that could affect our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. There may be additional risks and uncertainties that adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows in the future that are not presently known, are not currently believed to be material, or are not identified below because they are common to all businesses. Past financial performance may not be a reliable indicator of future performance and historical trends should not be used to anticipate results or trends in future periods. For more information, see “Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements.”

Risks Related to Our Business

Deterioration in the global economic conditions in any of the industries in which our customers operate, or a worldwide financial downturn, or negative credit market conditions may have a materially adverse effect on our liquidity, results of operations, business and financial condition that we cannot predict.

Economic conditions in a number of industries in which our customers operate, such as electric power generation and steel-making, substantially deteriorated in recent years and reduced the demand for coal. The general economic challenges for some of our customers continued in 2016 and the outlook is uncertain. In addition, liquidity is essential to our business and developing our assets. Renewed or continued weakness in the economic conditions of any of the industries we serve or are served by our customers could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operation and liquidity in a number of ways. For example:

 

   

demand for electricity in the United States is impacted by industrial production, which if weakened would negatively impact the revenues, margins and profitability of our coal business;

 

   

the tightening of credit or lack of credit availability to our customers could adversely affect our ability to collect our trade receivables;

 

   

our ability to access the capital markets may be restricted at a time when we would like, or need, to raise capital for our business including for exploration and/or development of our coal reserves; and

 

   

a decline in our creditworthiness, which may require us to post letters of credit, cash collateral, or surety bonds to secure certain obligations, all of which would have an adverse effect on our liquidity.

Prices for coal are volatile and can fluctuate widely based upon a number of factors beyond our control including oversupply relative to the demand available for our products, weather and the price and availability of alternative fuels. An extended decline in the prices we receive for our coal will adversely affect our business, operating results, financial condition and cash flows.

Our financial results are significantly affected by the prices we receive for our coal. In addition, demand can fluctuate widely due to a number of matters beyond our control, including:

 

   

changes in the consumption pattern of industrial consumers, electricity generators and residential users of electricity;

 

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weather conditions in our markets which affect the demand for thermal coal (for example, the unusually warm 2015 - 2016 winter left utilities with large coal stockpiles and depressed the demand for thermal coal);

 

   

with respect to thermal coal, the price and availability of natural gas and the price and supply of imported liquefied natural gas;

 

   

technological advances affecting energy consumption;

 

   

the costs, availability and capacity of transportation infrastructure;

 

   

international developments impacting supply of metallurgical coal, including supply side reforms promulgated in China, and continued expected growth in demand for seaborne metallurgical coal in India; and

 

   

the impact of domestic and foreign governmental laws and regulations, including environmental and climate change regulations and regulations affecting the coal mining industry and coal-fired power plants, and delays in the receipt of, failure to receive, failure to maintain or revocation of necessary governmental permits.

The coal industry also faces concerns with respect to oversupply from time to time. For example, U.S. coal exports decreased by 32% during the first half of 2016 compared with the first half of 2015, as global supply exceeded demand for both thermal and metallurgical coal. Our average sales price per ton sold in 2016 declined 23% from 2015 due to imbalanced supply and demand, and a substantial or extended decline in the prices we receive for our coal could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition, cash flows and liquidity.

Foreign currency fluctuations could adversely affect the competitiveness of our coal abroad.

We compete in international markets against coal produced in other countries. Coal is sold internationally in U.S. dollars and, as a result, general economic conditions in foreign markets and changes in foreign currency exchange rates may provide our foreign competitors with a competitive advantage. As a result, mining costs in competing producing countries may be reduced in U.S. dollar terms based on currency exchange rates, providing an advantage to foreign coal producers. If our competitors’ currencies decline against the U.S. dollar or against our foreign customers’ local currencies, those competitors may be able to continue to offer lower prices for coal to our customers. Furthermore, if the currencies of our overseas customers were to significantly decline in value in comparison to the U.S. dollar, those customers may seek decreased prices for the coal we sell to them. Consequently, currency fluctuations could adversely affect the competitiveness of our products in international markets, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

If our coal customers do not extend existing contracts or do not enter into new multi-year coal sales contracts on favorable terms, profitability of CoalCo’s operations could be adversely affected.

During the year ended December 31, 2016, approximately 65% of the coal CoalCo produced was sold under multi-year sales contracts. If a substantial portion of our multi-year sales contracts are modified or terminated, if force majeure is exercised, or if we are unable to replace or extend the contracts or new contracts are priced at lower levels, our profitability would be adversely affected. The profitability of our multi-year sales coal supply contracts depends on a variety of factors, which vary from contract to contract and fluctuate during the contract term, including our production costs and other factors. Price changes, if any, provided in long-term supply contracts may not reflect our cost increases, and therefore, increases in our costs may reduce our profit margins. In addition, during periods of declining market prices, provisions in our long-term coal contracts for adjustment or renegotiation of prices and other provisions may increase our exposure to short-term coal price and electric power price volatility. As a result, we may not be able to obtain long-term agreements at favorable prices compared to either market conditions, as they may change from time to time, or our cost structure, which may reduce our profitability.

 

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The loss of, or significant reduction in, purchases by our largest coal customers or the failure of any of our customers to buy and pay for coal they committed to purchase could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operation and cash flows.

For the year ended December 31, 2016, we derived over 10% of our coal sales revenue from two coal customers individually and approximately 40% of our total sales revenue were derived from our four largest coal customers. At December 31, 2016, we had approximately nine coal supply agreements with these top two customers that expire at various times from 2017 to 2018. There are inherent risks whenever a significant percentage of total revenues are concentrated with a limited number of customers. Revenues from our largest customers may fluctuate from time to time based on numerous factors, including market conditions, which may be outside of our control. If any of our largest customers experience declining revenues due to market, economic or competitive conditions, we could be pressured to reduce the prices that we charge for our coal, which could have an adverse effect on our margins, profitability, cash flows and financial position. In addition, if any customers were to significantly reduce their purchases of coal from us, including by failing to buy and pay for coal they committed to purchase in sales contracts, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be adversely affected.

Our ability to collect payments from our customers could be impaired if their creditworthiness declines or if they fail to honor their contracts with us.

Our ability to receive payment for coal sold and delivered depends on the continued creditworthiness of our customers. Many utilities have sold their power plants to non-regulated affiliates or third parties that may be less creditworthy, thereby increasing the risk we bear with respect to payment default. These new power plant owners may have credit ratings that are below investment grade. In addition, some of our customers have been adversely affected by the current economic downturn, which may impact their ability to fulfill their contractual obligations. Competition with other coal suppliers could force us to extend credit to customers and on terms that could increase the risk we bear with respect to payment default. We also have a contract to supply coal to an energy trading and brokering customer under which that customer sells coal to end users. If the creditworthiness of our energy trading and brokering customer declines, we may not be able to collect payment for all coal sold and delivered to this customer. If the creditworthiness of our customers declines significantly, our business could be adversely affected. In addition, if customers refuse to accept shipments of our coal for which they have an existing contractual obligation, our revenues will decrease and we may have to reduce production at our mines until our customers’ contractual obligations are honored. Our inability to collect payment from counterparties to our sales contracts may have a materially adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Our inability to acquire additional coal reserves that are economically recoverable may have a material adverse effect on our future profitability.

Our profitability depends substantially on our ability to mine, in a cost-effective manner, coal reserves that possess the quality characteristics that our customers desire. Because our reserves decline as we mine our coal, our future profitability depends upon our ability to acquire additional coal reserves that are economically recoverable to replace the reserves we produce. If we fail to acquire or develop sufficient additional reserves over the long term to replace the reserves depleted by our production, our existing reserves will eventually be depleted, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Decreases in demand for electricity and changes in coal consumption patterns of U.S. electric power generators could adversely affect our business.

Our business is closely linked to domestic demand for electricity, and any changes in coal consumption by U.S. electric power generators would likely impact our business over the long term. According to the EIA, in

 

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2016, the domestic electric power sector accounted for approximately 92% of total U.S. coal consumption. In 2016, the PAMC sold approximately 76% of its coal to U.S. electric power generators, and we have multi-year contracts in place with these electric power generators for a significant portion of our future production. The amount of coal consumed by the electric power generation industry is affected by, among other things:

 

   

general economic conditions, particularly those affecting industrial electric power demand, such as a downturn in the U.S. economy and financial markets;

   

overall demand for electricity;

   

indirect competition from alternative fuel sources for power generation, such as natural gas, fuel oil, nuclear, hydroelectric, wind and solar power, and the location, availability, quality and price of those alternative fuel sources;

   

environmental and other governmental regulations, including those impacting coal-fired power plants; and

   

energy conservation efforts and related governmental policies.

For example, the relatively recent low price of natural gas has resulted, in some instances, in domestic electric power generators increasing natural gas consumption while decreasing coal consumption. Federal and state mandates for increased use of electricity derived from renewable energy sources could affect demand for our coal. Such mandates, combined with other incentives to use renewable energy sources, such as tax credits, could make alternative fuel sources more competitive with coal. A decrease in coal consumption by the electric power generation industry could adversely affect the price of coal, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and ability to make cash distributions.

According to the EIA, although electricity demand fell in only three years between 1950 and 2007, it declined in five of the eight years between 2008 and 2015. The largest drop in electricity demand occurred in 2009, primarily as the result of the steep economic downturn from late 2007 through 2009, which led to a large drop in electricity sales in the industrial sector. Other factors, such as efficiency improvements associated with new appliance standards in the buildings sectors and overall improvement in the efficiency of technologies powered by electricity, have slowed electricity demand growth and may contribute to slower growth in the future, even as the U.S. economy continues its recovery. Further decreases in the demand for electricity, such as decreases that could be caused by a worsening of current economic conditions, a prolonged economic recession or other similar events, could have a material adverse effect on the demand for coal and on our business over the long term.

Changes in the coal industry that affect our customers, such as those caused by decreased electricity demand and increased competition, could also adversely affect our business. Indirect competition from natural gas-fired plants that are relatively less expensive to construct and less difficult to permit has the most potential to displace a significant amount of coal-fired electric power generation in the near term, particularly from older, less efficient coal-fired powered generators. For example, according to the EIA, installed U.S. natural gas-fired net summer generating capacity increased by about 7 gigawatt from 2014-2015, while installed coal-fired net summer generating capacity decreased by about 19 gigawatt over the same period. In addition, uncertainty caused by federal and state regulations could cause coal customers to be uncertain of their coal requirements in future years, which could adversely affect our ability to sell coal to our customers under multi-year sales contracts.

The availability and reliability of transportation facilities and fluctuations in transportation costs could affect the demand for our coal, and any significant damage to our CNX Marine Terminal facility that impacts its use could impair our ability to supply coal to our customers.

Transportation logistics play an important role in allowing us to supply coal to our customers. Any significant delays, interruptions or other limitations on the ability to transport our coal could negatively affect our operations. Our coal is transported from our mining complex by rail, truck or a combination of these methods. To

 

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reach markets and end customers, our coal may also be transported by barge or by ocean vessels loaded at terminals, including our CNX Marine Terminal. Disruption of transportation services because of weather-related problems, strikes, lock-outs, terrorism, governmental regulation, third-party action or other events could temporarily impair our ability to supply coal to customers and adversely affect our profitability. In addition, transportation costs represent a significant portion of the delivered cost of coal and, as a result, the cost of delivery is a critical factor in a customers’ purchasing decision. Increases in transportation costs, including increases resulting from emission control requirements and fluctuation in the price of diesel fuel and demurrage, could make our coal less competitive. Any disruption of the transportation services we use or increase in transportation costs could have a materially adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Disruption in shipment levels over longer periods of time at the CNX Marine Terminal could cause our customers to look to other sources for their coal needs, negatively affecting our revenues and results of operations.

Competition within the coal industry may adversely affect our ability to sell our products. Increased competition or a loss of our competitive position could adversely affect our sales of, or our prices for, our coal products, which could impair our profitability.

We compete with other coal producers primarily on the basis of price, coal quality, transportation costs and reliability. We compete with coal producers in various regions of the United States and with some foreign coal producers for domestic sales primarily to electric power generators. Demand for our thermal coal by our principal electric power generator customers is affected by the delivered price of competing coals, other fuel supplies and alternative generating sources, including nuclear, natural gas, oil and renewable energy sources, such as hydroelectric and wind power. The domestic coal industry has experienced consolidation in recent years, including consolidation among some of our major competitors. In addition, substantial overcapacity exists in the coal industry and most large coal companies have filed bankruptcy proceedings which could enable them to lower their production costs and thereby reduce the price for their coal. We cannot assure you that the result of current or further consolidation in the coal industry or current or future bankruptcy proceedings of our coal competitors will not adversely affect our competitive position. We also compete with both domestic and foreign coal producers for sales in international markets. We sell coal to foreign electricity generators, which sales are significantly affected by international demand and competition. Potential changes to international trade agreements, trade concessions or other political and economic arrangements may benefit coal producers operating in countries other than the United States. We cannot assure you that we will be able to compete on the basis of price or other factors with companies that in the future may benefit from favorable foreign trade policies or other arrangements.

Any reduction in our ability to compete in coal markets could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

The characteristics of coal may make it costly for electric power generators and other coal users to comply with various environmental standards regarding the emissions of impurities released when coal is burned which could cause utilities to replace coal-fired power plants with alternative fuels. In addition, various incentives have been proposed to encourage the generation of electricity from renewable energy sources. A reduction in the use of coal for electric power generation could decrease the volume of our domestic coal sales and adversely affect our results of operations.

Coal contains impurities, including sulfur, mercury, chlorine and other elements or compounds, many of which are released into the air along with fine particulate matter and carbon dioxide when it is burned. Complying with regulations on these emissions can be costly for electric power generators. For example, in order to meet the federal Clean Air Act limits for sulfur dioxide emissions from electric power plants, coal users will need to install scrubbers, use sulfur dioxide emission allowances (some of which they may purchase) or switch to other fuels. Each option has limitations. Lower sulfur coal may be more costly to purchase on an energy basis than higher sulfur coal depending on mining and transportation costs. The cost of installing scrubbers is significant and emission allowances may become more expensive as their availability declines. Switching to

 

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other fuels may require expensive modification of existing plants. Because higher sulfur coal currently accounts for a significant portion of our sales, the extent to which electric power generators switch to alternative fuel could materially affect us. Recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rulemaking proceedings requiring additional reductions in permissible emission levels of impurities by coal-fired plants will likely make it more costly to operate coal-fired electric power plants and may make coal a less attractive fuel alternative for electric power generation in the future. Examples are (i) implementation of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) to require reductions of seasonal nitrogen oxides (NOX) emissions from power plants in the eastern United States to address ozone pollution; and (ii) the Utility Maximum Achievable Control Technology (Utility MACT) rule, better known as the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard (MATS) rule, which included more stringent new source performance standards (NSPS) for particulate matter (PM), mercury, sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOX), for new and existing coal-fired power plants. The rule was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 29, 2015 and sent back to the D.C. Circuit Court to determine whether to remand and allow the EPA to address the rule’s deficiencies or to vacate and nullify the rule; nevertheless most coal-fired electric power generators have already taken steps to comply with the rule. On April 18, 2017 the EPA asked the Court to delay arguments over MATs to allow the Trump Administration time to fully review the findings.

Apart from actual and potential regulation of emissions, water use, waste water discharge, and solid waste management from coal-fired plants, state and federal mandates for increased use of electricity from renewable energy sources could have an impact on the market for our coal. Several states have enacted legislative mandates requiring electricity suppliers to use renewable energy sources to generate a certain percentage of power. There have been numerous proposals to establish a similar uniform, national standard although none of these proposals have been enacted to date. Possible advances in technologies and incentives, such as tax credits, to enhance the economics of renewable energy sources could make these sources more competitive with coal. Any reductions in the amount of coal consumed by domestic electric power generators as a result of current or new standards for the emission of impurities or incentives to switch to alternative fuels or renewable energy sources could reduce the demand for our coal, thereby reducing our revenues and adversely affecting our business and results of operations.

Regulation of greenhouse gas emissions may increase our operating costs and reduce the value of our coal assets and such regulation, as well as uncertainty concerning such regulation could adversely impact the market for coal, as well as for our securities.

While climate change legislation in the U.S. is unlikely in the next several years, the issue of global climate change continues to attract considerable public and scientific attention with widespread concern about the impacts of human activity, especially the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide and methane. Combustion of fossil fuels, such as the coal we produce, results in the creation of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere by coal end-users, such as coal-fired electric power generation plants. Numerous proposals have been made and are likely to continue to be made at the international, national, regional and state levels of government that are intended to limit emissions of GHGs. Several states have already adopted measures requiring reduction of GHGs within state boundaries. Other states have elected to participate in voluntary regional cap-and-trade programs like the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) in the northeastern U.S.

The Obama Administration laid out the Climate Action Plan to limit emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from coal-fired and natural gas-fired power plants. The EPA proposed numerous regulatory actions to address CO2, including New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for CO2 from both new power plants and existing and modified/reconstructed power plants. The agency’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) Rule, which went into effect on December 22, 2015, set state-specific rate-based goals for CO2 emissions from existing fossil fuel-fired electric generating units, and created emission guidelines for states to follow in developing plans to address greenhouse gas emissions from existing fossil fuel-fired electric generating units. Numerous petitions challenging the CPP Rule were consolidated into one case, West Virginia v. EPA . While the litigation is still ongoing at the circuit court level, a mid-litigation application to the Supreme Court resulted in a stay of the CPP Rule. On September 27, 2016, an en banc panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard oral

 

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arguments in the case. The decision, originally expected in early 2017, has been stayed as a result of a March 28, 2017 executive order directing the EPA to begin the process of reviewing and possibly rescinding the CPP Rule. The EPA filed a motion and the motion was granted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit requesting the stay while the EPA conducts their review of the CPP Rule. If the review does not result in any rule changes, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will rule on the legality of the CPP Rule.

The current Administration’s executive order promoting energy independence and economic growth issued on March 28, 2017 requires the review of existing regulations that potentially burden the development or use of domestically produced energy resources. The review of existing regulations may not result in any changes and any changes made to existing regulations may not produce the intended favorable results desired by the new Administration. The executive order also directed the Council on Environmental Quality to rescind its final guidance entitled, “Final Guidance for Federal Departments and Agencies on Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the Effects of Climate Change in National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Reviews.” The guidance previously directed agencies to consider proposed actions and their effects on climate change (GHG emissions would have been a key indicator being assessed under any NEPA review). Such review considerations may have created additional delays or costs in any NEPA review processes for energy producers and generators and may have prevented the acquisition of any necessary federal approvals for energy producers and generators.

Internationally, the Kyoto Protocol, which set binding emission targets for developed countries (which was not ratified by the United States) was nominally extended past its expiration date of December 2012 with a requirement for a new legal construct to be put into place by 2015. In December 2015, the United Nations Climate Change Conference was held and an agreement was reached between the countries participating in the conference, including the United States, to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6° Fahrenheit) compared to pre-industrial levels. This agreement, known as the Paris Agreement, calls for zero net anthropogenic greenhouse gas emission to be reached during the second half of the 21st century. Each party is to prepare a plan on its contributions to reach this goal; each plan is to be filed in a publicly available registry. The Paris Agreement does not create any binding obligations for nations to limit their GHG emissions but rather includes pledges to voluntarily limit or reduce future emissions. Although the United States became a party to the Paris Agreement in April 2016, the current Administration subsequently terminated its participation in June 2017. However, the Paris Agreement stipulates that participating countries must wait four years before withdrawing from the agreement.

Additionally, coalbed methane must be expelled from our underground coal mines for mining safety reasons and is vented into the atmosphere when the coal is mined. Coalbed methane has a greater GHG effect than carbon dioxide. If regulation of GHG emissions does not exempt the release of coalbed methane, we may have to further reduce our methane emissions, pay higher taxes, incur costs to purchase credits that permit us to continue operations as they now exist at our underground coal mines or perhaps curtail coal production. In 2010 the EPA declined a petition to regulate methane emissions from coal mines, and on May 13, 2014 the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the EPA’s denial of the petition. The current Administration’s stated stance of unburdening domestic energy production will make it more unlikely that coalbed methane will be regulated in a manner that adds higher costs to producers in the short- term.

Apart from governmental regulation, investment banks based both domestically and internationally have announced that they have adopted climate change guidelines for lenders. The guidelines require the evaluation of carbon risks in the financing of electric power generation plants which may make it more difficult for utilities to obtain financing for coal-fired plants.

Adoption of comprehensive legislation or regulation focusing on GHG emission reductions for the United States or other countries where we sell coal, or the inability of utilities to obtain financing in connection with coal-fired plants, may make it more costly to operate fossil fuel fired (especially coal-fired) electric power generation plants and make fossil fuels less attractive for electric utility power plants in the future. Depending on

 

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the nature of the regulation or legislation, natural gas-fueled power generation could become more economically attractive than coal-fueled power generation. Apart from actual regulation, uncertainty over the extent of regulation of GHG emissions may inhibit utilities from investing in the building of new coal-fired plants to replace older plants or investing in the upgrading of existing coal-fired plants. Any reduction or substantial delay in the amount of coal consumed by domestic electric power generators as a result of actual or potential regulation of greenhouse gas emissions could decrease demand for our fossil fuels, thereby reducing our revenues and materially and adversely affecting our business and results of operations. Our customers may also have to invest in carbon dioxide capture and storage technologies in order to burn coal and comply with future GHG emission standards.

In addition, there have also been efforts in recent years affecting the investment community, including investment advisers, sovereign wealth funds, public pension funds, universities and other groups, promoting the divestment of fossil fuel equities and also pressuring lenders to limit funding to companies engaged in the extraction of fossil fuel reserves. The impact of such efforts may adversely affect the demand for and price of securities issued by us, and impact our access to the capital and financial markets.

Environmental regulations introduce uncertainty that could adversely impact the market for coal with potential short and long-term liabilities.

The Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) and similar state laws protect species endangered or threatened with extinction. Protection of endangered and threatened species may cause us to modify mining plans, or develop and implement species-specific protection and enhancement plans to avoid or minimize impacts to endangered species or their habitats. A number of species indigenous to the areas where we operate are protected under the ESA.

CoalCo utilizes certain pipelines in connection with its coal businesses. Mitigation permits from the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) are typically required for certain impacts these pipelines cause to streams and wetlands. On June 29, 2015, the EPA promulgated a proposed rule called “Definition of ‘Waters of the United States’ (WoUS) Under the Clean Water Act.” The rule expanded the scope of the CWA to include previously non-jurisdictional streams, wetlands, and waters, making these areas jurisdictional inter-coastal waters of the U.S. On August 27, 2015, the District Court of North Dakota blocked implementation of the rule in 13 states prior to the rule’s effective date of August 28, 2015. On October 9, 2015, the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit blocked implementation of the rule nationwide. The U.S. Supreme Court will now decide which court has jurisdiction - federal appeals court or district courts. A decision is expected sometime in mid-2017. Meanwhile, the current Administration is working to rescind and replace the rulemaking that would re-establish the 1986 rule and implement the 2008 guidance, which is less onerous than the currently litigated rule.

Management and regulation of point source discharges covered under the National Pollutant Discharge Eliminations System (NPDES) of the CWA have undergone recent changes and proposed changes at both the state and federal level that have the potential to affect the long-term treatment and discharge of water from coal mines. CWA section 304(b) requires EPA to annually review and, if appropriate, revise Effluent Guidelines. States are required by the CWA to conduct a comprehensive review of the state water quality standards every three years (the Triennial Review). On December 23, 2016 EPA published a draft Field-Based Methods for Developing Aquatic Life Criteria for Specific Conductivity, which could impact NPDES permits with conductivity limits. However, this draft document is also under review pursuant to Executive Order 13783.

Our coal mining operations are subject to operating risks, which could increase our operating expenses and decrease our production levels which could adversely affect our results of operations. Our coal operations are also subject to hazards and any losses or liabilities we suffer from hazards which occur in our operations may not be fully covered by our insurance policies.

Our coal mining operations are underground mines. Underground mining and related processing activities present inherent risks of injury to persons and damage to property and equipment. Our mines are

 

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subject to a number of operating risks that could disrupt operations, decrease production and increase the cost of mining at particular mines for varying lengths of time thereby adversely affecting our operating results. In addition, if an operating risk occurs in our mining operations, we may not be able to produce sufficient amounts of coal to deliver under our multi-year coal contracts. Our inability to satisfy contractual obligations could result in our customers initiating claims against us or canceling their contracts. The operating risks that may have a significant impact on our coal operations include:

 

   

variations in thickness of the layer, or seam, of coal;

 

   

adverse geological conditions, including amounts of rock and other natural materials intruding into the coal that could affect the stability of the roof and the side walls of the mine - for example, unit costs were negatively impacted in 2016 due to adverse geological conditions at Enlow Fork Mine, primarily related to sandstone intrusions, which resulted in reduced coal production at that mine;

 

   

environmental hazards;

 

   

equipment failures or unexpected maintenance problems;

 

   

fires or explosions, including as a result of methane, coal, coal dust or other explosive materials and/or other accidents;

 

   

inclement or hazardous weather conditions and natural disasters or other force majeure events;

 

   

seismic activities, ground failures, rock bursts or structural cave-ins or slides;

 

   

delays in moving our longwall equipment;

 

   

railroad derailments;

 

   

security breaches or terroristic acts; and

 

   

other hazards that could also result in personal injury and loss of life, pollution and suspension of operations.

The occurrence of any of these risks at our coal mining operations could adversely affect our ability to conduct coal mining operations or result in substantial loss to us as a result of claims for:

 

   

personal injury or loss of life;

 

   

damage to and destruction of property, natural resources and equipment, including our coal properties and our coal production or transportation facilities;

 

   

pollution and other environmental damage to our properties or the properties of others;

 

   

potential legal liability and monetary losses;

 

   

regulatory investigations and penalties;

 

   

suspension of our operations; and

 

   

repair and remediation costs.

In addition, the occurrence of any of these events in our coal mining operations which prevents our delivery of coal to a customer and which is not excusable as a force majeure event under our coal sales agreement, could result in economic penalties, suspension or cancellation of shipments or ultimately termination of the coal sales agreement.

Although we maintain insurance for a number of risks and hazards, we may not be insured or fully insured against the losses or liabilities that could arise from a significant accident in our coal operations. We may

 

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elect not to obtain insurance for any or all of these risks if we believe that the cost of available insurance is excessive relative to the risks presented. In addition, pollution and environmental risks generally are not fully insurable. Moreover, a significant mine accident could potentially cause a mine shutdown. The occurrence of an event that is not fully covered by insurance could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

We may not be able to obtain equipment, parts and raw materials in a timely manner, in sufficient quantities or at reasonable costs to support our coal mining operations.

Coal mining consumes large quantities of commodities including steel, copper, rubber products and liquid fuels and requires the use of capital equipment. Some commodities, such as steel, are needed to comply with roof control plans required by regulation. The prices we pay for commodities and capital equipment are strongly impacted by the global market. A rapid or significant increase in the costs of commodities or capital equipment we use in our operations could impact our mining operations costs because we may have a limited ability to negotiate lower prices, and, in some cases, may not have a ready substitute.

We use equipment in our coal mining and transportation operations such as continuous mining units, conveyors, shuttle cars, rail cars, locomotives, roof bolters, shearers and shields. We procure this equipment from a concentrated group of suppliers, and obtaining this equipment often involves long lead times. Occasionally, demand for such equipment by mining companies can be high and some types of equipment may be in short supply. Delays in receiving or shortages of this equipment, as well as the raw materials used in the manufacturing of supplies and mining equipment, which, in some cases, do not have ready substitutes, or the cancellation of our supply contracts under which we obtain equipment and other consumables, could limit our ability to obtain these supplies or equipment. In addition, if any of our suppliers experiences an adverse event, or decides to no longer do business with us, we may be unable to obtain sufficient equipment and raw materials in a timely manner or at a reasonable price to allow us to meet our production goals and our revenues may be adversely impacted. We use considerable quantities of steel in the mining process. If the price of steel or other materials increases substantially or if the value of the U.S. dollar declines relative to foreign currencies with respect to certain imported supplies or other products, our operating expenses could increase. Any of the foregoing events could materially and adversely impact our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

For mining operations, CoalCo must obtain, maintain, and renew governmental permits and approvals which if we cannot obtain in a timely manner would reduce our production, cash flow and results of operations.

The pace with which the government issues permits needed for new operations and for on-going operations to continue coal mining has negatively impacted expected production. Any such delays, as well as any denial of a coal mining permit, could reduce our production, cash flows and results of operations. See “Business- Legal and Environmental Proceedings- Environmental Proceedings” for disclosure regarding the factual determinations underlying the decision by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in September of 2017 to withhold a prior permit submission for continued longwall mining in the 4L panel at the Bailey Mine, and the impact that the determination has had on our operations to date, and may have on our operations in the future.

Existing and future government laws, regulations and other legal requirements relating to protection of the environment, and others that govern our business may increase our costs of doing business for coal and may restrict our coal operations.

We are subject to laws, regulations and other legal requirements enacted or adopted by federal, state and local authorities, as well as foreign authorities relating to protection of the environment. These include those legal requirements that govern discharges of substances into the air and water, the management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, the cleanup of contaminated sites, groundwater quality and availability, threatened and endangered plant and wildlife protection, reclamation and restoration of mining properties after

 

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mining is completed, the installation of various safety equipment in our mines, remediation of impacts of surface subsidence from underground mining, and work practices related to employee health and safety. Complying with these requirements, including the terms of our permits, has had, and will continue to have, a significant effect on our costs of operations and competitive position.

In addition, there is the possibility that we could incur substantial costs as a result of violations under environmental laws. Any additional laws, regulations and other legal requirements enacted or adopted by federal, state and local authorities, as well as foreign authorities or new interpretations of existing legal requirements by regulatory bodies relating to the protection of the environment could further affect our costs of operations and competitive position. The Clean Water Act is being used by opponents of mountain top removal mining as a means to challenge permits and bring citizen suits to make coal mining more expensive. At CoalCo’s subsidiary Fola Coal Company, LLC, six citizen suits have been filed challenging water discharge permits. Two of those suits were settled in 2014, and a federal court has issued liability rulings in three of the other matters.

Our mines are subject to stringent federal and state safety regulations that increase our cost of doing business at active operations and may place restrictions on our methods of operation. In addition, government inspectors under certain circumstances, have the ability to order our operations to be shutdown based on safety considerations.

The Federal Coal Mine Safety and Health Act (MSHA) and Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response (MINER) Act impose stringent health and safety standards on mining operations. Regulations that have been adopted are comprehensive and affect numerous aspects of mining operations, including training of mine personnel, mining procedures, the equipment used in mine emergency procedures and other matters. Most states in which we operate have programs for mine safety and health regulation and enforcement. The various requirements mandated by law or regulation can place restrictions on our methods of operations, and potentially lead to fees and civil penalties for the violation of such requirements, creating a significant effect on operating costs and productivity. In addition, government inspectors under certain circumstances, have the ability to order our operation to be shutdown based on safety considerations. If an incident were to occur at one of our coal mines, it could be shut down for an extended period of time and our reputation with our customers could be materially damaged.

Our operations may impact the environment or cause exposure to hazardous substances, and our properties may have environmental contamination, which could result in liabilities to us.

Our operations currently use hazardous materials and generate limited quantities of hazardous wastes from time to time. Drainage flowing from or caused by mining activities can be acidic with elevated levels of dissolved metals, a condition referred to as “acid mine drainage.” We could become subject to claims for toxic torts, natural resource damages and other damages, as well as for the investigation and clean-up of soil, surface water, groundwater, and other media. Such claims may arise, for example, out of conditions at sites that we currently own or operate, as well as at sites that we previously owned or operated, or may acquire. Our liability for such claims may be joint and several, so that we may be held responsible for more than our share of the contamination or other damages, or for the entire share.

We maintain coal refuse areas and slurry impoundments at a number of our coal mining complexes. Such areas and impoundments are subject to extensive regulation. Structural failure of a slurry impoundment or coal refuse area could result in extensive damage to the environment and natural resources, such as bodies of water that the coal slurry reaches, as well as liability for related personal injuries and property damages, and injuries to wildlife. Some of our impoundments overlie mined out areas, which can pose a heightened risk of failure and of damages arising out of failure. If one of our impoundments were to fail, we could be subject to claims for the resulting environmental contamination and associated liability, as well as for fines and penalties. Our coal refuse areas and slurry impoundments are designed, constructed, and inspected by our company and by regulatory authorities according to stringent environmental and safety standards.

 

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We have reclamation, mine closing obligations and gas well plugging obligations. If the assumptions underlying our accruals are inaccurate, we could be required to expend greater amounts than anticipated.

The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act as well as various state laws establish operational, reclamation and closure standards for all our coal mining operations and require us, under certain circumstances, to plug natural gas wells. We accrue for the costs of current mine disturbance, gas well plugging and of final mine closure, including the cost of treating mine water discharge where necessary. Estimates of our total reclamation, mine-closing and degasification and well plugging liabilities, which are based upon permit requirements and our experience, were approximately $257 million at June 30, 2017. The amounts recorded are dependent upon a number of variables, including the estimated future closure costs, estimated proved reserves, assumptions involving profit margins, inflation rates, and the assumed credit-adjusted risk-free interest rates. If these accruals are insufficient or our liability in a particular year is greater than currently anticipated, our future operating results could be adversely affected.

Most states where we operate require us to post bonds for the full cost of coal mine reclamation (full cost bonding). West Virginia is not a full cost bonding state. West Virginia has an alternative bond system (ABS) for coal mine reclamation which consists of (i) individual site bonds posted by the permittee that are less than the full estimated reclamation cost plus (ii) a bond pool (Special Reclamation Fund) funded by a per ton fee on coal mined in the State which is used to supplement the site specific bonds if needed in the event of bond forfeiture.

Pennsylvania is expanding its full cost bonding program to cover all coal mine bonding, further increasing the amount of surety bonds we must seek in order to permit its mining activities. We have been able to post surety bonds with the states to secure our reclamation obligations. If our creditworthiness declines, states may seek to require us to post letters of credit or cash collateral to secure those obligations, or we may be unable to obtain surety bonds, in which case we would be required to post letters of credit. Additionally, the sureties that post bonds on our behalf may require us to post security in order to secure the obligations underlying these bonds. Posting letters of credit in place of surety bonds or posting security to support these surety bonds would have an adverse effect on our liquidity.

We face uncertainties in estimating our economically recoverable coal reserves, and inaccuracies in our estimates could result in lower than expected revenues, higher than expected costs and decreased profitability.

Coal reserves are economically recoverable when the price at which they are expected to be sold exceeds their expected cost of production and selling. We base our coal reserve information on geologic data, coal ownership information and current and proposed mine plans. These estimates are periodically updated to reflect past coal production, new drilling information and other geologic or mining data. Similar to natural gas reserves, there are uncertainties inherent in estimating quantities and values of economically recoverable coal reserves, including many factors beyond our control. As a result, estimates of economically recoverable coal reserves are by their nature uncertain. Information about our reserves consists of estimates based on engineering, economic and geological data assembled and analyzed by our staff. Some of the factors and assumptions which impact economically recoverable coal reserve estimates include:

 

   

geologic conditions;

 

   

historical production from the area compared with production from other producing areas;

 

   

the assumed effects of regulations and taxes by governmental agencies;

 

   

our ability to obtain, maintain and renew all required permits;

 

   

future improvements in mining technology;

 

   

assumptions governing future prices; and

 

   

future operating costs, including the cost of materials and capital expenditures.

 

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In addition, we hold substantial coal reserves in areas containing Marcellus Shale and other shales. These areas are currently the subject of substantial exploration for oil and natural gas, particularly by horizontal drilling. If a natural gas well is in the path of our mining for coal, we may not be able to mine through the well unless we purchase it. Although in the past we have purchased vertical wells, the cost of purchasing a producing horizontal well could be substantially greater. Horizontal wells with multiple laterals extending from the well pad may access larger natural gas reserves than a vertical well which could result in higher costs. In future years, the cost associated with purchasing natural gas wells which are in the path of our coal mining may make mining through those wells uneconomical thereby effectively causing a loss of significant portions of our coal reserves.

Each of the factors which impacts reserve estimation may in fact vary considerably from the assumptions used in estimating the reserves. For these reasons, estimates of coal reserves may vary substantially. Actual production, revenues and expenditures with respect to our coal reserves will likely vary from estimates, and these variances may be material. As a result, our estimates may not accurately reflect our actual coal reserves.

Defects may exist in our chain of title for our undeveloped coal reserves where we have not done a thorough chain of title examination of our undeveloped coal reserves. We may incur additional costs and delays to mine coal because we have to acquire additional property rights to perfect our title to coal rights. If we fail to acquire additional property rights to perfect our title to coal rights, we may have to reduce our estimated reserves.

Title to most of our owned or leased properties and mineral rights is not usually verified until we make a commitment to mine a property, which may not occur until after we have obtained necessary permits and completed exploration of the property. In some cases, we rely on title information or representations and warranties provided by our lessors or grantor’s. Our right to mine certain of our reserves has in the past been, and may again in the future be, adversely affected if defects in title, boundaries or other rights necessary for mining exist or if a lease expires. Any challenge to our title or leasehold interests could delay the mining of the property and could ultimately result in the loss of some or all of our interest in the property. From time to time we also may be in default with respect to leases for properties on which we have mining operations. In such events, we may have to close down or significantly alter the sequence of such mining operations which may adversely affect our future coal production and future revenues. If we mine on property that we do not own or lease, we could incur liability for such mining and be subject to regulatory sanction and penalties.

In order to obtain, maintain or renew leases or mining contracts to conduct our mining operations on property where these defects exist, we may in the future have to incur unanticipated costs. In addition, we may not be able to successfully negotiate new leases or mining contracts for properties containing additional reserves, or maintain our leasehold interests in properties where we have not commenced mining operations during the term of the lease. As a result, our results of operations, business and financial condition may be materially adversely affected.

CoalCo and its subsidiaries are subject to various legal proceedings, which may have an adverse effect on our business.

We are party to a number of legal proceedings in the normal course of business activities. Defending these actions, especially purported class actions, can be costly, and can distract management. There is the potential that the costs of defending litigation in an individual matter or the aggregation of many matters could have an adverse effect on our cash flows, results of operations or financial position. See “Business—Legal and Environmental Proceedings” for further discussion of pending legal proceedings.

 

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We have obligations for long-term employee benefits for which we accrue based upon assumptions which, if inaccurate, could result in our being required to expense greater amounts than anticipated.

We provide various long-term employee benefits to inactive and retired employees. We accrue amounts for these obligations. At June 30, 2017, the current and non-current portions of these obligations included:

 

   

postretirement medical and life insurance ($694 million);

 

   

coal workers’ pneumoconiosis benefits ($117 million);

 

   

pension benefits ($73 million); and

 

   

workers’ compensation ($77 million).

However, if our assumptions are inaccurate, we could be required to expend greater amounts than anticipated. Salary retirement benefits are funded in accordance with Employer Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) regulations. The other obligations are unfunded. In addition, the federal government and several states in which we operate consider changes in workers’ compensation and black lung laws from time to time. Such changes, if enacted, could increase our benefit expense and our collateral requirements.

A failure by Murray Energy to satisfy the liabilities it assumed from ParentCo, perform its obligations under various agreements, the performance of which by Murray Energy ParentCo guaranteed, or under various agreements with ParentCo, could require us to indemnify GasCo, which could materially adversely affect our results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

In 2013, Murray Energy and its subsidiaries (Murray Energy) acquired approximately $2.4 billion of liabilities which had been reflected on ParentCo books. The consolidated balance sheet liabilities at the time of sale were comprised of approximately $2.1 billion of other postemployment benefits (OPEB) and other liabilities. In addition to these assumed liabilities, Murray Energy acquired or assumed certain ParentCo payment obligations, performance guarantees, equipment leases or subleases. The current maximum estimated exposure under the Murray Energy guarantees as of June 30, 2017 was believed to be approximately $39 million. The leases and subleases entered into with Murray Energy relate to approximately $39 million of equipment. Murray Energy is primarily liable for the acquired retiree medical liabilities under the Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefits Act of 1992, referred to herein as the Coal Act, but ParentCo remains secondarily liable. At the time of the sale, the Coal Act liabilities Murray Energy acquired were approximately $307 million and it was estimated that the servicing cost for these liabilities would be approximately $26 million for 2017, and would decline thereafter since the beneficiaries consist principally of miners who retired prior to 1994. Any failure by Murray Energy to satisfy these assumed liabilities or perform under these agreements could result in substantial claims against ParentCo by third-parties. On November 12, 2013, in connection with the transaction with ParentCo, Moody’s assigned Murray Energy a family credit rating of B3 (speculative and subject to high credit risk) and its secured second lien notes due 2021 a rating of Caa1 (poor standing and subject to very high credit risk). Since the 2013 transaction, Murray Energy’s credit ratings have been downgraded by Moody’s. In June 2017, Moody’s upgraded Murray Energy to a family credit rating of B3 and the rating on its secured second lien notes to Caa2 with a stable outlook. As part of the separation and distribution CoalCo has agreed to indemnify GasCo as it relates to certain of these obligations. If Murray Energy fails to satisfy these assumed liabilities, payment obligations or Coal Act liabilities and we are called upon to perform our indemnity obligation to GasCo, our results of operations, financial position and cash flows could be materially adversely affected.

Terrorist attacks or a cyber incident could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.

We have become increasingly dependent upon digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, to operate our businesses, to process and record financial and

 

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operating data, communicate with our employees and business partners, as well as other activities related to our businesses. Strategic targets, such as energy-related assets, may be at greater risk of future physical attacks by terrorists or cyber attacks than other targets in the United States. Deliberate attacks on our assets, or security breaches in our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third-parties, or the cloud could lead to corruption or loss of our proprietary data and potentially sensitive data, delays in production or delivery, difficulty in completing and settling transactions, challenges in maintaining our books and records, environmental damage, communication interruptions, other operational disruptions and third-party liability. Our insurance may not protect us against such occurrences. Consequently, it is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Further, as cyber incidents continue to evolve, we may be required to expend additional resources to continue to modify or enhance our protective measures or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to cyber incidents.

Our sales of thermal coal are from three mines at one location in Pennsylvania, making us vulnerable to risks associated with operating in a single geographic area.

Our sales of thermal coal, as well as our thermal coal reserves, are from our Bailey Mine, Enlow Fork Mine and Harvey Mine located in Greene County, Pennsylvania. In addition, we also rely upon one coal processing plant and rail load facility, located in Enon, Pennsylvania for shipping coal from all of these mines. Any disruption in the functioning of this coal processing plant and rail load-out facility such as the structural failure at our above ground conveyor system or in transportation in this area could significantly reduce our sales of thermal coal and adversely affect our results of operation and financial condition.

Certain provisions in our multi-year coal sales contracts may provide limited protection during adverse economic conditions, may result in economic penalties to us or permit the customer to terminate the contract.

Price adjustment, “price reopener” and other similar provisions in our multi-year coal sales contracts may reduce the protection from coal price volatility traditionally provided by coal supply contracts. Price reopener provisions are present in several of our multi-year coal sales contracts. These price reopener provisions may automatically set a new price based on prevailing market price or, in some instances, require the parties to agree on a new price, sometimes within a specified range of prices. In a limited number of agreements, failure of the parties to agree on a price under a price reopener provision can lead to termination of the contract. Any adjustment or renegotiations leading to a significantly lower contract price could adversely affect our profitability.

Most of our coal sales agreements contain provisions requiring us to deliver coal within certain ranges for specific coal quality characteristics such as heat content, sulfur, ash, moisture, volatile matter, grindability, ash fusion temperature and size consist. Failure to meet these conditions could result in penalties or rejection of the coal at the election of the customer. Our coal sales contracts also typically contain force majeure provisions allowing for the suspension of performance by either party for the duration of specified events. Force majeure events include, but are not limited to, floods, earthquakes, storms, fire, faults in the coal seam or other geologic conditions, other natural catastrophes, wars, terrorist acts, civil disturbances or disobedience, strikes, railroad transportation delays caused by a force majeure event and actions or restraints by court order and governmental authority or arbitration award. Depending on the language of the contract, some contracts may terminate upon continuance of an event of force majeure that extends for a period greater than three to twelve months and some contracts may obligate us to perform notwithstanding what would typically be a force majeure event.

Our ability to operate our business effectively could be impaired if we fail to attract and retain skilled personnel, or if a meaningful segment of our employees become unionized.

Our ability to operate our business and implement our strategies depends, in part, on our continued ability to attract and retain the skilled personnel necessary to conduct our business. Efficient coal mining using

 

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modern techniques and equipment requires skilled laborers in multiple disciplines such as electricians, equipment operators, mechanics, engineers and welders, among others. Although we have not historically encountered shortages for these types of skilled labor, competition in the future may increase for such positions, especially as it relates to needs of other industries with respect to these positions, including oil and gas. If we experience shortages of skilled labor in the future, our labor and overall productivity or costs could be materially adversely affected. In the future, we may utilize a greater number of external contractors for portions of our operations. The costs of these contractors have historically been higher than that of our employed laborers. If our labor and contractor prices increase, or if we experience materially increased health and benefit costs with respect to our employees, our results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

None of our employees who conduct mining operations at the PAMC are currently represented by a labor union or covered under a collective bargaining agreement, although many employers in our industry have employees who belong to a union. It is possible that our employees who conduct mining operations at the PAMC may join or seek recognition to form a labor union, or we may be required to become a labor agreement signatory. If some or all of the employees who conduct mining operations at the PAMC were to become unionized, it could adversely affect productivity, increase labor costs and increase the risk of work stoppages at our mines. If a work stoppage were to occur, it could interfere with operations at the PAMC and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and ability to make cash distributions. In addition, the mere fact that a portion of our labor force could be unionized may harm our reputation in the eyes of some investors and thereby negatively affect our share price.

The majority of our common units in CNX Coal Resources LP are subordinated to other common units and we may not receive distributions from CNX Coal Resources LP.

As of June 30, 2017, we held 11.6 million subordinated units (representing a 41.8 percent limited partnership interest) in CNXC. The balance of our CNXC limited partnership interests are held in the form of preferred and common units. On October 2, 2017, ParentCo provided a conversion notice to CNXC with respect to all Class A Units owned by it, and thereafter caused all such Class A Units to convert, on a 1-to-1 ratio, into common units representing limited partner interests in CNXC. Subordinated units are not entitled to any distribution from CNXC unless CNXC makes a minimum quarterly distribution of at least $0.4678 per Class A Preferred Unit and $0.5125 per common unit. CNXC made minimum distributions per subordinated unit equal to the distribution per common unit for five of the six quarters since CNXC’s IPO. CNXC did not meet the requirement for a subordinated unit distribution with respect to fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2016 and we did not receive a distribution per subordinated unit, however, CNXC was able to make minimum distributions per subordinated unit equal to the distribution per common unit with respect to the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2016 and declared minimum distributions per subordinated unit equal to the distribution per common unit with respect to the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2016. We cannot assure you that CNXC will continue to be able to make or will make the required minimum quarterly distribution on its preferred and common units or that we will receive any future distributions on our subordinated units. Failure by CNXC to make distributions to us on our subordinated units could adversely affect our liquidity.

Risks Related to the Separation

We may be unable to achieve some or all of the benefits that we expect to achieve from our separation from ParentCo.

We believe that, as an independent, publicly traded company, we will continue to, among other things, focus our financial and operational resources on our specific business, growth profile and strategic priorities, design and implement corporate strategies and policies targeted to our operational focus and strategic priorities, guide our processes and infrastructure to focus on our core strengths, implement and maintain a capital structure designed to meet our specific needs and more effectively respond to industry dynamics. However, we may be unable to achieve some or all of these benefits. For example, in order to position ourselves for the separation, we

 

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are undertaking a series of strategic, structural and process realignment and restructuring actions within our operations. These actions may not provide the benefits we currently expect, and could lead to disruption of our operations, loss of, or inability to recruit, key personnel needed to operate and grow our business following the separation, weakening of our internal standards, controls or procedures and impairment of our key customer and supplier relationships. In addition, completion of the proposed separation will require significant amounts of management’s time and effort, which may divert management’s attention from operating and growing our business. If we fail to achieve some or all of the benefits that we expect to achieve as an independent company, or do not achieve them in the time we expect, our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.

The combined market value of GasCo and our shares after the spin-off may not equal or exceed the market value of ParentCo shares prior to the spin-off.

We cannot assure you that the combined trading prices of GasCo common stock and our common stock after the spin-off, as adjusted for any changes in the combined capitalization of these companies, will be equal to or greater than the market price of ParentCo common stock prior to the spin-off. Until the market has fully evaluated the Gas Business of GasCo without the Coal Business, the price at which GasCo common stock trades may fluctuate significantly. Similarly, until the market has fully evaluated our company, the price at which our common stock trades may fluctuate significantly.

We may be unable to complete, on a timely or cost-effective basis, the changes necessary to operate as an independent company.

Although many components of operation as an independent company are well established as a result of CNXC’s historic existence, there remains a number of business and organization changes that will be required to complete our transition to a new standalone public company. We expect these changes, which may include staffing adjustments, new hires and reassignment of responsibilities, adoption of new processes, systems and controls, and transitioning services provided by ParentCo to internally provided services, to continue for the foreseeable future.

Following the separation and distribution, ParentCo will have no obligation to provide us with assistance other than the transition services outlined in the transition services agreement, along with such other arrangements as have otherwise been contractually agreed to as outlined in the other agreements described under “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions—Agreements with GasCo.” These services do not include every service we have received from ParentCo in the past, and ParentCo is only obligated to provide these services for limited periods from the distribution date. Accordingly, following the separation and distribution, we will need to provide internally or obtain from unaffiliated third parties the services we currently receive from ParentCo. These services include information technology, tax, legal, insurance and other administrative activities, the effective and appropriate performance of which is critical to our operations. We may be unable to replace these services in a timely manner or on terms and conditions as favorable as those we receive from ParentCo. In particular, ParentCo’s information technology networks and systems are complex, and duplicating these networks and systems will be challenging. Because our business previously operated in part as a component of the wider ParentCo organization, we may be unable to successfully establish the infrastructure or implement the changes necessary to operate independently, or we may incur additional costs that could adversely affect our business. Additionally, while we have developed certain internal controls and procedures, such internal controls and procedures have not yet been fully implemented in connection with our operations as a standalone company. The process of implementing our internal controls could require significant attention from management and we cannot be certain that we will successfully implement and maintain adequate controls over our financial processes and reporting in the future. Difficulties encountered in their implementation could harm our results of operations or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. If we fail to obtain the quality of administrative services necessary to operate effectively or incur greater costs in obtaining these services, our financial condition, results of operations and cash flow may be materially and adversely affected.

 

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Our historical combined and unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial data are not necessarily representative of the results we would have achieved as an independent, publicly traded company and may not be a reliable indicator of our future results.

The historical combined and unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial data we have included in this information statement may not reflect what our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows would have been had we been an independent, publicly traded company during the periods presented or what our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows will be in the future when we are an independent company. This is primarily because:

 

   

Prior to our separation, our business was operated by ParentCo as part of its broader corporate organization, rather than as an independent, publicly traded company.

 

   

Our working capital requirements and capital for our general corporate purposes, including acquisitions and capital expenditures, historically have been satisfied as part of the company-wide cash management practices of ParentCo. While our business historically has generated sufficient cash to finance our working capital and other cash requirements, following the separation and distribution, we will no longer have access to ParentCo’s cash pool. Without the opportunity to obtain financing from ParentCo, we may need to obtain additional financing from banks, through public offerings or private placements of debt or equity securities or other arrangements.

 

   

We will enter into transactions with ParentCo that did not exist prior to the separation, and modify certain existing arrangements between CNXC and ParentCo. For more information, see “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions—Agreements with GasCo.”

 

   

Other significant changes may occur in our cost structure, management, financing, tax profile and business operations as a result of our operating as a company separate from ParentCo.

The pro forma financial data included in this information statement is based on the best information available, which in part includes a number of estimates and assumptions. These estimates and assumptions may prove not to be accurate, and accordingly, our pro forma financial data should not be assumed to be indicative of what our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows actually would have been as a stand-alone company or to be a reliable indicator of what our financial condition or results of operations actually may be in the future.

For more information about our past financial performance and the basis of presentation of our financial statements, see “Selected Historical Condensed Combined Financial Data,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” “Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Statements” and our Annual Combined Financial Statements and the notes thereto.

As an independent, publicly traded company, we may not enjoy the same benefits that we did as part of ParentCo.

There is a risk that, by separating from ParentCo, we may become more susceptible to market fluctuations and other adverse events than we would have been if we were still a part of the current ParentCo organizational structure. As part of ParentCo, we have been able to enjoy certain benefits from ParentCo’s operating diversity, purchasing power and opportunities to pursue integrated strategies with ParentCo’s other businesses. As an independent, publicly traded company, we will be smaller and, as such, will not have similar diversity or integration opportunities and may not have similar purchasing power or access to capital markets. Additionally, as part of ParentCo, we have been able to leverage the ParentCo historical market reputation and performance and brand identity to recruit and retain key personnel to run our business. As an independent, publicly traded company, we will not have the same historical market reputation and performance or brand

 

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identity as ParentCo and it may be more difficult for us to recruit or retain such key personnel. Further, we may be more vulnerable to changing market conditions, such as changes in the coal industry, which could result in increased volatility in our cash flows, working capital and financing requirements and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We will incur significant costs in connection with the separation and distribution, as well as costs associated with operating as an independent, publicly traded company, which may adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Prior to the distribution, we will make a cash payment of $425 million to ParentCo, funded primarily by third-party indebtedness incurred by us prior to the separation and distribution. We incurred approximately $33 million in costs associated with raising the third-party indebtedness. In addition, we will be subject to ongoing interest and principal payments during the term of this indebtedness. Following the separation, we expect to incur and pay non-recurring transition, financing and other expenses. We currently anticipate that our obligations with respect to these transaction-related expenses are expected to total between approximately $13 to $15 million. We also expect to incur certain ongoing costs associated with operating as an independent, publicly traded company and extra costs related to the creation of an IT function and reporting systems. We expect to spend an appropriate amount of capital to relocate and/or augment some of our infrastructure and creating our new IT systems. The ongoing costs of the separation may adversely impact our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. For more information regarding the separation and our anticipated costs to operate as an independent, publicly traded company, see “The Separation and Distribution.”

The terms of our separation from ParentCo and the related agreements and other transactions with ParentCo were determined by ParentCo and thus may be less favorable to us than the terms we could have obtained from an unaffiliated third party.

Prior to the completion of the distribution, we will enter into various agreements or amend certain of the existing agreements in place between ParentCo and CNXC to complete the separation of our business from ParentCo and govern our ongoing relationships, including, among others, a separation and distribution agreement, a transition services agreement, a tax matters agreement, an employee matters agreement, an intellectual property matters agreement, a master cooperation and safety agreement and other agreements related to operations of CoalCo post-separation.

Under a transition services agreements, ParentCo will continue to provide various interim corporate support services to us and we will provide various interim support services to ParentCo. Under the transition services agreement for operations, we will be providing support services for ParentCo’s continuing operations through the term of the existing contracts. The separation agreement will provide for, among other things, our responsibility for liabilities relating to our business and the responsibility of ParentCo for liabilities unrelated to our business. Among other things, the separation agreement will contain indemnification obligations and ongoing commitments of us and ParentCo designed to make our company financially responsible for substantially all liabilities that may exist relating to our business activities, whether incurred prior to or after the separation and including potential indemnification obligations for veil-piercing actions brought by or on behalf of the Company. If we are required to indemnify ParentCo under the circumstances set forth in the separation agreement or other agreements, we may be subject to substantial liabilities.

For a description of these agreements and the other agreements that we will enter into with ParentCo, please read “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”

 

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If we fail to develop or maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud. As a result, current and potential stockholders could lose confidence in our financial reporting, which would harm our business and the trading price of our shares.

Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports, prevent fraud and operate successfully as a public company. If we cannot provide reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, our reputation and operating results would be harmed. We cannot be certain that our efforts to develop and maintain our internal controls will be successful, that we will be able to maintain adequate controls over our financial processes and reporting in the future or that we will be able to comply with our obligations under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Any failure to develop or maintain effective internal controls, or difficulties encountered in implementing or improving our internal controls, could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. Ineffective internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which would likely have a negative effect on the trading price of our shares.

Some contracts and other assets which will need to be transferred or assigned from ParentCo or its affiliates to CoalCo in connection with CoalCo’s separation from ParentCo may require the consent or involvement of a third party. If such consent is not given, CoalCo may not be entitled to the benefit of such contracts and other assets in the future, which could negatively impact CoalCo’s financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

The separation agreement provides that in connection with CoalCo’s separation from ParentCo, a number of contracts with third-parties and other assets are to be transferred or assigned from ParentCo or its affiliates to CoalCo. However, the transfer or assignment of certain of these contracts or assets require providing guarantees or the consent of a third party to such a transfer or assignment. Similarly, in some circumstances, CoalCo and another business unit of ParentCo are joint beneficiaries of contracts, and CoalCo will need to enter into a new agreement with the third-party to replicate the existing contract or assign the portion of the existing contract related to CoalCo’s business. It is possible that some parties may use the requirement of a guarantee or consent or the fact that the separation is occurring to seek more favorable contractual terms from CoalCo or to seek to terminate the contract. If CoalCo is unable to provide a guarantee or obtain such consents on commercially reasonable and satisfactory terms or if the contracts are terminated, CoalCo may be unable to obtain some of the benefits, assets and contractual commitments which are intended to be allocated to CoalCo as part of CoalCo’s separation from ParentCo. The failure to timely complete the assignment of existing contracts or assets, or the negotiation of new arrangements, or a termination of any of those arrangements, could negatively impact CoalCo’s financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. In addition, where CoalCo does not intend to provide a guarantee or obtain consent from third party counterparties based on CoalCo’s belief that no guarantee or consent is required, the third party counterparties may challenge a transfer of assets on the basis that the terms of the applicable commercial arrangements require that a guarantee be provided or the third party counterparty’s consent. CoalCo may incur substantial litigation and other costs in connection with any such claims and, if CoalCo does not prevail, CoalCo’s ability to use these assets could be adversely impacted.

Our customers, prospective customers, suppliers or other companies with whom we conduct business may need assurances that our financial stability on a stand-alone basis is sufficient to satisfy their requirements for doing or continuing to do business with them.

Some of our customers, prospective customers, suppliers or other companies with whom we conduct business may need assurances that our financial stability on a stand-alone basis is sufficient to satisfy their requirements for doing or continuing to do business with them, and may require us to provide additional credit support, such as letters of credit or other financial guarantees. Any failure of parties to be satisfied with our financial stability could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, liquidity and cash flows.

 

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In connection with our separation we will assume, and indemnify ParentCo for, certain liabilities. If we are required to make payments pursuant to these indemnities to ParentCo, we may need to divert cash to meet those obligations and our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be negatively impacted. In addition, ParentCo may indemnify us for certain liabilities. ParentCo’s indemnity may not be sufficient to insure us against the full amount of liabilities for which it will be allocated responsibility, and ParentCo may not be able to satisfy its indemnification obligations in the future.

Pursuant to the terms of the separation agreement and certain other agreements to be entered into as part of the separation, we will agree to assume, and indemnify ParentCo for, certain liabilities for uncapped amounts, which may include, among other items, associated defense costs, settlement amounts and judgments. For additional detail regarding these indemnification obligations, please see the section of this information statement entitled “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions—Agreements with GasCo.” Although such obligations are not currently quantifiable, such potential payments pursuant to these indemnities could be significant, and could negatively impact our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows, particularly indemnities relating to our actions that could impact the tax-free nature of the contribution, the distribution and certain related transactions, which are set forth in detail in the tax matters agreement and separation agreement, as well as the risk factor below entitled “ If the distribution, together with certain related transactions, does not qualify as a transaction that is generally tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes, ParentCo, CoalCo and ParentCo stockholders could be subject to significant tax liabilities and, in certain circumstances, CoalCo could be required to indemnify ParentCo for material taxes and other related amounts pursuant to indemnification obligations under the tax matters agreement .” Third parties could also seek to hold us responsible for liabilities of ParentCo’s business. GasCo will agree to indemnify us for such liabilities, but such indemnity from GasCo may not be sufficient to protect us against the full amount of such liabilities, and GasCo may not be able to fully satisfy its indemnification obligations. Moreover, even if we ultimately succeed in recovering from GasCo any amounts for which we are held liable, we may be temporarily required to bear these losses ourselves. Each of these risks could negatively affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

If the distribution, together with certain related transactions, does not qualify as a transaction that is generally tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes, ParentCo, CoalCo and ParentCo stockholders could be subject to significant tax liabilities and, in certain circumstances, CoalCo could be required to indemnify ParentCo for material taxes and other related amounts pursuant to indemnification obligations under the tax matters agreement.

It is a condition to the distribution that ParentCo receives a private letter ruling from the IRS, which was received on October 16, 2017, and one or more opinions of its tax advisors, in each case satisfactory to the ParentCo Board of Directors, regarding certain U.S. federal income tax matters relating to the separation and the distribution, including, with respect to the opinion of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, to the effect that the distribution will be a transaction described in Section 355(a) of the Code. The IRS private letter ruling and the opinion(s) of tax advisors will be based upon and rely on, among other things, various facts and assumptions, as well as certain representations, statements and undertakings of ParentCo and CoalCo, including those relating to the past and future conduct of ParentCo and CoalCo. If any of these representations, statements or undertakings is, or becomes, inaccurate or incomplete, or if ParentCo or CoalCo breaches any of its representations or covenants contained in any of the separation-related agreements and documents or in any documents relating to the IRS private letter ruling and/or the opinion(s) of tax advisors, the IRS private letter ruling and/or opinion(s) of tax advisors may be invalid and the conclusions reached therein could be jeopardized.

Notwithstanding receipt of the IRS private letter ruling and the opinion(s) of tax advisors, the IRS could determine that the distribution and/or certain related transactions should be treated as taxable transactions for U.S. federal income tax purposes if it determines that any of the representations, assumptions, or undertakings upon which the IRS private letter ruling or the opinion(s) of tax advisors were based are false or have been violated. In addition, neither the IRS private letter ruling nor the opinion(s) of tax advisors will address all of the issues that are relevant to determining whether the distribution, together with certain related transactions,

 

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qualifies as a transaction that is generally tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and the opinion(s) of tax advisors represent the judgment of such tax advisors and are not binding on the IRS or any court, and the IRS or a court may disagree with the conclusions in the opinion(s) of tax advisors. Accordingly, notwithstanding receipt by ParentCo of the IRS private letter and the opinion(s) of tax advisors, there can be no assurance that the IRS will not assert that the distribution and/or certain related transactions do not qualify for tax-free treatment for U.S. federal income tax purposes or that a court would not sustain such a challenge. In the event the IRS were to prevail with such challenge, ParentCo, CoalCo and ParentCo stockholders could be subject to significant U.S. federal income tax liability.

If the distribution, together with related transactions, fails to qualify as a transaction that is generally tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes, under Sections 355 and 368(a)(1)(D) of the Code, in general, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, ParentCo would recognize taxable gain as if it had sold the CoalCo common stock in a taxable sale for its fair market value (unless ParentCo and CoalCo jointly make an election under Section 336(e) of the Code with respect to the distribution, in which case, in general, (i) the ParentCo group would recognize taxable gain as if CoalCo had sold all of its assets in a taxable sale in exchange for an amount equal to the fair market value of the CoalCo common stock and the assumption of all CoalCo’s liabilities and (ii) CoalCo would obtain a related step up in the basis of its assets and, if the distribution fails to qualify as a transaction that is generally tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes under Section 355, in general, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, ParentCo stockholders who receive CoalCo shares in the distribution would be subject to tax as if they had received a taxable distribution equal to the fair market value of such shares. For more information, see “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences.”

Under the tax matters agreement that ParentCo will enter into with CoalCo, CoalCo may be required to indemnify ParentCo against any additional taxes and related amounts resulting from (i) an acquisition of all or a portion of the equity securities or assets of CoalCo, whether by merger or otherwise (and regardless of whether CoalCo participated in or otherwise facilitated the acquisition), (ii) other actions or failures to act by CoalCo or (iii) any of CoalCo’s representations, covenants or undertakings contained in any of the separation-related agreements and documents or in any documents relating to the IRS private letter ruling and/or the opinion(s) of tax advisors being incorrect or violated. Any such indemnity obligations could be material. For a more detailed discussion, see “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions—Agreements with GasCo—Tax Matters Agreement.”

We may not be able to engage in desirable strategic or capital-raising transactions after the separation.

Under current law, a spin-off can be rendered taxable as a result of certain post-spin-off acquisitions of shares or assets of the spun-off corporation. For example, a spin-off may result in taxable gain to the parent corporation under Section 355(e) of the Code if the spin-off were later deemed to be part of a plan (or series of related transactions) pursuant to which one or more persons acquire, directly or indirectly, shares representing a 50% or greater interest (by vote or value) in the spun-off corporation. To preserve the tax-free treatment of the separation and the distribution for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and in addition to CoalCo’s indemnity obligation described above, the tax matters agreement will restrict CoalCo, for the two-year period following the separation, except in specific circumstances, from:

 

   

entering into any transaction pursuant to which all or a portion of the shares of CoalCo common stock would be acquired, whether by merger or otherwise;

 

   

issuing equity securities beyond certain thresholds;

 

   

repurchasing shares of CoalCo capital stock other than in certain open-market transactions; and

 

   

ceasing to actively conduct certain of its businesses.

The tax matters agreement will also prohibit CoalCo from taking or failing to take any other action that would prevent the distribution and certain related transactions from qualifying as a transaction that is generally

 

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tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes under Sections 355 and 368(a)(1)(D) of the Code. These restrictions may limit our ability to pursue certain strategic transactions, equity issuances or repurchases or other transactions that we may believe to be in the best interests of our stockholders or that might increase the value of our business. For more information, see “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions—Agreements with GasCo—Tax Matters Agreement.”

After the distribution, certain of our directors and officers may have actual or potential conflicts of interest because of their equity ownership in GasCo.

Although no CoalCo directors or officers will serve at both companies following the separation and distribution, certain of our directors and executive officers may own shares of GasCo common stock, and the individual holdings may be significant for some of these individuals compared to their total assets. This ownership in both companies may create, or may create the appearance of, conflicts of interest when these directors and officers are faced with decisions that could have different implications for GasCo and us. For example, potential conflicts of interest could arise in connection with the resolution of any dispute that may arise between GasCo and us regarding the terms of the agreements governing the internal reorganization, the distribution and the relationship thereafter between the companies, including with respect to the indemnification of certain matters. For more information on certain procedures we will institute with regard to such matters, see “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions—Procedures for Approval of Related Person Transactions.”

Until the distribution occurs, ParentCo has the sole discretion to change the terms of the distribution in ways which may be unfavorable to CoalCo.

Until the distribution occurs, ParentCo will have the sole and absolute discretion to determine and change the terms of the distribution, including the establishment of the record date and distribution date. These changes could be unfavorable to CoalCo. In addition, ParentCo may decide at any time not to proceed with the separation, including to pursue other strategic alternatives with respect to the Coal Business, including alternatives that have previously been presented to, and are continuously considered and discussed by, management of ParentCo.

The completion of the separation will constitute a change of control under CNXC’s current senior secured revolving credit facility (CNXC Revolver), which would be an event of default thereunder if we fail to refinance the CNXC Revolver.

The completion of the separation will constitute a change of control under the terms of the CNXC Revolver, which would result in an event of default under the CNXC Revolver. Although CoalCo expects that the CNXC Revolver will be refinanced in connection with the completion of the separation, there is no assurance that such refinancing will occur on acceptable terms or at all. If refinancing is not obtained for the CNXC Revolver and ParentCo nevertheless elects to consummate the separation, the separation would trigger a default under the CNXC Revolver, which, unless waived, would give the lenders under the CNXC Revolver all remedies available to a secured lender, and they could elect to terminate their commitments, cease making further loans, cause their loans to become immediately due and payable in full, institute foreclosure proceedings against CNXC or its assets and force CNXC and its subsidiaries into bankruptcy or liquidation.

No vote of ParentCo stockholders is required in connection with the distribution. As a result, if the distribution occurs and you do not want to receive CoalCo common stock in the distribution, your sole recourse will be to divest yourself of your ParentCo common stock prior to the record date.

No vote of ParentCo stockholders is required in connection with the distribution. Accordingly, if the distribution occurs and you do not want to receive CoalCo common stock in the distribution, your only recourse will be to divest yourself of your ParentCo common stock prior to the record date for the distribution.

 

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As a public company, we will be required to publish more detailed information about our business, operations and financial performance which will be available for our customers, competitors and other third parties.

Historically, information about our business and operations was presented as part of the broader ParentCo corporate organization. As an independent, publicly traded company, we will be required to publicly provide more detailed information about our business and operations, including financial information, as a stand-alone company. This information will be accessible to our customers, suppliers and competitors, each of which may factor the new information into their commercial dealings with us or in the markets in which we operate. The use of such information by third parties in the marketplace could have an adverse effect on us and our results of operations, including our relative level of profitability.

There may be substantial disruption to our business and distraction of our management and employees as a result of the separation, and the uncertainty associated with the separation may otherwise adversely impact our operations and relationships with key stakeholders.

There may be substantial disruption to our business and distraction of our management and employees from day-to-day operations because matters related to the separation may require substantial commitments of time and resources, which could otherwise have been devoted to other opportunities that could have been beneficial to us.

In addition, the uncertainty surrounding whether or when the separation will occur and other aspects of the separation may adversely affect our ability to enter into new customer agreements or extend or expand existing customer relationships if potential and existing customers choose to wait to learn whether the separation will proceed before committing to new, extended or expanded customer relationships with us. Similarly, suppliers, vendors and other businesses or organizations that we may seek to contract with or expand existing relationships with us may choose to wait to enter into new agreements or arrangements or change existing agreements or arrangements with us. If such uncertainty continues for a protracted period, our ability to secure new, extended or expanded customer relationships may be adversely affected, or we may be compelled to pay higher fees or incur new or higher expenses to operate and maintain our business. We cannot predict whether or when any adverse effects on our business will result from these uncertainties, but such effects, if any, could materially and adversely affect our revenues and results of operations in future periods.

Furthermore, the uncertainty surrounding the separation may adversely affect our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel. We operate in an industry that currently experiences a high level of competition among different companies for qualified and experienced personnel. The uncertainty relating to the possibility of the separation may increase the risk that we could experience higher than normal rates of attrition or that we experience increased difficulty in attracting qualified personnel or incur higher expenses to do so. High levels of attrition among the management and employee personnel necessary to operate our business or difficulties or increased expense incurred to replace any personnel who leave, could materially adversely affect our business or results of operations.

The separation and distribution and related internal reorganization transactions may expose CoalCo to potential liabilities arising out of state and federal fraudulent conveyance laws and legal dividend requirements.

If CoalCo files for bankruptcy or is otherwise determined or deemed to be insolvent under federal bankruptcy laws, a court could deem the separation and distribution or certain internal reorganization transactions undertaken by ParentCo in connection with the separation to be a fraudulent conveyance or transfer. Fraudulent conveyances or transfers are defined to include transfers made or obligations incurred with the actual intent to hinder, delay or defraud current or future creditors or transfers made or obligations incurred for less than reasonably equivalent value when the debtor was insolvent, or that rendered the debtor insolvent, inadequately capitalized or unable to pay its debts as they become due. A court could void the transactions or impose substantial liabilities upon CoalCo, which could adversely affect CoalCo’s financial condition and its results of

 

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operations. Among other things, the court could require CoalCo stockholders to return to ParentCo some or all of the shares of CoalCo common stock issued in the separation and distribution, or require CoalCo to fund liabilities of other companies involved in the reorganization transactions for the benefit of creditors.

The distribution of CoalCo common stock is also subject to review under state corporate distribution statutes. Under the Delaware General Corporation Law (the DGCL), a corporation may only pay dividends to its stockholders either (i) out of its surplus (net assets minus capital) or (ii) if there is no such surplus, out of its net profits for the fiscal year in which the dividend is declared and/or the preceding fiscal year. Although ParentCo intends to make the distribution of CoalCo common stock entirely out of surplus, CoalCo cannot assure you that a court will not later determine that some or all of the distribution to ParentCo stockholders was unlawful.

Risks Related to Our Common Stock and the Securities Market

We cannot be certain that an active trading market for our common stock will develop or be sustained after the distribution, and following the distribution, our stock price may fluctuate significantly.

A public market for our common stock does not currently exist. We anticipate that on or prior to the record date for the distribution, trading of shares of our common stock will begin on a “when-issued” basis and will continue through the last trading day prior to the distribution date. However, we cannot guarantee that an active trading market will develop or be sustained for our common stock after the distribution. If an active trading market does not develop for our stock, you may have difficulty selling your shares at an attractive price, or at all. In addition, we cannot predict the price at which shares of our common stock may trade after the distribution.

Similarly, ParentCo cannot predict the effect of the distribution on the trading prices of its common stock. After the distribution, ParentCo common stock will continue to be listed and traded on the NYSE. Subject to the consummation of the distribution, we expect our common stock to be listed and traded on the NYSE under the symbol “CEIX.” The combined trading prices of ParentCo common stock and our common stock after the distribution, as adjusted for any changes in the combined capitalization of these companies, may not be equal to or greater than the trading price of ParentCo common stock prior to the distribution. Until the market has fully evaluated the remaining business of ParentCo without our business, and fully evaluated us, the price at which ParentCo’s or our common stock trade may fluctuate significantly.

The market price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly due to a number of factors, some of which may be beyond our control, including:

 

   

our business profile and market capitalization may not fit the investment objectives of ParentCo’s current stockholders, causing a shift in our initial investor base, and our common stock may not be included in some indices in which ParentCo common stock is included, causing certain holders to be mandated to sell their shares of our common stock;

 

   

our quarterly or annual earnings, or those of other companies in our industry;

 

   

the failure of securities analysts to cover our common stock after the distribution;

 

   

actual or anticipated fluctuations in our operating results;

 

   

changes in earnings estimates by securities analysts or our ability to meet those estimates or our earnings guidance;

 

   

the operating and stock price performance of other comparable companies;

 

   

overall market fluctuations and domestic and worldwide economic conditions; and

 

   

other factors described in these “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this information statement.

 

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Stock markets in general have experienced volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of a particular company. These broad market fluctuations may adversely affect the trading price of either or both classes of our common stock. As a result of these factors, holders of our common stock may not be able to resell their shares at or above the initial market price following the separation or may not be able to resell them at all. In addition, price volatility with our common stock may be greater if trading volume is low.

If securities analysts do not publish research or reports about our company, or issue unfavorable commentary about us or downgrade our shares, the price of our shares could decline.

The trading market for our shares will depend in part on the research and reports that third-party securities analysts publish about our company and our industry. Because our ordinary shares will initially be distributed to the public through the spin-off, there will not be a marketing effort relating to the initial distribution of our shares of the type that would typically be part of an initial public offering of shares. We may be unable or slow to attract research coverage and if one or more analysts cease coverage of our company, we could lose visibility in the market. In addition, one or more of these analysts could use estimation or valuation methods that we do not agree with, downgrade our shares or issue other negative commentary about our company or our industry. As a result of one or more of these factors, the trading price of our shares could decline.

A future sale of a substantial number of shares of our common stock may cause our stock price to decline.

Any sales of substantial amounts of shares of our common stock in the public market or the perception that such sales might occur, in connection with the distribution or otherwise, may cause the market price of our common stock to decline. Upon completion of the distribution, we expect that we will have an aggregate of approximately 28.0 million shares of our common stock issued and outstanding. These shares will be freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), unless the shares are owned by one of our “affiliates,” as that term is defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act.

We are unable to predict whether large amounts of our common stock will be sold in the open market following the distribution. We are also unable to predict whether a sufficient number of buyers would be in the market at that time.

We cannot guarantee the timing, amount, or payment of dividends on our common stock in the future.

The payment and amount of any future dividend will be subject to the sole discretion of our post-distribution, independent board of directors and will depend upon many factors, including our financial condition and prospects, our capital requirements and access to capital markets, covenants associated with certain of our debt obligations, legal requirements and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant, and there can be no assurance that we will continue to pay a dividend in the future.

There may be substantial changes in CoalCo’s stockholder base.

Many investors holding ParentCo common stock may hold that stock because of a decision to invest in a company with Parent’s profile. Following the distribution, the shares of CoalCo common stock held by those investors will represent an investment in a company with a different profile. This may not be aligned with a holder’s investment strategy and may cause the holder to sell the shares. As a result, CoalCo’s stock price may decline or experience volatility as CoalCo’s stockholder base changes.

Your percentage of ownership in us may be diluted in the future.

Your percentage ownership in us may be diluted because of equity issuances for acquisitions, capital market transactions or otherwise, including, without limitation, equity awards that we may be granting to our directors, officers and employees. Such issuances may have a dilutive effect on our earnings per share, which could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

 

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Certain CoalCo employees will have rights to purchase or receive shares of CoalCo common stock after the separation as a result of the conversion of their ParentCo stock options, restricted stock units and performance share units to CoalCo stock options, restricted stock units and performance share units. The conversion of these ParentCo awards into CoalCo awards is described in further detail in the section entitled “The Separation and Distribution—Treatment of Equity-Based Compensation.” As of the date of this information statement, the exact number of share units of CoalCo common stock that will be subject to the converted CoalCo stock options, restricted stock units and performance share units is not determinable; and therefore it is not possible to determine the extent to which your percentage ownership in CoalCo could be diluted as a result of the conversion. It is anticipated that the compensation committee of the board of directors of CoalCo will grant additional equity awards to CoalCo employees and directors after the distribution, from time to time, under CoalCo’s compensation and employee benefit plans. These additional awards will have a dilutive effect on CoalCo’s earnings per share, which could adversely affect the market price of CoalCo’s common stock.

In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will authorize us to issue, without the approval of our stockholders, one or more classes or series of preferred stock having such designation, powers, preferences and relative, participating, optional and other special rights, including preferences over our common stock with respect to dividends and distributions, as our board of directors generally may determine. The terms of one or more classes or series of preferred stock could dilute the voting power or reduce the value of our common stock. For example, we could grant the holders of preferred stock the right to elect some number of our directors in all events or on the happening of specified events or to veto specified transactions. Similarly, the repurchase or redemption rights or liquidation preferences we could assign to holders of preferred stock could affect the residual value of our common stock. For more information, see “Description of CoalCo Capital Stock.”

Certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, and of Delaware law, may prevent or delay an acquisition of us, which could decrease the trading price of our common stock.

CoalCo’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated by-laws will contain, and Delaware law contains, provisions that are intended to deter coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids by making such practices or bids unacceptably expensive to the bidder and to encourage prospective acquirers to negotiate with CoalCo’s board of directors rather than to attempt a hostile takeover. These provisions include, among others:

 

   

the inability of our stockholders to act by written consent unless such written consent is unanimous;

 

   

the inability of our stockholders to call special meetings;

 

   

rules regarding how stockholders may present proposals or nominate directors for election at stockholder meetings;

 

   

the right of our board of directors to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval;

 

   

the fact that our board of directors will initially be divided into three classes; and

 

   

the ability of our directors, and not stockholders, to fill vacancies (including those resulting from an enlargement of our board of directors) on our board of directors.

In addition, following the distribution, we will be subject to Section 203 of the DGCL. Section 203 provides that, subject to limited exceptions, persons that (without prior board approval) acquire, or are affiliated with a person that acquires, more than 15% of the outstanding voting stock of a Delaware corporation shall not engage in any business combination with that corporation, including by merger, consolidation or acquisitions of additional shares, for a three-year period following the date on which that person or its affiliate becomes the holder of more than 15% of the corporation’s outstanding voting stock.

 

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We believe these provisions will protect our stockholders from coercive or otherwise unfair takeover tactics by requiring potential acquirers to negotiate with our board of directors and by providing our board of directors with more time to assess any acquisition proposal. These provisions are not intended to make us immune from takeovers. However, these provisions could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control or the removal of existing management, of deterring potential acquirers from making an offer to our stockholders and of limiting any opportunity to realize premiums over prevailing market prices for our common stock in connection therewith. This could be the case notwithstanding that a majority of our stockholders might benefit from such a change in control or offer.

In addition, an acquisition or further issuance of CoalCo’s stock could trigger the application of Section 355(e) of the Code, causing the distribution to be taxable to ParentCo. For a discussion of Section 355(e) of the Code, see “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences.” Under the tax matters agreement, CoalCo would be required to indemnify ParentCo for the resulting tax, and this indemnity obligation might discourage, delay or prevent a change of control that you may consider favorable.

Our certificate of incorporation will designate the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain an alternative judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees or agents.

Our certificate of incorporation will provide that unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, be the sole and exclusive forum for:

 

   

any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf;

 

   

any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers, employees or agents to us or our stockholders;

 

   

any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our bylaws;

 

   

any action asserting a claim that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine, in each such case subject to such Court of Chancery having personal jurisdiction over the indispensable parties named as defendants therein; or

 

   

any action asserting an internal corporate claim as defined in Section 115 of the DGCL.

Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise holding any interest in shares of our capital stock will be deemed to have notice of, and consented to, the provisions of our certificate of incorporation described in the preceding sentence. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees or agents, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and such persons. Alternatively, if a court were to find these provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions.

 

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CAUTIONARY STATEMENT CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This information statement and other materials ParentCo and CoalCo have filed or will file with the SEC contain or incorporate by reference “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. Forward-looking statements include those containing such words as “anticipates,” “believes,” “could,” “estimates,” “expects,” “forecasts,” “intends,” “may,” “outlook,” “plans,” “projects,” “seeks,” “sees,” “should,” “targets,” “will,” or other words of similar meaning. All statements that reflect CoalCo’s expectations, assumptions, or projections about the future other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding the separation and distribution, including the timing and expected benefits thereof; forecasts concerning global demand for coal, changes in coal prices and our ability to develop our existing coal reserves and successfully execute our mining plans, competition and growth opportunities for coal, and other applications; targeted financial results or operating performance; and statements about CoalCo’s strategies, outlook, and business and financial prospects. These statements reflect beliefs and assumptions that are based on CoalCo’s perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors management believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors and are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results, performance, or outcomes may differ materially from those expressed in or implied by those forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, among others:

 

   

whether the separation is completed, as expected or at all, and the timing of the separation and the distribution;

 

   

whether the conditions to the distribution are satisfied;

 

   

whether the operational, strategic and other benefits of the separation can be achieved;

 

   

whether the costs and expenses of the separation can be controlled within expectations;

 

   

deterioration in economic conditions in any of the industries in which our customers operate may decrease demand for our products, impair our ability to collect customer receivables and impair our ability to access capital;

 

   

volatility and wide fluctuation in coal prices based upon a number of factors beyond our control including oversupply relative to the demand available for our products, weather and the price and availability of alternative fuels;

 

   

an extended decline in the prices we receive for our coal affecting our operating results and cash flows;

 

   

foreign currency fluctuations that could adversely affect the competitiveness of our coal abroad;

 

   

our customers extending existing contracts or entering into new long-term contracts for coal on favorable terms;

 

   

our reliance on major customers;

 

   

our inability to collect payments from customers if their creditworthiness declines or if they fail to honor their contracts;

 

   

our inability to acquire additional coal reserves;

 

   

the availability and reliability of transportation facilities and other systems, disruption of rail, barge, gathering, processing and transportation facilities and other systems that deliver our coal to market and fluctuations in transportation costs;

 

   

a loss of our competitive position because of the competitive nature of coal industries, or a loss of our competitive position because of overcapacity in these industries impairing our profitability;

 

   

coal users switching to other fuels in order to comply with various environmental standards related to coal combustion emissions;

 

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the impact of potential, as well as any adopted environmental regulations including any relating to greenhouse gas emissions on our operating costs as well as on the market for natural coal and for our securities;

 

   

the risks inherent in coal operations, including our reliance upon third party contractors, being subject to unexpected disruptions, including geological conditions, equipment failure, delays in moving out longwall equipment, railroad derailments, security breaches or terroristic acts and other hazards, timing of completion of significant construction or repair of equipment, fires, explosions, seismic activities, accidents and weather conditions which could impact financial results;

 

   

decreases in the availability of, or increases in, the price of commodities or capital equipment used in our coal mining operations;

 

   

obtaining, maintaining and renewing governmental permits and approvals for our coal operations;

 

   

the effects of government regulation on the discharge into the water or air, and the disposal and clean-up of, hazardous substances and wastes generated during our coal operations;

 

   

the effects of stringent federal and state employee health and safety regulations, including the ability of regulators to shut down our operations;

 

   

the potential for liabilities arising from environmental contamination or alleged environmental contamination in connection with our past or current coal operations;

 

   

the effects of mine closing, reclamation and certain other liabilities;

 

   

defects in our chain of title for our undeveloped reserves or failure to acquire additional property to perfect our title to coal rights;

 

   

uncertainties in estimating our economically recoverable coal reserves;

 

   

the outcomes of various legal proceedings, including those which are more fully described herein;

 

   

exposure to employee-related long-term liabilities;

 

   

failure by Murray Energy to satisfy liabilities it acquired from ParentCo, or failure to perform its obligations under various arrangements, which ParentCo guaranteed and for which we have indemnification obligations to ParentCo;

 

   

information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss resulting from a terrorist attack or cyber incident;

 

   

operating in a single geographic area;

 

   

certain provisions in our multi-year coal sales contracts may provide limited protection during adverse economic conditions, and may result in economic penalties or permit the customer to terminate the contract;

 

   

the majority of our common units in CNX Coal Resources LP are subordinated, and we may not receive distributions from CNX Coal Resources LP;

 

   

the potential failure to retain and attract skilled personnel of CoalCo;

 

   

the impact of the separation and the distribution and risks relating to CoalCo’s ability to operate effectively as an independent, publicly-traded company, including various costs associated with operation, and any difficulties associated with enhancing our accounting systems and internal controls and complying with financial reporting requirements;

 

   

unfavorable terms in our separation from ParentCo, related agreements and other transactions and CoalCo’s agreement to provide certain indemnification to ParentCo following the separation;

 

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any failure of CoalCo’s customers, prospective customers, suppliers or other companies with whom CoalCo conducts business to be satisfied with CoalCo’s financial stability, or CoalCo’s failure to obtain any consents that may be required under existing contracts and other arrangements with third parties;

 

   

a determination by the IRS that the distribution or certain related transactions should be treated as a taxable transaction;

 

   

CoalCo’s ability to engage in desirable strategic or capital-raising transactions after the separation;

 

   

the existence of any actual or potential conflicts of interest of CoalCo’s directors or officers because of their equity ownership in GasCo;

 

   

exposure to potential liabilities arising out of state and federal fraudulent conveyance laws and legal dividend requirements as a result of the separation and related transactions;

 

   

uncertainty with respect to CoalCo common stock, including as to whether an active trading market will develop for CoalCo common stock, potential stock price volatility and future dilution;

 

   

the existence of certain anti-takeover provisions in our governance documents, which could prevent or delay an acquisition of CoalCo and negatively impact the trading price of CoalCo common stock; and

 

   

other unforeseen factors.

The above list of factors is not exhaustive or necessarily in order of importance. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include those discussed under “Risk Factors” in this information statement and in our publicly filed documents referred to in “Where You Can Find More Information.” CoalCo disclaims any intention or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether in response to new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

 

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THE SEPARATION AND DISTRIBUTION

Overview

In December 2016, ParentCo announced its intention to separate its Coal Business from its Gas Business. The separation will occur by means of a pro rata distribution to ParentCo stockholders of all of the common stock of CoalCo, which was formed to hold ParentCo’s Pennsylvania Mining Operations (PAMC) and certain related coal assets, including ParentCo’s ownership interest in CNXC, which owns a 25% stake in PAMC, the CNX Marine Terminal, the Greenfield Reserves and certain other related coal assets and liabilities (collectively, the Coal Business). The number of shares of ParentCo common stock you own will not change as a result of the separation.

In connection with such distribution, we expect that:

 

   

ParentCo will complete an internal reorganization, which we refer to as the “internal reorganization,” as a result of which CoalCo will become the parent company of the ParentCo operations comprising, and the entities that will conduct, the Coal Business;

 

   

CoalCo will change its name to CONSOL Energy Inc. and ParentCo will change its name to CNX Resources Corporation; and

 

   

CoalCo will incur approximately $800 million of indebtedness from third-party financing sources, as described further in “Description of Material Indebtedness,” a portion of which we anticipate will be distributed by CoalCo to GasCo. In addition, CoalCo intends to retain those 5.75% MEDCO Revenue Bonds due September 2025, for which the principal amount as of September 30, 2017 was $103 million, and for which GasCo will remain as a guarantor with CoalCo providing indemnification with respect to such guarantee.

On October 30, 2017, the ParentCo Board of Directors approved the distribution of all of CoalCo’s common stock to holders of ParentCo common stock as of the close of business on November 15, 2017, the record date for the distribution. At 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on November 28, 2017, the distribution date, each ParentCo stockholder will receive one share of CoalCo common stock for every eight shares of ParentCo common stock held at the close of business on the record date for the distribution, as described below. ParentCo stockholders will receive cash in lieu of any fractional shares of CoalCo common stock that they would have received after application of this ratio.

Upon completion of the separation, each ParentCo stockholder as of the record date will continue to own shares of ParentCo and will own a proportionate share of the outstanding shares of common stock of CoalCo. You will not be required to make any payment, surrender or exchange your ParentCo common stock or take any other action to receive your shares of CoalCo common stock in the distribution. The distribution of CoalCo common stock as described in this information statement is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions. For a more detailed description of these conditions, see “Conditions to the Distribution” below.

Reasons for the Separation

The ParentCo Board of Directors believes that separating its Coal Business from its Gas Business is in the best interests of ParentCo and its stockholders for a number of reasons, including:

 

   

Management Focus and Strategic Decision Making . The separation will position each company to pursue a more focused, industry-specific strategy, will create additional operational flexibility and will enable the management teams of each company to focus on strengthening its core business, operations and other needs, and pursue distinct and targeted opportunities for long-term growth and profitability.

 

   

Allocation of Financial Resources and Access to Capital . The separation will permit each company to efficiently allocate its capital to meet the unique needs of its own business, which will allow each

 

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company to intensify its focus on its distinct business priorities. The separation will also facilitate each business having a more appropriate capital structure aligned with its target capital levels and those of its peers, and is expected to increase access to capital.

 

   

Employee Retention and Incentivizing . The separation will result in each business being better positioned to recruit and retain executives and other employees with expertise that is more directly applicable to the needs of its business. Similarly, the Company believes that its efforts to drive financial and operational goals by aligning incentive programs with specific goals applicable to each business are frustrated by its continued operation of two distinct lines of business. As a result of the separation, each business will be able to articulate more defined talent requirements for potential employees, and both recruiters and applicants are expected to have a clearer understanding of the prerequisites and opportunities associated with each business. Additionally, each business will be able to communicate specifically and clearly the goals of incentive programs and how such programs are specifically tailored to and aligned with the financial and operational strategic objectives of each business in connection with recruiting and retaining employees.

 

   

Enhanced Investor Understanding, Corporate Acquisition Currencies and Equity-Based Compensation. The separation brought about by the distribution will improve understanding of each business in the capital markets and allow for a stronger, more focused investor base for each business. Moreover, the separation will create two independent equity structures, enabling each business to use its own business-focused stock as consideration in acquisitions and equity compensation programs and creating a more efficient and valuable transaction currency and compensation tool.

The ParentCo Board of Directors also considered a number of potentially negative factors in evaluating the separation, including:

 

   

Risk of Failure to Achieve Anticipated Benefits of the Separation . We may not achieve the anticipated benefits of the separation for a variety of reasons, including, among others: the separation will require significant amounts of management’s time and effort, which may divert management’s attention from operating our business; and following the separation, we may be more susceptible to market fluctuations, including fluctuations in coal prices, and other adverse events than if we were still a part of ParentCo because our business will be less diversified than ParentCo’s business prior to the completion of the separation.

 

   

Increased Administrative Costs . We will incur substantial costs in connection with the separation and the transition to being a standalone public company, which may include accounting, tax, legal and other professional services costs, recruiting and relocation costs associated with hiring key senior management personnel who are new to CoalCo, tax costs and costs to separate information systems. Due to our smaller scale as a standalone company, our cost of performing such functions could be higher than the amounts reflected in our historical financial statements, which would cause our profitability to decrease.

 

   

Limitations on Strategic Transactions . Under the terms of the tax matters agreement that we will enter into with ParentCo, we will be restricted from taking certain actions that could cause the distribution or certain related transactions to fail to qualify as tax-free transactions under applicable law. These restrictions may limit for a period of time our ability to pursue certain strategic transactions and equity issuances or engage in other transactions that might increase the value of our business.

 

   

Uncertainty Regarding Stock Prices . We cannot predict the effect of the separation on the trading prices of CoalCo or GasCo common stock or know with certainty whether the combined market value of one share of our common stock and eight shares of GasCo common stock will be less than, equal to or greater than the market value of eight shares of ParentCo common stock prior to the distribution.

 

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In determining to pursue the separation, the ParentCo Board of Directors concluded the potential benefits of the separation outweighed the foregoing factors. See the sections entitled “The Separation and Distribution—Reasons for the Separation” and “Risk Factors” included elsewhere in this information statement.

Formation of CoalCo

CoalCo was formed in Delaware on June 21, 2017 for the purpose of holding ParentCo’s Coal Business. As part of the plan to separate the Coal Business from the remainder of its businesses, in connection with the internal reorganization, ParentCo plans to transfer, or otherwise ensure the transfer of, the equity interests of certain entities, including CNXC, that are expected to operate the Coal Business and the assets and liabilities of the Coal Business to CoalCo prior to the distribution.

When and How You Will Receive the Distribution

With the assistance of Computershare Trust Company, N.A., the distribution agent for the distribution (the distribution agent or Computershare), ParentCo expects to distribute CoalCo common stock at 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on November 28, 2017, the distribution date, to all holders of outstanding ParentCo common stock as of the close of business on November 15, 2017, the record date for the distribution. Computershare, which currently serves as the transfer agent and registrar for ParentCo common stock, will serve as the settlement and distribution agent in connection with the distribution and the transfer agent and registrar for CoalCo common stock.

If you own ParentCo common stock as of the close of business on the record date for the distribution, CoalCo common stock that you are entitled to receive in the distribution will be issued electronically, as of the distribution date, to you in direct registration form or to your bank or brokerage firm on your behalf. If you are a registered holder, Computershare will then mail you a direct registration account statement that reflects your shares of CoalCo common stock. If you hold your ParentCo shares through a bank or brokerage firm, your bank or brokerage firm will credit your account for the CoalCo shares. Direct registration form refers to a method of recording share ownership when no physical share certificates are issued to stockholders, as is the case in this distribution. If you sell ParentCo common stock in the “regular-way” market up to and including the distribution date, you will be selling your right to receive shares of CoalCo common stock in the distribution.

Commencing on or shortly after the distribution date, if you hold physical share certificates that represent your ParentCo common stock and you are the registered holder of the shares represented by those certificates, the distribution agent will mail to you an account statement that indicates the number of shares of CoalCo common stock that have been registered in book-entry form in your name.

Most ParentCo stockholders hold their common stock through a bank or brokerage firm. In such cases, the bank or brokerage firm is said to hold the shares in “street name” and ownership would be recorded on the bank or brokerage firm’s books. If you hold your ParentCo common stock through a bank or brokerage firm, your bank or brokerage firm will credit your account for the CoalCo common stock that you are entitled to receive in the distribution. If you have any questions concerning the mechanics of having shares held in “street name,” please contact your bank or brokerage firm.

Transferability of Shares You Receive

Shares of CoalCo common stock distributed to holders in connection with the distribution will be transferable without registration under the Securities Act, except for shares of common stock received by persons who may be deemed to be our affiliates. Persons who may be deemed to be our affiliates after the distribution generally include individuals or entities that control, are controlled by or are under common control with us, which may include certain of our executive officers, directors or principal stockholders. Securities held by our affiliates will be subject to resale restrictions under the Securities Act. Our affiliates will be permitted to sell shares of our common stock only pursuant to an effective registration statement or an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act, such as the exemption afforded by Rule 144 under the Securities Act.

 

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Number of Shares of CoalCo Common Stock You Will Receive

For every eight shares of ParentCo common stock that you own at the close of business on November 15, 2017, the record date for the distribution, you will receive one share of CoalCo common stock on the distribution date. ParentCo will not distribute any fractional shares of CoalCo common stock to its stockholders. Instead, if you are a registered holder, Computershare will aggregate fractional shares of common stock into whole shares, sell the whole shares in the open market at prevailing market prices and distribute the aggregate cash proceeds (net of discounts and commissions) of the sales pro rata (based on the fractional share such holder would otherwise be entitled to receive) to each holder who otherwise would have been entitled to receive a fractional share in the distribution. The distribution agent, in its sole discretion, without any influence by ParentCo or CoalCo, will determine when, how, and through which broker-dealer and at what price to sell the whole shares of common stock. Any broker-dealer used by the distribution agent will not be an affiliate of either ParentCo or CoalCo and the distribution agent is not an affiliate of either ParentCo or CoalCo. Neither CoalCo nor ParentCo will be able to guarantee any minimum sale price in connection with the sale of these shares. Recipients of cash in lieu of fractional shares will not be entitled to any interest on the amounts of payment made in lieu of fractional shares.

The net cash proceeds of these sales of fractional shares will be taxable for U.S. federal income tax purposes. See “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences” for an explanation of the material U.S. federal income tax consequences of the distribution. If you hold physical certificates for shares of ParentCo common stock and are the registered holder, you will receive a check from the distribution agent in an amount equal to your pro rata share of the net cash proceeds of the sales. We estimate that it will take approximately two weeks from the distribution date for the distribution agent to complete the distributions of the net cash proceeds. If you hold your shares of ParentCo common stock through a bank or brokerage firm, your bank or brokerage firm will receive, on your behalf, your pro rata share of the net cash proceeds of the sales and will electronically credit your account for your share of such proceeds.

Treatment of Equity-Based Compensation

In connection with the separation, equity-based awards granted by ParentCo prior to the separation are expected to be treated as described below, except as otherwise set forth in “Compensation Discussion and Analysis – Subsequent Events” with respect to certain unvested equity awards of Messrs. Brock and Salvatori and certain other employees of CoalCo. As of the separation, these awards will be held by (i) current employees of CoalCo and its subsidiaries (CoalCo Employees), (ii) current employees of GasCo and its subsidiaries (GasCo Employees), (iii) certain former employees classified as former employees of either CoalCo or GasCo for purposes of post-separation compensation and benefits matters (Former Employees), and (iv) nonemployee directors of GasCo (GasCo Nonemployee Directors) and nonemployee directors of CoalCo (CoalCo Nonemployee Directors).

Stock Options

Stock Options Held by GasCo Employees, CoalCo Employees, GasCo Nonemployee Directors, CoalCo Nonemployee Directors and Former Employees. Each outstanding award of ParentCo stock options will continue to relate to GasCo common stock following the separation, provided that the exercise price of, and number of shares subject to, each such award will be adjusted in a manner intended to preserve the aggregate intrinsic value of the original ParentCo stock option award, subject to rounding. The adjusted GasCo stock option award will otherwise continue to have the same terms and conditions that applied to the original ParentCo award prior to the separation.

Restricted Share Units (RSUs)

RSUs Held by CoalCo Employees and CoalCo Nonemployee Directors . Outstanding RSU awards originally granted in 2015 and held by CoalCo employees who have been designated as Grades 14 and lower will

 

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automatically vest three days prior to the record date, assuming approval from the compensation committee of ParentCo (the ParentCo Compensation Committee). All other outstanding RSU awards originally granted in 2015 and held by CoalCo Employees or CoalCo Nonemployee Directors will be converted into RSU awards with respect to CoalCo common stock. The number of shares subject to each such award will be adjusted in a manner intended to preserve the aggregate intrinsic value of the original ParentCo award, subject to rounding. Such adjusted award will otherwise continue to have the same terms and conditions that applied to the original ParentCo award prior to the separation. Any outstanding ParentCo RSU awards that contain early vesting provisions originally based on ParentCo common stock reaching a predetermined price will be equitably adjusted based on CoalCo’s stock price following the separation.

RSUs Held by GasCo Employees, GasCo Nonemployee Directors and Former Employees (CoalCo and GasCo). Each outstanding RSU award held by a GasCo Employee, GasCo Nonemployee Director, CoalCo Nonemployee Director and/or Former Employee will continue to relate to GasCo common stock following the separation, provided that the number of shares subject to each such award will be adjusted in a manner intended to preserve the aggregate intrinsic value of the original ParentCo award, subject to rounding. Such adjusted award will otherwise continue to have the same terms and conditions that applied to the original ParentCo award prior to the separation. Any outstanding ParentCo RSU awards that contain early vesting provisions originally based on ParentCo common stock reaching a predetermined price will be equitably adjusted based on GasCo’s stock price following the separation.

Performance Share Units (PSUs)

PSUs Held by CoalCo Employees. Each outstanding ParentCo PSU Award held by a CoalCo Employee will be converted into a PSU Award with respect to CoalCo common stock following the separation. The number of shares subject to each such award will be adjusted in a manner intended to preserve the aggregate intrinsic value of the original ParentCo award, subject to rounding. Further, the relevant performance conditions applicable for the vesting of any such PSU Award (i) will be equitably adjusted following the separation to address the impact of the separation on said conditions for 2017 and (ii) for annual periods after 2017 will be adjusted to reflect CoalCo performance measurements. Such adjusted award will otherwise continue to have the same terms and conditions that applied to the original ParentCo award prior to the separation.

PSUs Held by GasCo Employees and Former Employees . Each outstanding PSU award held by a GasCo Employee or Former Employee will relate to GasCo common stock following the separation, provided that the number of shares subject to each such award will be adjusted in a manner intended to preserve the aggregate intrinsic value of the original ParentCo award, subject to rounding. Further, the relevant performance conditions applicable for the vesting of any such PSU Award (i) may be equitably adjusted to address the impact of the separation on said conditions and (ii) for annual periods after 2017, may be adjusted to reflect GasCo performance metrics. Such adjusted award will otherwise continue to have the same terms and conditions that applied to the original ParentCo award prior to the separation.

Internal Reorganization

As part of the separation, and prior to the distribution, ParentCo and its subsidiaries expect to complete an internal reorganization in order to transfer to CoalCo the Coal Business that it will hold following the separation. Among other things and subject to limited exceptions, the internal reorganization is expected to result in CoalCo owning, directly or indirectly, the operations comprising, and the entities that conduct, the Coal Business.

The internal reorganization is expected to include various restructuring transactions pursuant to which (i) the operations, assets and liabilities of ParentCo and its subsidiaries used to conduct the Coal Business will be separated from the operations, assets and liabilities of ParentCo and its subsidiaries used to conduct the Gas Business and (ii) such Coal Business operations, assets and liabilities and investments will be contributed, transferred, or otherwise allocated to CoalCo or one of its direct or indirect subsidiaries. Such restructuring

 

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transactions may take the form of asset transfers, mergers, demergers, divisions, conversions, dividends, contributions and similar transactions, and may involve the formation of new domestic subsidiaries to own and operate the Coal Business or the Gas Business.

As part of this internal reorganization, ParentCo will contribute to CoalCo certain assets, including equity interests in entities that are expected to conduct the Coal Business.

Following the completion of the internal reorganization and immediately prior to the distribution, CoalCo will be the parent company of the entities that will conduct the Coal Business, and ParentCo (through subsidiaries other than CoalCo and its subsidiaries) will remain the parent company of the entities that are expected to conduct the Gas Business.

Results of the Distribution

After the distribution, CoalCo will be an independent, publicly traded company. The actual number of shares to be distributed will be determined at the close of business on November 15, 2017, the record date for the distribution, and will reflect any exercise of ParentCo options or vesting of other equity-based awards between the date the ParentCo Board of Directors declares the distribution and the record date for the distribution. The distribution will not affect the number of outstanding shares of ParentCo common stock or any rights of ParentCo stockholders. ParentCo will not distribute any fractional shares of CoalCo common stock.

We will enter into a separation agreement and other related agreements with ParentCo, and amend or modify, or otherwise retain unchanged, currently existing agreements between ParentCo and CNXC, before the distribution to effect the separation and provide a framework for our relationship with GasCo after the separation. These agreements will provide for the allocation between GasCo and CoalCo of ParentCo’s assets, liabilities and obligations (including employee benefits, intellectual property, and tax-related assets and liabilities) attributable to periods prior to CoalCo’s separation from ParentCo and will govern the relationship between GasCo and CoalCo after the separation. For a more detailed description of these agreements, see “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”

Market for CoalCo Common Stock

There is currently no public trading market for CoalCo common stock. CoalCo intends to apply to list its common stock on the NYSE under the symbol “CEIX.” CoalCo has not and will not set the initial price of its common stock. The initial price will be established by the public markets.

We cannot predict the price at which CoalCo common stock will trade after the distribution. In fact, the combined trading prices, after the distribution, of the shares of CoalCo common stock that each ParentCo stockholder will receive in the distribution and the ParentCo common stock held at the record date for the distribution may not equal the “regular-way” trading price of the ParentCo common stock immediately prior to the distribution. The price at which CoalCo common stock trades may fluctuate significantly, particularly until an orderly public market develops. Trading prices for CoalCo common stock will be determined in the public markets and may be influenced by many factors. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Common Stock and the Securities Market.”

Incurrence of Debt

CoalCo intends to incur certain indebtedness prior to or concurrent with the separation. Subject to market conditions and other factors, prior to or concurrent with the separation, CoalCo intends to secure new borrowings from third-party financing sources, including new term loan facilities. CoalCo has undertaken a secured notes offering, a portion of the proceeds of which we anticipate will be distributed to GasCo. CoalCo anticipates

 

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that the remainder of the proceeds of the new term loan facilities will be used to fund a loan to CNXC in order to repay and terminate CNXC’s existing revolving credit facility and for general corporate purposes. CoalCo also expects to enter into a new revolving credit facility with borrowing capacity of $300 million and an accounts receivable securitization facility with borrowing capacity of approximately $100 million. In addition, CoalCo intends to retain those 5.75% MEDCO Revenue Bonds due September 2025, for which the principal amount as of September 30, 2017 was $103 million, and for which GasCo will remain as a guarantor with CoalCo providing indemnification with respect to such guarantee. ParentCo’s existing senior unsecured notes are expected to remain an obligation of GasCo after the separation, except to the extent that GasCo uses funds received by it from CoalCo to repay existing indebtedness. For more information, see “Description of Material Indebtedness.”

Trading Between the Record Date and Distribution Date

Beginning on or shortly before the record date for the distribution and continuing up to and including through the distribution date, ParentCo expects that there will be two markets in ParentCo common stock: a “regular-way” market and an “ex-distribution” market. ParentCo common stock that trades on the “regular-way” market will trade with an entitlement to CoalCo common stock distributed in the distribution. ParentCo common stock that trades on the “ex-distribution” market will trade without an entitlement to CoalCo common stock distributed in the distribution. Therefore, if you sell shares of ParentCo common stock in the “regular-way” market up to and including through the distribution date, you will be selling your right to receive shares of CoalCo common stock in the distribution. If you own ParentCo common stock at the close of business on the record date and sell those shares on the “ex-distribution” market up to and including through the distribution date, you will receive the shares of CoalCo common stock that you are entitled to receive pursuant to your ownership of shares of ParentCo common stock as of the record date.

Furthermore, beginning on or shortly before the record date for the distribution and continuing up to and including the distribution date, CoalCo expects that there will be a “when-issued” market in its common stock. “When-issued” trading refers to a sale or purchase made conditionally because the security has been authorized but not yet issued. The “when-issued” trading market will be a market for CoalCo common stock that will be distributed to holders of ParentCo common stock on the distribution date. If you owned ParentCo common stock at the close of business on the record date for the distribution, you would be entitled to CoalCo common stock distributed pursuant to the distribution. You may trade this entitlement to shares of CoalCo common stock, without trading the ParentCo common stock you own, on the “when-issued” market. On the first trading day following the distribution date, “when-issued” trading with respect to CoalCo common stock will end, and “regular-way” trading will begin.

Conditions to the Distribution

The distribution will be effective at 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on November 28, 2017, which is the distribution date, provided that the conditions set forth in the separation agreement have been satisfied (or waived by ParentCo in its sole and absolute discretion), including, among others:

 

   

the SEC declaring effective the registration statement of which this information statement forms a part; there being no order suspending the effectiveness of the registration statement in effect; and no proceedings for such purposes having been instituted or threatened by the SEC;

 

   

the mailing of a notice of Internet availability of this information statement or this information statement to ParentCo stockholders;

 

   

the receipt by ParentCo of a private letter ruling from the IRS, which was received on October 16, 2017, and one or more opinions of its tax advisors, in each case satisfactory to the ParentCo Board of Directors, regarding certain U.S. federal income tax matters relating to the separation and distribution, including, with respect to the opinion of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, to the effect that the distribution will be a transaction described in Section 355(a) of the Code;

 

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the internal reorganization having been completed and the transfer of assets and liabilities of the Coal Business from ParentCo to CoalCo, and the transfer of assets and liabilities of the Gas Business from CoalCo to ParentCo, having been completed in accordance with the separation and distribution agreement;

 

   

the receipt of one or more opinions from an independent appraisal firm to the ParentCo Board of Directors as to the solvency of ParentCo and CoalCo after the completion of the distribution, in each case in a form and substance acceptable to the ParentCo Board of Directors in its sole and absolute discretion;

 

   

all actions necessary or appropriate under applicable U.S. federal, state or other securities or blue sky laws and the rule and regulations thereunder having been taken or made and, where applicable, having become effective or been accepted;

 

   

the execution of certain agreements contemplated by the separation and distribution agreement;

 

   

no order, injunction or decree issued by any government authority of competent jurisdiction or other legal restraint or prohibition preventing the consummation of the separation, the distribution or any of the related transactions being in effect;

 

   

the shares of CoalCo common stock to be distributed each having been accepted for listing on the NYSE, subject to official notice of distribution;

 

   

CoalCo having entered into the financing arrangements described under “Description of Material Indebtedness” and ParentCo being satisfied in its sole and absolute discretion that, as of the effective time of the distribution, it will have no further liability under such arrangements;

 

   

ParentCo having received $425 million from CoalCo; and

 

   

no other event or development existing or having occurred that, in the judgment of ParentCo’s Board of Directors, in its sole and absolute discretion, makes it inadvisable to effect the separation, the distribution and the other related transactions.

ParentCo will have the sole and absolute discretion to determine (and change) the terms of, and whether to proceed with, the distribution and, to the extent it determines to so proceed, to determine the record date for the distribution and the distribution date, and the distribution ratio for CoalCo common stock. ParentCo will also have sole and absolute discretion to waive any of the conditions to the distribution. ParentCo does not intend to notify its stockholders of any modifications to the terms of the separation or distribution that, in the judgment of its Board of Directors, are not material. For example, the ParentCo Board of Directors might consider material such matters as significant changes to the distribution ratio and the assets to be contributed or the liabilities to be assumed in the separation. To the extent that the ParentCo Board of Directors determines that any modifications by ParentCo materially change the material terms of the distribution, ParentCo will notify ParentCo stockholders in a manner reasonably calculated to inform them about the modification as may be required by law, by, for example, publishing a press release, filing a current report on Form 8-K or circulating a supplement to this information statement.

 

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DIVIDEND POLICY

The payment of any dividends in the future, and the timing and amount thereof, is within the discretion of CoalCo’s Board of Directors. The Board of Directors’ decision regarding the payment of dividends will depend on many factors, such as our financial condition, earnings, capital requirements, debt service obligations, restrictive covenants in any existing debt facilities, industry practice, legal requirements, regulatory constraints and other factors that our Board of Directors deems relevant. Our ability to pay dividends will depend on our ongoing ability to generate cash from operations and on our access to the capital markets. We cannot guarantee that we will pay a dividend in the future or continue to pay any dividends if and when we commence paying dividends.

CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth our capitalization as of June 30, 2017 on a historical basis and on a pro forma basis to give effect to the pro forma adjustments included in our unaudited pro forma financial information. The information below is preliminary and is not necessarily indicative of what our capitalization would have been had the separation, distribution and related financing transactions been completed as of June 30, 2017. In addition, it is not indicative of our future capitalization. This table should be read in conjunction with “Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Statements,” “Selected Historical Combined Financial Data,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and our combined financial statements and notes included in the “Index to Financial Statements” section of this information statement.

 

     June 30, 2017
     Actual   Pro Forma
As Adjusted
 
     (Amounts in thousands)

Cash and cash equivalents

   $ 6,739     $ 152,739  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Debt(1):

    

New Revolving Credit Facility(2)

            

AR Securitization Facility(2)

            

Term Loan A Facility

           100,000  

Term Loan B Facility

           400,000  

MEDCO Revenue Bonds

     102,865       102,865  

Senior Secured Notes(3)

           300,000  

CNXC Revolving Credit Facility(4)

     190,000        

Capital lease obligations (including current maturities)(5)

     13,473       13,575  

Miscellaneous Debt

     2,678       2,678  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Debt

     309,016       919,118  

Parent net investment / stockholders’ equity

    

Common stock, par value $0.01 per share

           280  

Additional paid-in capital

           628,316  

Parent net investment

     1,077,558        

Accumulated other comprehensive loss

     (393,471     (393,471
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total parent net investment, stockholder equity and other comprehensive loss

     684,087       235,125  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Noncontrolling interest

     142,210       142,210  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total equity

     826,297       377,335  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total capitalization

   $ 1,135,313     $ 1,296,453  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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(1)

Actual and pro forma as adjusted amounts reflected before netting associated debt issuance costs and original issuance discount.

 

(2)

CoalCo anticipates that, upon the time of separation, it will have no outstanding borrowings under the New Revolving Credit Facility or AR Securitization Facility.

 

(3)

Assumes notes are issued at par.

 

(4)

On the date of separation, CoalCo anticipates entering into an intercompany loan with CNXC to provide a working capital facility previously provided by the CNXC Revolver.

 

(5)

Increases in capital leases related to vehicle leases associated with certain personnel becoming CoalCo employees in connection with the separation.

 

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SELECTED HISTORICAL COMBINED FINANCIAL DATA

The following table presents the selected historical combined financial data for CoalCo, which we derived from our unaudited Combined Financial Statements and our audited Combined Financial Statements, which are included in the “Index to Financial Statements” section of this information statement.

The historical results do not necessarily indicate the results expected for any future period. To ensure a full understanding, you should read the selected historical combined financial data presented below in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the combined financial statements and accompanying notes included elsewhere in this information statement.

 

    Six Months
Ended June 30,
    Year Ended December 31,  
    2017     2016     2016     2015     2014     2013     2012  
    (Unaudited)     (Unaudited)                                
(dollars in thousands)                                          

Statement of Income

Information:

Coal Sales

  $ 620,155     $ 476,726     $ 1,065,582     $ 1,289,036     $ 1,616,874     $ 1,357,319     $ 1,323,679  

Other Outside Sales:

    27,742       15,767       31,464       30,967       41,255       43,364       57,345  

Freight Revenue

    30,045       24,557       46,468       20,499       23,133       17,778       50,901  

Miscellaneous Other Income

    32,794       36,133       82,120       68,193       123,604       61,034       62,533  

Gain on Sale of Assets

    13,536       3,904       5,228       13,025       26,312       46,404       29,655  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total Revenue and Other Income

    724,272       557,087       1,230,862       1,421,720       1,831,178       1,525,899       1,524,113  

Net Income:

    98,690       22,785       50,450       317,421       290,952       313,773       367,959  

Net Income Attributable to CONSOL Mining Corporation Shareholder

    88,913       20,492       41,496       307,011       290,952       313,773       367,959  

Balance Sheet Data (at period end):

         

Total assets

  $ 2,626,610     $ 2,758,170     $ 2,687,434     $ 2,867,733     $ 3,092,374     $ 3,156,312     $ 3,104,767  

Total long-term debt

  $ 301,548     $ 299,629     $ 313,639     $ 286,526     $ 110,199     $ 108,332     $ 109,272  

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED COMBINED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

The Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Statements presented below have been derived from CoalCo’s historical combined financial statements included in this information statement. While the historical combined financial statements reflect the past financial results of the Coal Business, these pro forma statements give effect to the separation of that business into an independent, publicly traded company, as described under “Summary—The Separation and Distribution.”

The Unaudited Pro Forma Statements of Income for the year ended December 31, 2016 and the six months ended June 30, 2017 have been prepared as though the spin-off occurred on January 1, 2016. The Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Balance Sheet at June 30, 2017 has been prepared as though the spin-off occurred on June 30, 2017. The Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Statements are for illustrative purposes only, and do not reflect what our financial position and results of operations would have been had the separation occurred on the dates indicated and are not necessarily indicative of our future financial position and future results of operations.

The unaudited pro forma adjustments are based on available information and assumptions our management believes are reasonable; however, such adjustments are estimates and may not prove to be accurate. The

 

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Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Statements have been derived from our historical combined financial statements included in this information statement and include certain adjustments to give effect to events that are (i) directly attributable to the spin-off and related transaction agreements, (ii) factually supportable, and (iii) with respect to the statements of income, expected to have a continuing impact on CoalCo.

The pro forma adjustments to reflect the separation include:

 

   

The tax-free distribution, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, of shares of our common stock to ParentCo stockholders, at a ratio of one share of our common stock for every eight ParentCo common shares outstanding as of the record date for the distribution, and the resulting elimination of CoalCo’s historical parent net investment;

 

   

the effect of our anticipated post-separation capital structure, which includes the issuance of approximately $800 million of additional indebtedness as described in this information statement;

 

   

the distribution of $425 million to ParentCo;

 

   

the transfers of certain corporate and other assets and liabilities comprising the Coal Business between us and ParentCo; and

 

   

the impact of, and transactions contemplated by, the separation and distribution agreement, including the transition services agreement, tax matters agreement, employee matters agreement, intellectual property matters agreement and other agreements between us and ParentCo and the provisions contained therein.

Historically, ParentCo has charged its operating subsidiaries for various corporate costs incurred in the operation of the business. These costs may not be representative, either positively or negatively, of the future costs we will incur as an independent, public company. Effective with the separation, we will assume responsibility for all corporate functions and related costs. Certain of these activities will continue to be performed by ParentCo under a transition service agreement for a limited period of time. We will incur incremental costs as an independent public company, including costs to replace services previously provided by ParentCo, as well as other stand-alone costs. Due to the scope and complexity of these activities, the amount and timing of these incremental costs could vary and, therefore, are not included as adjustments within the Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Statements.

As part of our transition to being a stand-alone public company we will incur separation costs related to the following:

 

   

finance, tax and other professional costs pertaining to the spin-off and establishing us as a stand-alone public company;

 

   

costs to separate our information systems from ParentCo; and

 

   

other separation costs.

We have not adjusted the accompanying unaudited pro forma condensed combined statements of income for these estimated separation costs as the costs are not expected to have an ongoing effect on our operating results.

Due to the scope and complexity of these activities, the amount of these costs could increase or decrease materially and the timing of incurrence could change.

As a result of the separation and distribution, we will become subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We will be required to establish procedures and practices as a standalone public company in order to comply with our obligations under those laws and the related rules and regulations. Any change in costs or expenses associated with operating as a standalone company would constitute projected amounts based on estimates and, therefore, are not factually supportable; as such, the Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Statements have not been adjusted for any such estimated changes.

 

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The Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with our historical combined financial statements, “Capitalization” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included elsewhere in this information statement. The Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Statements constitute forward-looking information and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. See “Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements” included elsewhere in this information statement.

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED COMBINED STATEMENT OF INCOME

SIX MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30, 2017

(Dollars in Thousands)

 

    Historical
Predecessor
    Pro Forma Adjustments           Total
Pro Forma
       
      Financing
Adjustments
          Spin-Off
Adjustments
               

Revenue and Other Income:

             

Coal Sales

  $     620,155     $     —       $       $     620,155    

Other Outside Sales

    27,742                       27,742    

Freight Revenue

    30,045                       30,045    

Miscellaneous Other Income

    32,794                   (6,438     (b)       26,356    

Gain on Sale of Assets

    13,536                       13,536    
 

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

   

Total Revenue and Other Income

    724,272               (6,438       717,834    

Costs and Expenses:

             

Operating and Other Costs

    452,876               (756     (b)       452,120    

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

    78,261               242       (b)       78,503    

Freight Expense

    30,045                       30,045    

Selling, General, and Administrative Costs

    37,417                       37,417    

Interest Expense

    7,966       33,233       (f)               41,199    
 

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

   

Total Costs And Expenses

    606,565       33,233         (514       639,284    

Earnings Before Income Tax

    117,707       (33,233       (5,924       78,550    

Income Tax

    19,017       (12,845     (g)       (2,289     (g)       3,883    
 

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

   

Net Income

    98,690       (20,388       (3,635       74,667    

Less: Net Income Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest

    9,777                       9,777    
 

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

   
Net Income Attributable to CONSOL Mining Corporation Shareholder   $ 88,913     $     (20,388     $ (3,635     $ 64,890    
 

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

   

Net Income per Share:

             

Basic and Diluted

            $ 2.31       (h

Weighted Average Shares Outstanding:

             

Basic and Diluted

              28,046,220       (h

 

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UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED COMBINED STATEMENT OF INCOME

YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2016

(Dollars in Thousands)

 

            Pro Forma Adjustments               
     Historical
Predecessor
     Financing
Adjustments
           Spin-Off
Adjustments
           Total
Pro Forma
 

Revenue and Other Income:

               

Coal Sales

   $     1,065,582      $     —        $        $     1,065,582  

Other Outside Sales

     31,464                          31,464  

Freight Revenue

     46,468                          46,468  

Miscellaneous Other Income

     82,120                     (9,306     (b)        72,814  

Gain on Sale of Assets

     5,228                          5,228  
  

 

 

    

 

 

      

 

 

      

 

 

 

Total Revenue and Other Income

     1,230,862                 (9,306        1,221,556  

Costs and Expenses:

               

Operating and Other Costs

     877,177                 (1,164     (b)        876,013  

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     178,122                 439       (b)        178,561  

Freight Expense

     46,468                          46,468  

Selling, General, and Administrative Costs

     50,027                 17       (b)        50,044  

Interest Expense

     14,053        67,365       (f)                 81,418  
  

 

 

    

 

 

      

 

 

      

 

 

 

Total Costs And Expenses

     1,165,847        67,365          (708        1,232,504  

Earnings Before Income Tax

     65,015        (67,365        (8,598        (10,948

Income Tax

     14,565        (26,037     (g)        (3,323     (g)        (14,795
  

 

 

    

 

 

      

 

 

      

 

 

 

Net Income

     50,450        (41,328        (5,275        3,847  

Less: Net Income Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest

     8,954                          8,954  
  

 

 

    

 

 

      

 

 

      

 

 

 

Net Income Attributable to CONSOL Mining Corporation Shareholder

   $ 41,496      $ (41,328      $ (5,275      $ (5,107
  

 

 

    

 

 

      

 

 

      

 

 

 

Net Income per Share:

               

Basic and Diluted

                $ (0.18 )(h) 

Weighted Average Shares Outstanding:

               

Basic and Diluted

                  28,046,220  (h) 

 

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Table of Contents

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED COMBINED BALANCE SHEET

AS OF JUNE 30, 2017

(Dollars in Thousands)

 

    Historical
Predecessor
    Pro Forma Adjustments   Total
Pro Forma
 
      Financing
Adjustments
        Spin-Off
Adjustments
       

ASSETS

           

Current Assets:

           

Cash and Cash Equivalents

  $ 6,739     $ 146,000     (a)(d)   $       $ 152,739  

Trade Accounts Receivable

    107,028                       107,028  

Other Receivables

    17,445               2,835     (b)     20,280  

Other Receivables - Related Party

    32                       32  

Inventories

    60,286                       60,286  

Prepaid Expenses

    12,364               (44   (b)     12,320  
 

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Current Assets

    203,894       146,000         2,791         352,685  

Property, Plant and Equipment:

           

Property, Plant and Equipment

    4,613,940               (11,626   (b)     4,602,314  

Less—Accumulated Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

    2,495,546               3,935     (b)     2,499,481  
 

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Property, Plant and Equipment—Net

    2,118,394               (15,561       2,102,833  

Other Assets:

           

Other Assets

    111,759       7,000     (a)     14,965     (b)     133,724  

Deferred Tax Asset

    192,563                       192,563  
 

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Other Assets

    304,322       7,000         14,965         326,287  
 

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

TOTAL ASSETS

  $ 2,626,610     $ 153,000       $ 2,195       $ 2,781,805  
 

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

LIABILITIES AND EQUITY

           

Current Liabilities:

           

Accounts Payable

  $ 72,263     $       $ 327     (b)   $ 72,590  

Current Portion of Long-Term Debt

    3,643               54     (b)     3,697  

Other Accrued Liabilities

    283,393               6,278     (b)     295,359  
          5,688     (c)  
 

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Current Liabilities

    359,299               12,347         371,646  

Long-Term Debt:

           

Long-Term Debt

    291,344       580,708     (a)             872,052  

Capital Lease Obligations

    10,204               48     (b)     10,252  
 

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Long-Term Debt

    301,548       580,708         48         882,304  

Deferred Credits and Other Liabilities:

           

Postretirement Benefits Other Than Pensions

    652,206                       652,206  

Pneumoconiosis Benefits

    107,321                       107,321  

Asset Retirement Obligations

    228,576               139     (b)     228,715  

Workers’ Compensation

    64,689                       64,689  

Salary Retirement

    72,529                       72,529  

Other

    14,145               10,915     (b)     25,060  
 

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Deferred Credits and Other Liabilities

    1,139,466               11,054         1,150,520  
 

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

TOTAL LIABILITIES

    1,800,313       580,708         23,449         2,404,470  

Equity:

           

Common stock, par value $0.01 per share

                  280     (e)     280  

Additional paid-in capital

                  628,316     (e)     628,316  

Parent Net Investment

    1,077,558       (427,708   (a)(d)     (644,162   (b)(e)      
          (5,688   (c)  

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income

    (393,471                     (393,471
 

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Parent Net Investment and Other Comprehensive Income

    684,087       (427,708       (21,254       235,125  

Noncontrolling Interest

    142,210                       142,210  
 

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

TOTAL EQUITY

    826,297       (427,708       (21,254       377,335  
 

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY

  $ 2,626,610     $ 153,000       $ 2,195       $ 2,781,805  
 

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

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Note 1: Basis of Pro Forma Presentation

In December 2016, ParentCo announced its intention to separate into two independent, publicly traded companies: a coal company and a natural gas exploration and production (E&P) company. The coal company will include our PAMC, our ownership interest in CNXC, our marine terminal at the Port of Baltimore, our undeveloped coal reserves located in the Northern Appalachian, Central Appalachian and Illinois basins and certain related coal assets and liabilities (collectively, the Coal Business). CoalCo was formed in Delaware on June 21, 2017 for the purpose of holding ParentCo’s Coal Business. The spin-off transaction, which is expected to be tax-free to ParentCo stockholders, will be effected through a pro rata distribution of our stock to existing ParentCo stockholders. Immediately following the distribution, ParentCo stockholders will own 100 percent of the outstanding shares of our common stock. After the spin-off, we will operate as an independent, publicly traded company. Unless otherwise indicated or except where the context otherwise requires, references to “we,” “us” or “our” refer to CONSOL Mining Corporation, which will be renamed CONSOL Energy Inc., in connection with the separation. ParentCo will be renamed CNX Resources Corporation in connection with the separation.

In connection with the spin-off, among other things, we intend to consummate the financing transactions as described in more detail in Note 2: The Spin-Off Transactions, below.

The Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Statements are based on our historical combined financial statements, which are included elsewhere in this information statement, and have been prepared to reflect the spin-off and related transactions, including the incurrence of indebtedness of approximately $800 million represented by the notes and borrowings under our new senior secured credit facilities. The unaudited pro forma adjustments are based on preliminary estimates, accounting judgments and currently available information and assumptions that management believes are reasonable. These adjustments are included only to the extent they are directly attributable to the spinoff and related transactions and the appropriate information is known and factually supportable.

Note 2: The Spin-Off Transactions

The Spin-Off

In connection with the spin-off, ParentCo will undergo an internal reorganization so as to facilitate, at the time of the separation, the transfer to us of certain employees, operations, assets and liabilities associated with ParentCo’s coal operations and certain other current and former businesses and activities of ParentCo. In addition, at the time of separation we will transfer certain assets and liabilities to ParentCo mainly related to certain royalties, receivables and promissory notes that will not be conveyed to CoalCo in connection with the separation.

Financing Transactions

In connection with the spin-off, we expect to complete certain financing transactions on or prior to the completion of the spin-off, including the repayment of certain existing indebtedness (Financing Transactions).

 

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The following tables summarize the anticipated sources and expected uses of proceeds in connection with the Financing Transactions, as if they had occurred as of June 30, 2017. The actual amounts set forth in the table and in the accompanying footnotes are subject to adjustment and may differ at the time of the consummation of the Financing Transactions depending on several factors, including, among others, fluctuations in indebtedness between June 30, 2017 and the actual closing dates of the Financing Transactions, payments of accrued interest subsequent to June 30, 2017, and differences from our estimated fees and expenses.

 

Sources

   Amount 
(in thousands)
    

Uses

   Amount 
(in thousands)
 

New TLA Facility

   $ 100,000     

Repay CNXC Revolver

   $ 190,000  

New TLB Facility

     400,000     

Cash transfer to ParentCo(1)

     425,000  

New Notes

     300,000     

Fees, costs and expenses(1)

     39,000  
     

Cash to balance sheet(1)(2)

     146,000  
  

 

 

       

 

 

 

Total Sources

   $ 800,000      Total Uses    $ 800,000  
  

 

 

       

 

 

 

 

(1)

Subject to adjustment based on final relevant financing fees and expenses.

 

(2)

To be used for general corporate purposes.

Note 3: Pro Forma Adjustments

(a) To reflect the $190 million repayment of the CNXC Revolver, the write-off of $2.7 million of deferred financing fees associated with the CNXC Revolver and the entrance into the following debt agreements in connection with the spin-off:

(i) $100 million Term Loan A Facility (TLA Facility) with a four year maturity;

(ii) $400 million Term Loan B Facility (TLB Facility) with a five year maturity including a 2% original issuance discount;

(iii) $300 million revolving credit facility (Revolving Credit Facility) with a four year maturity, of which no amounts are expected to be outstanding as of the date of the separation;

(iv) $300 million second lien secured notes (Notes) with an eight year maturity; and

(v) a $100 million anticipated accounts receivable securitization facility (the AR Securitization Facility), of which no amounts are expected to be outstanding at the date of the separation.

Deferred financing fees associated with the TLA Facility, the TLB Facility, the new Revolving Credit Facility, AR Securitization Facility and the Notes were $7 million, $8.5 million, $6 million, $1 million and $8.5 million, respectively, and will be amortized over the respective terms of the agreements.

(b) In connection with the spin-off, ParentCo will transfer certain corporate and other assets and liabilities to us, including certain property, plant and equipment, and certain guarantees of ParentCo. In addition, we will transfer certain assets and liabilities to ParentCo mainly related to certain surface acres, royalties, receivables, accrued property taxes and promissory notes that will not be conveyed to or retained by CoalCo in connection with the separation. The revenues and expenses associated with the transfer of these assets and liabilities between CoalCo and ParentCo have been adjusted on the Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Statements.

The separation and distribution, tax matters, transition services, employee matters and indemnification agreements have not been finalized, and the pro forma statements will be revised in future amendments to reflect the impact of those agreements, to the extent they are deemed material.

(c) Reflects the accrual of $5.7 million of transaction costs attributable to the separation and distribution transaction that are not already included in accrued expenses as of June 30, 2017. These are factually supportable because such amounts are based on reliable, documented evidence such as invoices for costs incurred to date and estimates from third-parties for additional costs to be incurred in connection with the spin-off. Such costs are

 

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non-recurring in nature and directly related to the separation and, therefore, are reflected as a reduction to equity and not included in the unaudited pro forma condensed combined statements of income.

(d) To reflect the transfer of $425 million to ParentCo with the proceeds from the debt agreements discussed in (a).

(e) Reflects the elimination of net parent investment as a result of the anticipated post-separation capital structure. Upon the consummation of the separation and distribution, net parent investment will be eliminated and the newly issued equity will be allocated between common stock and additional paid-in-capital based on the number of shares of CoalCo common stock outstanding at the distribution date.

(f) To reflect the adjustment to interest expense, including the amortization of deferred financing fees associated with the new indebtedness to be entered into in connection with the closing of the spin-off and related transactions.

 

     For the
Six Months Ended
June 30, 2017
    For the
Year Ended
December 31, 2016
 

Elimination of historical interest expense – CNXC Revolver

   $ (4,961   $ (9,023

Commitment fees on Revolving Credit Facility and AR Securitization Facility

     1,050       2,100  

Interest on TLA Facility (1)

     2,875       5,750  

Interest on TLB Facility (1)

     14,500       29,000  

Interest on Notes (1)

     16,500       33,000  

Amortization of deferred financing fees – TLA Facility

     875       1,750  

Amortization of deferred financing fees – TLB Facility

     850       1,700  

Amortization of original issuance discount – TLB Facility

     138       275  

Amortization of deferred financing fees – Notes

     531       1,063  

Amortization of deferred financing fees – Revolving Credit Facility and AR Securitization Facility

     875       1,750  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total pro forma interest expense

   $ 33,233     $ 67,365  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

(1)

The adjustments to record interest expense for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and the year ended December 31, 2016 are estimated based off the terms of the debt agreements described in Note 3(a) above. The adjustments to record interest expense for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and the year ended December 31, 2016 are estimated by assuming interest rates of 5.75%, 7.25% and 11.00% for the TLA Facility, TLB Facility and the Notes, respectively. For each 0.125% change in estimated interest rates on the variable rate debt, interest expense would increase or decrease by approximately $0.3 million and $0.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and the year ended December 31, 2016, respectively.

(g) Reflects the associated income tax benefit (expense) for all of the adjustments noted above. The income tax provision was based on the estimated federal and state statutory tax rate of 38.65% for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and the year ended December 31, 2016, respectively. We expect our effective rate in future years, however, to vary from these estimated statutory rates.

(h) The calculation of pro forma basic and diluted earnings per share and pro forma weighted-average shares outstanding for the period presented are based on the weighted-average number of shares of CoalCo outstanding for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and the year ended December 31, 2016, adjusted for the assumed distribution ratio of one share of CoalCo common stock for every eight (8) shares of ParentCo common stock outstanding. This calculation may not be indicative of the dilutive effect that will actually result from CoalCo stock-based awards issued in connection with the adjustment of outstanding ParentCo stock-based awards or the grant of new stock-based awards. The number of dilutive shares of CoalCo common stock underlying CoalCo stock-based awards issued in connection with the adjustment of outstanding ParentCo stock-based awards will not be determined until after the distribution date.

 

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BUSINESS

All dollar amounts discussed in this section are in millions of U.S. dollars, except for per unit amounts, and unless otherwise indicated. This section discusses CoalCo’s business assuming the completion of all of the transactions described in this information statement, including the separation.

Our Company

CoalCo (CoalCo or the company) is a leading, low-cost producer of high-quality bituminous coal, focused on the extraction and preparation of coal in the Appalachian Basin. Our predecessors have been mining coal, primarily in the Appalachian Basin, since 1864. We are a leading producer of high-Btu thermal coal in the Northern Appalachian Basin and the eastern United States due to our ability to efficiently produce and deliver large volumes of high-quality coal at competitive prices, the strategic location of our mines, and the industry experience of our management team.

Coal from the PAMC is valued because of its high energy content (as measured in Btu per pound), relatively low levels of sulfur and other impurities, and strong thermoplastic properties that enable it to be used in metallurgical as well as thermal applications. We take advantage of these desirable quality characteristics and out extensive logistical network, which is directly served by both the Norfolk Southern and CSC railroads, to aggressively market our product to a broad base of strategically-selected, top-performing power plant customers in the eastern United States. We also capitalize on the operational synergies afforded by the CNX Marine Terminal to export our coal to thermal and metallurgical end-users in Europe, Asia, South America and Canada.

Our operations, including the PAMC and the CNX Marine Terminal, have consistently generated strong cash flows. As of December 31, 2016, the PAMC controls 766.7 million tons of high-quality Pittsburgh seam reserves, enough to allow for approximately 27 years of full-capacity production. In addition, we own or control approximately 1.6 billion tons in the form of greenfield reserves located in the Northern Appalachian (NAPP), the Central Appalachian (CAPP) and the Illinois Basins (ILB), which we believe could provide a solid growth platform in the future. CoalCo’s vision is to maximize cash flow generation through the safe, compliant and efficient operation of this core asset base, while strategically reducing debt, returning capital through share buybacks or dividends, and, when prudent, allocating capital toward compelling growth opportunities.

Our core businesses consist of our:

 

   

Pennsylvania Mining Operations: The PAMC, which includes the Bailey Mine, the Enlow Fork Mine and the Harvey Mine, has extensive high-quality coal reserves. We mine our reserves from the Pittsburgh No. 8 Coal Seam, which is a large contiguous formation of uniform, high-Btu thermal coal that is ideal for high productivity, low-cost longwall operations. The design of the PAMC is optimized to produce large quantities of coal on a cost-efficient basis. We are able to sustain high production volumes at comparatively low operating costs due to, among other things, the technologically advanced longwall mining systems, logistics infrastructure and safety. All of our mines utilize longwall mining, which is a highly automated underground mining technique that produces large volumes of coal at lower costs compared to other underground mining methods. We own a 75% undivided interest in PAMC, with the remaining 25% being owned by CNXC, as discussed below.

 

   

CNXC Ownership: Approximately 60% LP ownership and 100% GP ownership interest in CNX Coal Resources LP (CNXC), a growth-oriented master limited partnership formed by ParentCo to manage and further develop its active coal operations in Pennsylvania. At December 31, 2016, CNXC’s assets included a 25% undivided interest in, and full operational control over, PAMC.

 

   

CNX Marine Terminal: Through our subsidiary CNX Marine Terminal Inc. we provide coal export terminal services through the Port of Baltimore. The terminal can either store coal or load coal directly into vessels from rail cars. It is also one of the few terminals in the United States served by two railroads, Norfolk Southern Corporation and CSX Transportation Inc.

 

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Undeveloped Reserves: Ownership of approximately 1.6 billion tons of high-quality, undeveloped coal reserves located in the NAPP, the CAPP and the ILB.

A map showing the location of CoalCo’s significant properties is below:

 

LOGO

CoalCo defines itself through its core values which are:

 

   

Safety,

 

   

Compliance, and

 

   

Continuous Improvement.

These values are the foundation of CoalCo’s identity and are the basis for how management defines continued success. We believe CoalCo’s rich resource base, coupled with these core values, allows management to create value for the long-term. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects in its 2017 annual Energy Outlook that coal’s share of the U.S. electric power generation mix will rebound from 30% in 2016 to 32% in 2021, driven largely by rising gas prices and the prospects of a more favorable policy stance under the current U.S. presidential administration. We believe that the use of coal will continue for many years as a principal fuel sources for electricity in the United States. Additionally, we believe that as worldwide economies grow, the demand for electricity from fossil fuels will grow as well, resulting in expansion of worldwide demand for our coal.

CoalCo’s strategy is to increase stockholder value through the development and growth of its existing natural coal assets and participation in global coal markets.

CoalCo’s coal assets align with our long-term strategic objectives. Our current production, which includes the Bailey, Enlow Fork, and Harvey mines, can be sold domestically or abroad, as either thermal coal or high volatile

 

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metallurgical coal. These low-cost mines, with five longwalls, produce a high-Btu Pittsburgh-seam coal that is lower in sulfur than many Northern Appalachian coals. Our onsite logistics infrastructure at the preparation plant includes a dual-batch train loadout facility capable of loading up to 9,000 tons of coal per hour and 19.3 miles of track linked to separate Class I rail lines owned by Norfolk Southern and CSX, which enables us to simultaneously accommodate multiple unit trains and significantly increases our efficiency in meeting our customers’ transportation needs. Our ability to accommodate multiple unit trains allows for the seamless transition of locomotives from empty inbound trains to fully loaded outbound trains at our facility. These mines and their logistics infrastructure, along with our 100%-owned CNX Marine Terminal, which is served by both Norfolk Southern and CSX, will allow CoalCo to participate in the world’s thermal and metallurgical coal markets. The ability to serve both domestic and international markets with premium thermal and crossover metallurgical coal provides tremendous optionality.

Our Competitive Strengths

We believe we are well-positioned to successfully execute our business strategies because of the following competitive strengths:

Focus on free cash flow generation supported by industry-leading margins and optimized production levels

We intend to continue our focus on maintaining high margins by optimizing production from our high-quality reserves and leveraging our extensive logistics infrastructure and broad market reach. The PAMC’s low-cost structure, high-quality product, favorable access to rail and port infrastructure, and diverse base of end-use customers allow it to move large volumes of coal at positive cash margins throughout a variety of market conditions. For example, despite challenging domestic market conditions in 2016, which caused total U.S. coal production to fall by 19% year-on-year, PAMC managed to grow production by 8%. For the year ended December 31, 2016, the PAMC generated an average cash margin per ton of $15.22 compared to the median cash margin per ton of $9.97 generated by other coal companies for domestic bituminous thermal coal operations, based on management review of publicly available data for the year ended December 31, 2016. Through our recent capital investment program, we have optimized our mining operations and logistics infrastructure to sustainably drive down our cash operating costs. Furthermore, our significant portfolio of multi-year, committed and priced contracts with our longstanding customer base will enhance our ability to sustain high margins in varied commodity price environments. We believe that these factors will help enable us to maintain higher margins per ton on average than our competitors and better position us to maintain profitability throughout commodity price cycles.

Extensive, High-Quality Reserve Base

The PAMC has extensive high-quality reserves of bituminous coal. We mine our reserves from the Pittsburgh No. 8 Coal Seam, which is a large contiguous formation of uniform, high-Btu coal that is ideal for high productivity, low-cost longwall operations. As of December 31, 2016, the PAMC included 766.7 million tons of proven and probable coal reserves that are sufficient to support at least 27 years of full-capacity production. The advantageous qualities of our coal enable us to compete for demand from a broader range of coal-fired power plants compared to mining operations in basins that typically produce coal with a comparatively lower heat content (ILB and PRB), higher sulfur content (ILB and most areas in NAPP) and higher chlorine content (certain areas of ILB). Our remaining reserves have an average as-received gross heat content of 12,970 Btu/lb (on an as-received basis), while production from the PRB, ILB, CAPP, and the rest of NAPP averages approximately 8,700 Btu/lb, 11,400 Btu/lb, 12,300 Btu/lb, and 12,400 Btu/lb, respectively (based on the average quality reported by EIA for U.S. power plant deliveries for the three years ended June 30, 2017). Moreover, our remaining reserves have an average sulfur content of 2.38% (on an as-received basis), while production from the Illinois Basin averages ~2.9% sulfur and production from the rest of NAPP averages ~3.3% sulfur (again based on EIA power plant delivery data for the three years ended June 30, 2017). With our high Btu content and low-cost structure, our 2016 total costs averaged $1.32 per mmBtu, which is lower than any monthly average Louisiana

 

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Henry Hub natural gas spot price during the past 20+ years, and provides a strong foundation for competing against natural gas even after accounting for differences in delivered costs and power plant efficiencies. In addition to the substantial reserve base associated with the PAMC, our 1.6 billion tons of Greenfield Reserves in NAPP, CAPP, and ILB feature both thermal and metallurgical reserves and provide additional optionality for organic growth or monetization as market conditions allow.

World-Class, Well-Capitalized, Low-Cost Longwall Mining Complex

Since 2006, we have invested over $2.0 billion at the PAMC ($1.4 billion of which has been invested in the past five years) to develop technologically advanced, large-scale longwall mining operations and related production and logistics infrastructure. We also have permanently sealed off 85 square miles of already-mined area, reducing the active areas of the mine to just 24.4 square miles and significantly limiting the area that we must ventilate and maintain. As a result, the PAMC is the most productive and efficient coal mining complex in NAPP, averaging 6.77 tons of coal production per employee hour in 2015-2016, compared to 4.94 tons of coal production per employee hour for other currently-operating NAPP longwall mines. As of June 30, 2017, productivity further increased to 7.43 tons of coal per employee hour, compared with an average of 5.24 tons per employee hour for all other currently-operating NAPP longwalls. We believe our substantial capital investment in the PAMC will enable us to maintain high production volumes, low operating costs and a strong safety and environmental compliance record, which we believe are key to supporting stable financial performance and cash flows throughout business and commodity price cycles. As a result, we expect to be able to mine the remaining 27+ years of reserves at the PAMC with only maintenance-of-production levels of capital expenditure.

Strategically Located Mining Operations with Advanced Distribution Capabilities and Excellent Access to Key Logistics Infrastructure

Our logistics infrastructure and proximity to coal-fired power plants in the eastern United States provide us with operational and marketing flexibility, reduce the cost to deliver coal to our core markets, and allow us to realize higher netback prices. We believe that we have a significant transportation cost advantage compared to many of our competitors, particularly producers in the ILB and PRB, for deliveries to customers in our core markets and to East Coast ports for international shipping. For example, based on publicly available data and internal estimates, we believe that the transportation cost advantage from our mines compared to ILB mines (not accounting for Btu differences) is approximately $3 to $8 per ton for coal delivered to foreign consumers in Europe and India, $4 to $8 per ton for coal delivered to domestic customers in the Carolinas, and an even more pronounced cost advantage for coal delivered to domestic customers in the mid-Atlantic states. Our ability to accommodate multiple unit trains at the Bailey Central Preparation Plant, which includes a dual-batch loadout facility capable of loading up to 9,000 tons of clean coal per hour and 19.3 miles of track with three sidings, allows for the seamless transition of locomotives from empty inbound trains to fully loaded outbound trains at our facility. Furthermore, the PAMC has among the best access to export infrastructure in the United States. Through our 100%-owned CNX Marine Terminal, served by both the Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads, we are able to participate in the world’s seaborne coal markets with premium thermal and crossover metallurgical coal, providing tremendous optionality.

Strong, Well-Established Customer Base Supporting Contractual Volumes

We have a well-established and diverse blue chip customer base, comprised primarily of domestic electric-power-producing companies located in the eastern United States. We have had success entering into multi-year coal sales agreements with our customers due to our longstanding relationships, reliability of production and delivery, competitive pricing and high coal quality. About 90% of our sales in 2016 were to customers that were in our 2015 portfolio, and each of our top 15 domestic power plant customers in 2016 have been in our portfolio for at least three consecutive years. In addition, to mitigate our exposure with respect to coal-fired power plant retirements, we have strategically developed our customer base to include power plants that are economically positioned to continue operating for the foreseeable future and that are equipped with state-of-the-art environmental controls. In 2016, approximately 4% of our total sales were to domestic power plant customers that have announced plans to retire between 2017 and 2023. Moreover, none of our top 15 customer plants,

 

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which accounted for 82% of our domestic power plant shipments in 2016, have announced plans to retire. These top 15 plants operated at a 15% higher capacity factor than other NAPP rail-served plants in 2016, highlighting their economic competitiveness even in a challenging power market. Since 2011, the Company has increased its market share at the Company’s top 15 customer plans from 12% to 32%. In addition to our robust domestic customer base, we also have favorable access to seaborne coal markets through our long-standing commercial relationship with a leading coal trading and brokering company that maintains a broad market presence with foreign coal consumers. We have consistently exported 3.4 to 5.6 million tons of PAMC coal to the seaborne thermal and crossover metallurgical markets in each year since 2011, which represents approximately 20% of annual sales volume.

Highly Experienced Management Team and Operating Team

Our management and operating teams have (i) significant expertise owning, developing and managing complex thermal and metallurgical coal mining operations, (ii) valuable relationships with customers, railroads and other participants across the coal industry, (iii) technical wherewithal and demonstrated success in developing new applications and customers for our coal products, in both the thermal and metallurgical markets, and (iv) a proven track record of successfully building, enhancing and managing coal assets in a reliable and cost-effective manner throughout all parts of the commodity cycle. We intend to leverage these qualities to continue to successfully develop our coal mining assets while efficiently and flexibly managing our operations to maximize operating cash flow.

Our Strategy

Our strategy is to safely and compliantly operate our assets to increase shareholder value through the execution of our strategic objectives:

Selectively pursue growth opportunities that maximize shareholder value by capitalizing on synergies with our assets and expertise

We plan to judiciously direct the cash generated by our operations toward those opportunities that present the greatest potential for value creation to our shareholders, particularly those that take advantage of synergies with our asset base and/or with the expertise of our management team. To effectuate this, we plan to regularly and rigorously evaluate opportunities both for organic growth and for acquisitions, joint ventures, and other business arrangements in the coal industry and related industries that complement our core operations. In addition, our ownership interest in CNXC provides us with a unique vehicle for generating cash and raising capital, through the potential future drop down of assets into CNXC, which if utilized will allow us to generate cash to assist in the execution of our growth strategy. Both the PAMC and our Greenfield Reserves present the potential for organic growth projects if long-term market conditions are favorable. For example, we are currently evaluating a project to improve the recovery and processing of fine coal from the Bailey Central Preparation Plant, which has the potential to add up to 1.5 million tons per year of additional clean coal production without additional mining of raw tons. Moreover, the Harvey Mine’s existing infrastructure, including its bottom development, slope belt, and material handling system, is able to support an additional permanent longwall mining system with moderate additional capital investment in mining equipment. Such an investment would further increase the annual production capacity of the PAMC by 5 million tons. Our Greenfield Reserves associated with the Mason Dixon and River Mine projects present additional organic growth opportunities in NAPP, and our Greenfield Reserves associated with the Itmann Mine, Martinka Mine, and Birch Mine provide actionable organic growth opportunities in the metallurgical coal space, should market conditions warrant. Our management team has extensive experience in developing, operating and marketing a wide variety of coal assets previously owned by ParentCo, and is well-qualified to evaluate organic and external growth opportunities. We intend to prudently use our interest in CNXC to benefit our growth strategy, and plan to carefully weigh any capital investment decisions against alternate uses of the cash to help ensure we are delivering the most value to our shareholders.

 

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Continue to grow our share at top-performing rail-served power plants in our core market areas, while opportunistically pursuing export and crossover metallurgical opportunities

We plan to seek to minimize our market risk and maximize realizations by continuing to focus on selling coal to strategically-selected, top-performing, rail-served power plants located in our core market areas in the eastern United States. Our top 15 power plant customers in 2016 have consistently consumed more than 50 million tons of coal per year in each of the past five years, have operated at a greater capacity factor than other NAPP rail-served plants, and have not announced plans to retire. We have grown our share at these plants from 12% in 2011 to 32% in 2016, and we believe we can continue to grow this share by displacing less competitive supply from NAPP, CAPP, and other basins. We also plan to continue to work on identifying and penetrating new customer plants that we believe are aligned with our strategic objectives and would be a good fit for our coal. To this end, we tested PAMC coal at five new customer plants in 2016. While the majority of our production is directed toward our established base of domestic power plant customers, many of which are secured through annual or multi-year contracts, we also plan to continue to flexibly and opportunistically place a smaller portion of our production in shorter-term opportunities in the export and crossover metallurgical markets. These markets provide us with pricing upside when markets are strong and with volume stability when markets are weak. As of June 30, 2017, the PAMC is fully contracted for 2017. For 2018 and 2019, our contracted position as of October 9, 2017 is at 80% and 41%, respectively, assuming a 27 million ton coal sales volume. We believe our committed and contracted position is well-balanced in hedging against market downside risk while allowing us to continue to build out our portfolio strategically and opportunistically as the market evolves.

Drive operational excellence through safety, compliance, and continuous improvement

We intend to continue focusing on our core values of safety, compliance and continuous improvement. We operate some of the most productive, lowest-cost underground mines in the coal industry, while simultaneously setting some of the industry’s highest standards for safety and compliance. From 2013 through 2016, our Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) reportable incident rate was approximately 42% lower than the national average underground bituminous coal mine incident rate. Furthermore, our MSHA significant and substantial (S&S) citation rate per 100 inspection hours was approximately 23.5% lower than the industry’s average MSHA S&S citation rate over the twelve-month period ended June 30, 2017. We believe that our focus on safety and compliance promotes greater reliability in our operations, which fosters long-term customer relationships and lower operating costs that support higher margins. Consistent with our core value of continuous improvement, we have improved our productivity from 5.69 tons per employee hour in 2014 to 7.52 tons per employee hour in 2016, and have reduced our cash costs of coal sold per ton by 22.6% over this same period. We intend to continue to grow the economic competiveness of our operations by proactively identifying, pursuing, and implementing efficiency improvements and new technologies that can drive down unit costs without compromising safety or compliance.

Ability to Grow Cash Flow through Drop-Downs into CNXC

Our controlling ownership interest in CNX Coal Resources LP provides us with a unique vehicle for generating cash and raising capital to pursue our growth strategy. Over time we may drop down assets into CNXC. We believe that such drop-downs, if utilized, would allow us to grow CNXC’s ability to make distributions and potentially increase the value of the units and incentive distribution rights of CNXC that we hold. Furthermore, the cash generated from these drop-downs could help us to accelerate the execution of our growth strategy. Finally, we believe that our different classes of securities (C-Corp and MLP) provide us with multiple options for accessing capital markets and taking advantage of the best available cost of capital at any given point in time. We believe this is a unique advantage for us compared to other companies in the coal industry.

 

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Detail Coal Operations.

Coal Reserves.

At December 31, 2016, CoalCo had an estimated 2.4 billion tons of proven and probable coal reserves. As of December 31, 2016, the PAMC included 766.7 million tons of proven and probable coal reserves that are sufficient to support at least 27 years of full-capacity production. Reserves are the portion of the proven and probable tonnage that meet CoalCo’s economic criteria regarding mining height, preparation plant recovery, depth of overburden and stripping ratio. Generally, these reserves would be commercially mineable at year-end price and cost levels. Spacing of points of observation for confidence levels in reserve calculations is based on guidelines in U.S. Geological Survey Circular 891 (Coal Resource Classification System of the U.S. Geological Survey). Our estimates for proved reserves have the highest degree of geologic assurance. Estimates for proved reserves are based on points of observation that are equal to or less than 0.5 miles apart. Estimates for probable reserves have a moderate degree of geologic assurance and are computed from points of observation that are between 0.5 to 1.5 miles apart. An exception is made concerning spacing of observation points with respect to our Pittsburgh No. 8 coal seam reserves. Because of the well-known continuity of this seam, spacing requirements are 3,000 feet or less for proved reserves and between 3,000 and 8,000 feet for probable reserves.

CoalCo’s estimates of proven and probable coal reserves do not rely on isolated points of observation. Small pods of reserves based on a single observation point are not considered; continuity between observation points over a large area is necessary for proved or probable reserves. Estimates of the Company’s coal reserves have historically been calculated both by internal geologists and engineers employed by ParentCo, and independent third parties. Reserve estimates and evaluation processes are periodically audited by independent third parties to ensure accuracy. CoalCo’s proven and probable coal reserves fall within the range of commercially marketed coals in the United States. The marketability of coal depends on its value-in-use for a particular application, and this is affected by coal quality, such as sulfur content, ash and heating value. Modern power plant boiler design aspects can compensate for coal quality differences that occur. Therefore, any of CoalCo’s coals can be marketed for the electric power generation industry.

CoalCo’s proven and probable coal reserves include 87.0 million tons of undeveloped reserves that are classified as high-vol, mid-vol, or low-vol metallurgical coal. Additionally, the growth in worldwide demand for metallurgical coal allows some of our proven and probable coal reserves, currently classified as thermal coals but that possess certain qualities, to be sold as metallurgical coal. The extent to which we can sell thermal coals as crossover metallurgical coals depends upon a number of factors, including the quality characteristics of the reserve, the specific quality requirements and constraints of the end-use customer, and market conditions (which affect whether customers are compelled to substitute lower-quality crossover coals for higher-quality metallurgical coals in their blends to realize economic benefits). The addition of this cross-over market adds additional assurance to CoalCo that all of its proven and probable coal reserves are commercially marketable.

CoalCo assigns coal reserves to our mining complex. The amount of coal we assign to the mining complex generally is sufficient to support mining through the duration of our current mining permit. Under federal law, we must renew our mining permits every five years. All assigned reserves have their required permits or governmental approvals, or there is a high probability that these approvals will be secured. In addition, our mining complex may have access to additional reserves that have not yet been assigned. We refer to these reserves as accessible. Accessible reserves are proven and probable coal reserves that can be accessed by an existing mining complex, utilizing the existing infrastructure of the complex to mine and to process the coal in this area. Mining an accessible reserve does not require additional capital spending beyond that required to extend or to continue the normal progression of the mine, such as the sinking of airshafts or the construction of portal facilities.

Some reserves may be accessible by more than one mine because of the proximity of many of our mines to one another. In the table below, the accessible reserves indicated for a mine are based on our review of current mining plans and reflect our best judgment as to which mine is most likely to utilize the reserve. Assigned and

 

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unassigned coal reserves are proven and probable coal reserves which are either owned or leased. The leases have terms extending up to 30 years and generally provide for renewal through the anticipated life of the associated mine. These renewals are exercisable by the payment of minimum royalties. Under current mining plans, assigned reserves reported will be mined out within the period of existing leases or within the time period of probable lease renewal periods.

Mining Complexes

Bailey Mine. The Bailey mine is the first mine that CONSOL Energy developed at the Pennsylvania mining complex. As of December 31, 2016, the Bailey mine’s assigned and accessible reserve base contained an aggregate of 259.7 million tons of clean recoverable proven and probable coal with an average as-received gross heat content of approximately 12,900 Btus per pound and an approximate average pounds of SO 2 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) of 4.2. While operating two longwalls, the production capacity of the Bailey mine is 11.5 million tons of coal per year. Construction of the slope and initial air shaft began in 1982. The slope development reached the coal seam at a depth of approximately 600 feet and, following development of the slope bottom, commercial coal production began in 1984. Longwall mining production commenced in 1985, and the second longwall was placed into operation in 1987. In 2010, a new slope and overland belt system was commissioned, which allowed a large percentage of the Bailey mine to be sealed off. For the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, the Bailey mine produced 12.1, 10.2 and 12.3 million tons of coal, respectively. The Bailey mine uses approximately seven continuous mining units to develop the mains and gate roads for its longwall panels. On average, the longwalls have a panel width (or face length) of approximately 1,500 feet, a panel length of approximately 12,000 feet and a seam height of approximately 7.5 feet.

Enlow Fork Mine. The Enlow Fork mine is located directly north of the Bailey mine. As of December 31, 2016, the Enlow Fork mine’s assigned and accessible reserve base contained an aggregate of 306.5 million tons of clean recoverable proven and probable coal with an average as-received gross heat content of approximately 13,000 Btus per pound and an approximate average lb SO2/mmBtu of 3.4. While operating two longwalls, the production capacity of the Enlow Fork mine is 11.5 million tons of coal per year. Initial underground development was started from the Bailey mine while the Enlow Fork slope was being constructed. Once the slope bottom was developed and the slope belt became operational, seals were constructed to separate the two mines. Following development of the slope bottom, commercial coal production began in 1989. Longwall mining production commenced in 1991 with the second longwall coming online in 1992. In 2014, a new slope and overland belt system was commissioned and a substantial portion of the Enlow Fork mine was sealed. For the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, the Enlow Fork mine produced 9.6, 9.0 and 10.6 million tons of coal, respectively. The Enlow Fork mine uses approximately seven continuous mining units to develop the mains and gate roads for its longwall panels. On average, the longwalls have a panel width (or face length) of approximately 1,500 feet, a panel length of approximately 12,000 feet and a seam height of approximately 7.8 feet.

Harvey Mine. The Harvey mine is located directly east of the Bailey and Enlow Fork mines. As of December 31, 2016, the Harvey mine’s assigned and accessible reserve base contained an aggregate of 200.5 million tons of clean recoverable proven and probable coal with an average as-received gross heat content of approximately 12,900 Btus per pound and an approximate average lb SO2/mmBtu of 3.5. While operating one longwall, the production capacity of the Harvey mine is 5.5 million tons of coal per year. Similar to the Enlow Fork mine, the Harvey mine was developed off of the Bailey mine’s slope bottom. Once the slope for the Harvey mine was placed into operation, seals were built to separate the two mines, and the original slope was dedicated solely to the Harvey mine, which eliminated the need to make significant capital expenditures to develop, among other things, a new slope, air shaft and portal facility. Development of the Harvey mine began in 2009, and construction of the supporting surface facilities commenced in 2011. Longwall mining production commenced in March 2014. For the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, the Harvey mine produced 3.0, 3.6 and 3.2 million tons of coal, respectively. The Harvey mine uses approximately four continuous mining units to develop the mains and gate roads for its longwall panels. The longwall has a panel width (or face length) of approximately 1,500 feet, a panel length of approximately 15,000 feet and a seam height of approximately 6.3

 

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feet. The Harvey mine’s existing infrastructure, including its bottom development, slope belt and material handling system, has the capacity to add one incremental permanent longwall mining system with additional mine development and capital investment.

The following table provides the location of CoalCo’s active mining complexes and the coal reserves associated with each operation.

 

Proven and Probable Assigned and Accessible Coal Reserves as of December 31, 2016 and 2015
    Preparation
Facility
Location
  Reserve
Class
  Coal
Seam
  Average
Seam
Thickness
(feet)
  As Received Heat
Value(1)
(Btu/lb)
  Recoverable Reserves(2)
              Owned
(%)
  Leased
(%)
  Tons in
Millions

Mine/
Reserve

          Typical   Range       12/31/2016   12/31/2015

ASSIGNED–OPERATING

PA Mining Operations

Bailey

  Enon, PA   Assigned Operating   Pittsburgh   7.5   12,950   12,860 –

13,030

  43%   57%   89.0   101.1
    Accessible   Pittsburgh   7.5   12,910   12,700 –

13,170

  78%   22%   170.7   170.7

Harvey

  Enon, PA   Assigned Operating   Pittsburgh   6.3   13,040   12,920 –

13,160

  86%   14%   20.4   23.4
    Accessible   Pittsburgh   7.6   12,900   12,840 –

13,130

  99%   1%   180.1   180.1

Enlow Fork

  Enon, PA   Assigned Operating   Pittsburgh   7.8   12,980   12,820 –

13,190

  99%   1%   31.2   10.9
    Accessible   Pittsburgh   7.6   13,040   12,780 –

13,180

  76%   24%   275.3   305.3
                 

 

 

 

Total Assigned Operating and Accessible

  766.7   791.5
                 

 

 

 

                 

 

 

 

 

(1)

The heat values shown for Assigned Operating reserves are based on the 2016 actual quality and five-year forecasted quality for each mine/reserve, assuming that the coal is washed to an extent consistent with normal full-capacity operation of the complex’s preparation plant. Actual quality is based on laboratory analysis of samples collected from coal shipments delivered in 2016. Forecasted quality is derived from exploration sample analysis results, which have been adjusted to account for anticipated moisture and for the effects of mining and coal preparation. The heat values shown for Accessible Reserves are based on as received, dry values obtained from drill hole analyses, adjusted for moisture, and prorated by the associated Assigned Operating product values to account for similar mining and processing methods.

 

(2)

Recoverable reserves are calculated based on the area in which mineable coal exists, coal seam thickness, and average density determined by laboratory testing of drill core samples. This calculation is adjusted to account for coal that will not be recovered during mining and for losses that occur if the coal is processed after mining. Reserves tons are reported on an as-received basis, based on the anticipated product moisture. Reserves are reported only for those coal seams that are controlled by ownership or leases.

 

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The following table sets forth our unassigned proven and probable coal reserves by region:

 

CoalCo Unassigned Recoverable Coal Reserves as of December 31, 2016 and 2015  
            Recoverable Reserves(2)      Recoverable
Reserves
(Tons in
Millions)
12/31/2015
 

Coal Producing Region

   As Received Heat
Value(1) (Btu/lb)
     Owned
(%)
     Leased
(%)
     Tons in
Millions
12/31/2016
    

Northern Appalachia (Pennsylvania, Ohio, Northern West Virginia) (3)

     11,400 – 13,400         85%         15%         1,054.0         1,054.4   

Central Appalachia (Virginia, Southern West Virginia)

     12,400 – 14,100         77%         23%         157.2         260.0   

Illinois Basin (Illinois, Western Kentucky, Indiana)

     11,600 – 12,000         79%         21%         348.7         396.1   
           

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total

        83%         17%             1,559.9             1,710.5   
           

 

 

    

 

 

 
           

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

(1)

The heat value (gross calorific values) estimates for Northern Appalachian and Central Appalachian Unassigned coal reserves include adjustments for moisture that may be added during mining or processing as well as for dilution by rock lying above or below the coal seam. The heat value estimates for the Illinois Basin Unassigned reserves are based primarily on exploration drill core data that may not include adjustments for moisture added during mining or processing, or for dilution by rock lying above or below the coal seam.

 

(2)

Recoverable reserves are calculated based on the area in which mineable coal exists, coal seam thickness, and average density determined by laboratory testing of drill core samples. This calculation is adjusted to account for coal that will not be recovered during mining and for losses that occur if the coal is processed after mining. Reserve calculations do not include adjustment for moisture that may be added during mining or processing, nor do the calculations include adjustments for dilution from rock lying above or below the coal seam. Reserves are reported only for those coal seams that are controlled by ownership or leases.

 

(3)

140.8 Million tons of the Northern Appalachia leased tons are controlled by Consolidation Coal Company, a former subsidiary of ParentCo that was sold in December 2013. As of filing these tons are still controlled by Consolidation Coal Company but are shown in CoalCo’s reserves due to a binding agreement that these tons will be released to CoalCo following consent of the lessor.

 

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The following table classifies CoalCo coals by rank, projected sulfur dioxide emissions and heating value (Btu per pound). The table also classifies bituminous coals as high, medium and low volatile which is based on fixed carbon and volatile matter.

 

 CoalCo Proven and Probable Recoverable Coal Reserves

By Product (In Millions of Tons) as of December 31, 2016

 
     £ 1.20 lbs.     > 1.20 £ 2.50 lbs.     > 2.50 lbs.              
     S02/MMBtu     S02/MMBtu     S02/MMBtu              
     Low     Med     High     Low     Med     High     Low     Med     High           Percent
By
 

By Region

   Btu     Btu     Btu     Btu     Btu     Btu     Btu     Btu     Btu     Total     Product  

Metallurgical(1):

                  

High Vol A Bituminous

     —        —        —        —        —        39.6        —        —        —        39.6        1.7%   

Med Vol Bituminous

     —        5.1        —        —        —        —        —        —        —        5.1        0.2%   

Low Vol Bituminous

     —        —        16.0        —        —        26.3        —        —        —        42.3        1.8%   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total Metallurgical

     —        5.1        16.0        —        —        65.9        —        —        —        87.0        3.7%   

Thermal(1):

                  

High Vol A Bituminous

     —        46.0        —        6.1        65.4        12.9        44.5        1,134.4        611.7        1,921.0        81.4%   

High Vol B Bituminous

     —        —        —        —        101.1        —        —        139.3        —        240.4        10.3%   

High Vol C Bituminous

     —        —        —        —        —        —        108.3        —        —        108.3        4.6%   

Low Vol Bituminous

     —        —        —        —        —        —        —        —        4.5        4.5        0.2%   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total Thermal

     —        46.0        —        6.1        166.5        12.9        152.8        1,273.7        616.2        2,274.2        96.3%   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total

     —         51.1         16.0         6.1         166.5         78.8         152.8         1,273.7         616.2         2,361.2        100.0%   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Percent of Total

         —     2.2 %       0.7 %       0.3 %       7.1 %       3.2 %       6.5 %       53.9 %       26.1 %       100.0  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

(1)

143.3 Million tons for the Mason Dixon Project are controlled by Consolidation Coal Company, a former subsidiary of ParentCo that was sold in December 2013. As of this filing, these tons are still controlled by Consolidation Coal Company but are shown in CoalCo’s reserves due to a binding agreement that these tons will be released upon consent of the lessor.

Title to coal properties that we lease or purchase and the boundaries of these properties are verified by law firms retained by us at the time we lease or acquire the properties. Consistent with industry practice, abstracts and title reports are reviewed and updated approximately five years prior to planned development or mining of the property. If defects in title or boundaries of undeveloped reserves are discovered in the future, control of and the right to mine reserves could be adversely affected.

The following table sets forth, with respect to properties that we lease to other coal operators, the total royalty tonnage, acreage leased and the amount of income (net of related expenses) we received from royalty payments for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014.

 

Year

   Total
Royalty
Tonnage
(in thousands)
   Total
Coal
Acreage
Leased
   Total
Royalty
Income
(in thousands)
2016    3,530     213,371     $9,684 
2015    7,459     235,066     $14,914 
2014    10,230     281,894     $18,460 

Royalty tonnage leased to third parties is not included in the amounts of produced tons that we report. Proven and probable reserves do not include reserves attributable to properties that we lease to third parties.

Production

In the year ended December 31, 2016, 100% of CoalCo’s production came from underground mines equipped with longwall mining systems. CoalCo employs longwall mining systems in our underground mines where the geology is favorable and reserves are sufficient. Underground longwall systems are highly mechanized, capital

 

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intensive operations. Mines using longwall systems have a low variable cost structure compared with other types of mines and can achieve high productivity levels compared with those of other underground mining methods. Because CoalCo has substantial reserves readily suitable to these operations, CoalCo believes that these longwall mines can increase capacity at a low incremental cost.

The following table shows the production, in millions of tons, for CoalCo’s mines for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, the location of each mine, the type of mine, the type of equipment used at each mine, method of transportation and the year each mine was established or acquired by us.

 

       Preparation                           Tons Produced      Year  
       Facility      Mine      Mining             (in millions)      Established  

Mine

     Location      Type      Equipment      Transportation      2016      2015      2014      or Acquired  

PA Mining Operations

                          

Bailey

 

     Enon, PA        U        LW/CM        R R/B        12.1         10.2         12.3         1984   

Enlow Fork

 

     Enon, PA        U        LW/CM        R R/B        9.6         9.0         10.6         1990   

Harvey(1)

 

     Enon, PA        U        LW/CM        R R/B        3.0         3.6         3.2         2014   
                 

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

Total

 

     24.7         22.8         26.1      
                 

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

S

 

  

Surface

U

 

  

Underground

LW

 

  

Longwall

CM

 

  

Continuous Miner

S/L

 

  

Stripping Shovel and Front End Loaders

R

 

  

Rail

R/B

 

  

Rail to Barge

T

 

  

Truck

(1)

 

  

Completed development work and was placed in service in March 2014. Normalized for a full-year of production, tons produced for the Harvey mine in 2014 would have totaled an estimated 4.6 million tons, and tons produced across all three mines would have totaled an estimated 27.5 million tons.

Coal Marketing and Sales

The following table sets forth the Company produced tons sold and average sales price for the period indicated:

 

     Years Ended December 31,  
     2016      2015      2014  

Company Produced Tons Sold (in millions)

     24.6         22.9         26.1   

Average Sales Price Per Ton Sold

   $             43.31       $             56.36       $             61.88   

We sell coal produced by our mines and additional coal that is purchased by us for resale from other producers. We maintain United States sales offices in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. In addition, we sell coal through agents and to brokers and unaffiliated trading companies. Approximately 75% of our 2016 coal sales were made to U.S. electric generators, 22% of our 2016 coal sales were priced on export markets and 3% of our coal sales were made to other domestic customers. We had sales to over 35 customers from our 2016 coal operations. During 2016, two customers each comprised over 10% of our coal sales, and the top four coal customers accounted for over 40% of our coal sales. Annual metallurgical coal revenues for the past three years ranged from $58.3 million to $74.7 million.

Coal Contracts and Pricing

We sell coal to an established customer base through opportunities as a result of strong business relationships, or through a formalized bidding process. Contract volumes range from a single shipment to multi-year agreements for millions of tons of coal. The average contract term is between one to three years. As a normal course of

 

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business, efforts are made to renew or extend contracts scheduled to expire. Although there are no guarantees, we generally have been successful in renewing or extending contracts in the past. For the year ended December 31, 2016, over 65% of all the coal we produced was sold under contracts with terms of one year or more.

CoalCo expects total Consolidated PA Mining Operations annual sales to be approximately 26.0-27.0 million tons for 2017 and 27.0 million tons for 2018. Coal pricing for contracts with terms of one year or less are generally fixed. Coal pricing for multiple-year agreements generally provide the opportunity to periodically adjust the contract prices through pricing mechanisms consisting of one or more of the following:

 

   

Fixed price contracts with pre-established prices;

 

   

Periodically negotiated prices that reflect market conditions at the time;

 

   

Price restricted to an agreed-upon percentage increase or decrease;

 

   

Base-price-plus-escalation methods which allow for periodic price adjustments based on inflation indices, or other negotiated indices; or

 

   

Netback pricing.

The volume of coal to be delivered is specified in each of our coal contracts. Although the volume to be delivered under the coal contracts is stipulated, the parties may vary the timing of the deliveries within specified limits. Coal contracts typically contain force majeure provisions allowing for the suspension of performance by either party for the duration of specified events. Force majeure events include, but are not limited to, unexpected significant geological conditions or natural disasters. Depending on the language of the contract, some contracts may terminate upon continuance of an event of force majeure that extends for a period greater than three to twelve months.

Of our 2016 sales tons, approximately 75% were sold to U.S. electric generators, 14% were priced on export thermal markets, 8% were priced on export metallurgical markets and 3% were sold to other domestic customers. In 2016 we derived greater than 10% of our total coal sales revenue from two customers: Duke Energy Corporation and GenOn Energy, Inc. As of December 31, 2016, we had approximately nine sales agreements with these customers that expire at various times between 2017 and 2018.

During the past three years, our average realization (sales price per ton sold) for coal produced from the PAMC decreased from $61.88/ton in 2014 to $56.36/ton in 2015 to $43.31/ton in 2016. However, our average realization has since rebounded from a low of $40.61/ton during the second quarter of 2016 to $46.80 during the first quarter of 2017. Pricing for our product depends strongly on conditions in the domestic thermal coal market, which accounted for at least 75% of our total sales volumes in each of 2014, 2015, and 2016.

The prices we are able to achieve in the domestic thermal market depend on a number of factors, including: (i) the supply-demand balance for Northern Appalachian coal, (ii) prices for other competing sources of energy used for electricity generation, such as natural gas, (iii) power prices in the regions we serve, (iv) prices for coals from other basins (including the Central Appalachian Basin, Illinois Basin, and Powder River Basin) that compete in these same regions, and (v) pricing under our longer-term contracts, which may have been entered into under different market conditions. For example, the 30% decrease in our average realization from 2014 to 2016 occurred during a period when Henry Hub spot natural gas prices decreased by 42%, from an average of $4.37/mmBtu in 2014 to an average of $2.52/mmBtu in 2016, putting pressure on power prices and on the demand for coal-fired electric power generation.

Moreover, abnormally mild weather during the winter of 2015-2016 disrupted the coal supply-demand balance and caused U.S. power plant coal inventories to swell, further pressuring domestic thermal pricing and demand. At the same time, imbalances in global supply and demand for coal caused substantial declines in pricing in the two other primary markets we serve – the export thermal market and the export metallurgical market – during the

 

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2014-2016 period. For example, prompt month API 2 index prices (the benchmark price reference for coal imported into northwest Europe) averaged about 32% lower during the first nine months of 2016 than they did during calendar year 2014, and quarterly global coking coal benchmark prices also averaged about 32% lower during the first nine months of 2016 than they did in calendar year 2014. Pricing in all three of our primary markets began to recover during the latter part of 2016, and by Q1 2017, both the API 2 and the global coking coal benchmark were above 2014 levels, and Henry Hub spot natural gas prices were up by just over $1/mmBtu vs. the year-ago quarter. This helped to drive the rebound in pricing for our coal noted above.

Distribution

Coal is transported from CoalCo’s mining operations to customers by railroad cars, trucks, vessels or a combination of these means of transportation. Most customers negotiate their own transportation rates and we employ transportation specialists who negotiate freight and equipment agreements with various transportation suppliers, including railroads, barge lines, terminal operators, ocean vessel brokers and trucking companies for certain customers.

Coal Competition

Both the domestic and international coal industries are highly competitive, with numerous producers selling into all markets that use coal. CoalCo competes against several other large producers and numerous small producers in the United States and overseas. Demand for our coal by our principal customers is affected by many factors including:

 

   

the price of competing coal and alternative fuel supplies, including nuclear, natural gas, oil and renewable energy sources, such as hydroelectric power, wind or solar;

 

   

environmental and government regulation;

 

   

coal quality;

 

   

transportation costs from the mine to the customer;

 

   

the reliability of fuel supply;

 

   

worldwide demand for steel;

 

   

natural disasters/weather; and

 

   

political changes in international governments.

Continued demand for CoalCo’s coal and the prices that CoalCo obtains are affected by demand for electricity, technological developments, environmental and governmental regulation, and the availability and price of competing coal and alternative fuel supplies. We sell coal to foreign electricity generators which are significantly affected by international demand and competition.

CNX Coal Resources LP

In July 2015, CNX Coal Resources LP (CNXC) closed its initial public offering of 5,000,000 common units representing limited partnership interests at a price to the public of $15.00 per unit. The underwriters in the CNXC initial public offering exercised an over-allotment option to purchase and resell 561,067 common units to the public at $15.00 per unit. CNXC’s general partner is CNX Coal Resources GP LLC (the CNXC GP), which upon separation and distribution will be a wholly owned subsidiary of CoalCo.

In September 2016, CNXC and its wholly owned subsidiary, CNX Thermal Holdings LLC (CNX Thermal), entered into a Contribution Agreement with CONSOL Energy, Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company LLC and

 

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Conrhein Coal Company (the Contributing Parties) under which CNX Thermal acquired an additional 5% undivided interest in and to the Pennsylvania Mine Complex, in exchange for (i) cash consideration in the amount of $21.5 and (ii) CNXC’s issuance of 3,956,496 Class A Preferred Units representing limited partner interests in CNXC at an issue price of $17.01 per Class A preferred Unit, or an aggregate $67.3 in equity consideration.

On October 2, 2017, ParentCo provided a conversion notice to CNXC with respect to all Class A Units owned by it, and thereafter caused all such Class A Units to convert, on a 1-to-1 ratio, into common units representing limited partner interests in CNXC.

Upon completion of the separation and distribution, CoalCo, or its subsidiaries, will hold all of ParentCo’s current ownership interest in CNXC, which consists of (i) 5,006,496 common units and 11,611,067 subordinated units (representing a 60.1 percent limited partnership interest), and (ii) 1.7% general partner interest and all incentive distribution rights (IDRs). Subordinated units are not entitled to any distribution from CNXC unless CNXC makes a minimum quarterly distribution of $0.4678 per Class A Preferred Unit and $0.5125 per common unit. CNXC made minimum distributions per subordinated unit equal to the distribution per common unit for five of the six quarters since CNXC’s IPO. CNXC did not meet the requirement for a subordinated unit distribution with respect to fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2016. IDRs entitle the holder to receive increasing percentages, up to a maximum of 48%, of the available cash CNXC distributes from operating surplus in excess of $0.5894 per unit per quarter. The maximum distribution of 48% does not include any distributions that the CNXC GP or its affiliates may receive on common units, subordinated units, preferred units or the CNXC GP interest that they own. CNXC has entered into various agreements with ParentCo and certain of its affiliates, which generally will be assumed by CoalCo as part of the separation and distribution.

Terminal Services

In 2016, approximately 8.1 million tons of coal were shipped through CoalCo’s subsidiary, CNX Marine Terminals Inc.‘s, exporting terminal in the Port of Baltimore. Approximately 57% of the tonnage shipped was produced by CoalCo’s PA Mining Operations. The terminal can either store coal or load coal directly into vessels from rail cars. It is also one of the few terminals in the United States served by two railroads, Norfolk Southern Corporation and CSX Transportation Inc. CNX Marine Terminal has significant storage capacity of 1.1 million tons with more than thirty acres of capacity for stockpiles. The facility possesses extensive blending capabilities, and has handled over 10 million tons of coal per year on average since 2010, with a potential maximum throughput capacity of 15 million tons annually. Since mid-2016 CNX Marine Terminal has been operated as a standalone business, rather than a captive entity of ParentCo.

Non-Core Coal Assets and Surface Properties

CoalCo owns significant coal assets that are not in our short or medium term development plans. We continually explore the monetization of these non-core assets by means of sale, lease, contribution to joint ventures, or a combination of the foregoing in order to bring the value of these assets forward for the benefit of our stockholders.

Employee and Labor Relations

At December 31, 2016, CoalCo would have had 1,661 employees.

Laws and Regulations

Overview

Our coal mining operations are subject to various types of federal, state and local laws and regulations. Regulations relating to our operations include permitting and other licensing requirements; reclamation and restoration of properties after coal mining operations are completed; storage, transportation and disposal of

 

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materials used or generated by mining operations; the calculation, reporting and disbursement of taxes; surface subsidence from underground mining; discharge of water from coal mining operations; air quality standards; protection of wetlands; endangered plant and wildlife protection; and employee health and safety. Numerous governmental permits and approvals under these laws and regulations are required for mining operations. Lastly, the electric power generation industry is subject to extensive regulation regarding the environmental impact of its power generation activities, which could affect demand for our coal products.

Compliance with these laws has substantially increased the cost of mining of coal for all coal producers. We post surety performance bonds or letters of credit pursuant to federal and state mining laws and regulations for the estimated costs of reclamation and mine closing, often including the cost of treating mine water discharge. We endeavor to conduct our mining operations in compliance with all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. However, because of extensive and comprehensive regulatory requirements against a backdrop of variable geologic and seasonal conditions, permit exceedances and violations during mining operations can and do occur. The possibility exists that new legislation or regulations may be adopted which would have a significant impact on our coal mining operations or our customers’ ability to use our coal and may require us or our customers to change their operations significantly or incur substantial costs.

CoalCo is committed to complying with all laws and regulations. This commitment is evident in CoalCo’s demonstrated cost and effort to abate and control pollution and/or contamination at its facilities. CoalCo made capital expenditures for environmental control facilities of approximately $0.6 million, $18.4 million, and $19.1 million in the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively. CoalCo does not expect to have any capital expenditures in 2017 for environmental control facilities.

Environmental Laws

Clean Air Act and Related Regulations. The federal Clean Air Act (CAA) and corresponding state laws and regulations regulate air emissions primarily through permitting and/or emissions control requirements, which affects coal mining, coal handling, and processing. We are required to obtain pre-approval for construction or modification of certain facilities, to meet stringent air permit requirements, or to use specific equipment, technologies or best management practices to control emissions. The CAA indirectly and significantly affects the U.S. coal industry by extensively regulating the air emissions of coal-fired electric power generating plants operated by our customers. Coal contains impurities, such as sulfur, mercury and other constituents, many of which are released into the air when coal is burned. Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), a regulated GHG, is also emitted when coal is burned. Environmental regulations governing emissions from coal-fired electric generating plants increase the costs to operate and could affect demand for coal as a fuel source and affect the volume of our sales. Moreover, additional environmental regulations increase the likelihood that existing coal-fired electric generating plants will be decommissioned, including plants to which CoalCo sells coal to, and reduce the likelihood that new coal-fired plants will be built in the future.

In early 2012, the EPA promulgated or finalized several rules for New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for coal- and oil- fired power plants which also have a negative effect on coal-generating facilities. The Utility Maximum Control Technology (UMACT) rule requires more stringent NSPS for particulate matter (PM), SO 2 and nitrogen oxides (NOX) and the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule requires new mercury and air toxic standards. In November 2012, the EPA published a notice of reconsideration of certain aspects of the UMACT and MATS rules. Following reconsideration in April 2013 and again in April 2014, the EPA promulgated final UMACT and MATS rules in November 2014 at which point the standards become applicable to new power plants. The final rules have higher emission limits, but the standards are still stringent and compliance with the rules is expensive.

The CAA requires the EPA to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for certain pollutants and the CAA identifies two types of NAAQS. Primary standards provide public health protection, including protecting the health of “sensitive” populations such as asthmatics, children, and the elderly. Secondary standards

 

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provide public welfare protection, including protection against decreased visibility and damage to animals, crops, vegetation, and buildings. On October 1, 2015, the EPA finalized the NAAQS for ozone pollution and reduced the limit to 70 parts per billion (ppb) from the previous 75 ppb standard. The final rule could have a large impact on the coal mining industry as states would be required to update their permitting standards to meet these potentially unachievable limits. Six states have now filed a petition for review in the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Further, the EPA announced in June 2017 that a related compliance deadline for the states has been extended one year, giving states more time to develop air quality plans.

On July 6, 2011, the EPA finalized a rule known as the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR). CSAPR regulates cross-border emissions of criteria air pollutants such as SO 2 and NOX, as well as byproducts, fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone by requiring states to limit emissions from sources that “contribute significantly” to noncompliance with air quality standards for the criteria air pollutants. If the ambient levels of criteria air pollutants are above the thresholds set by the EPA, a region is considered to be in “nonattainment” for that pollutant and the EPA applies more stringent control standards for sources of air emissions located in the region. In April 2014, the Supreme Court reversed a decision of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that vacated the rule. Following remand and briefing, in October 2014 the D.C. Circuit Court of appeals granted a motion to lift a stay of the rule and allow the EPA to modify the CSAPR compliance deadline by three-years, setting the stage for issuance of the proposed rule. Implementation of CSAPR phase 1 began in 2015, with phase 2 beginning in 2017. On September 7, 2016, the EPA finalized an update to the CSAPR for the 2008 ozone NAAQS by issuing the final CSAPR update.

On March 27, 2012, the EPA published its proposed NSPS for CO 2 emissions from new coal-powered electric generating units. The proposed rule would have applied to new power plants and to existing plants that make major modifications. If the rule had been adopted as proposed, only new coal-fired power plants with CO 2 capture and storage (CCS) could have met the proposed emission limits. Commercial scale CCS is not likely to be available in the near future, and if available, it may make coal-fired electric generation units uneconomical compared to new gas-fired electric generation units. On January 8, 2014, the EPA re-proposed NSPS for CO 2 for new fossil fuel fired power plants and rescinded the rules that were proposed on April 12, 2012.

On September 20, 2013, the EPA issued a new proposal to control carbon emissions from new power plants. Under the CPP proposal, the EPA would establish separate NSPS for CO 2 emissions for natural gas-fired turbines and coal-fired units. The proposed “Carbon Pollution Standard for New Power Plants” replaces the earlier proposal released by the EPA in 2012. On August 3, 2015, the EPA finalized the Carbon Pollution Standards to cut carbon emissions from new, modified and reconstructed power plants, which would have become effective on October 23, 2015.

On June 2, 2014, the EPA proposed additional CPP regulations to cut carbon emissions from existing power plants. Under this proposed rule, the EPA would create emission guidelines for states to follow in developing plans to address GHG emissions from existing fossil fuel-fired electric generating units. Specifically, the EPA is proposing state-specific rate-based goals for CO 2 emissions from the power sector, as well as guidelines for states to follow in developing plans to achieve the state-specific goals.

On August 3, 2015, the EPA finalized the CPP Rule to cut carbon pollution from existing power plants, which would have become effective on December 22, 2015. Numerous petitions challenging the CPP Rule have been consolidated into one case, West Virginia v. EPA. While the litigation is still ongoing at the circuit court level, a mid-litigation application to the Supreme Court resulted in a stay of the CPP Rule. On September 27, 2016, an en banc panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard oral arguments in the case. The decision, originally expected in early 2017, has been stayed as a result of a March 28, 2017 executive order directing the EPA to begin the process of reviewing and possibly rescinding the CPP Rule. The EPA filed a motion and the motion was granted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit requesting the stay while the EPA conducts their review of the CPP Rule. If the review does not result in any rule changes, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will rule on the legality of the CPP Rule. On October 10, 2017, the EPA formally proposed repeal the CPP, which relies on a re-interpretation of CAA 111(d), on which the CPP was originally premised.

 

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The current Administration’s executive order promoting energy independence and economic growth issued on March 28, 2017 requires the review of existing regulations that potentially burden the development or use of domestically produced energy resources. The review of existing regulations may not result in any changes and any changes made to existing regulations may not produce the intended favorable results desired by the new Administration. The executive order also directed the Council on Environmental Quality to rescind its final guidance entitled, “Final Guidance for Federal Departments and Agencies on Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the Effects of Climate Change in National Environmental Policy Act Reviews.” The guidance previously directed agencies to consider proposed actions and their effects on climate change (GHG emissions would have been a key indicator being assessed under any NEPA review). Such review considerations may have created additional delays or costs in any NEPA review processes for energy producers and generators and may have prevented the acquisition of any necessary federal approvals for energy producers and generators.

Clean Water Act. The federal Clean Water Act (CWA) and corresponding state laws affect our coal operations by regulating discharges into surface waters. Permits requiring regular monitoring and compliance with effluent limitations and reporting requirements govern the discharge of pollutants into regulated waters. The CWA and corresponding state laws include requirements for: improvement of designated “impaired waters” (i.e., not meeting state water quality standards) through the use of effluent limitations; anti-degradation regulations which protect state designated “high quality/exceptional use” streams by restricting or prohibiting discharges; requirements to treat discharges from coal mining properties for non-traditional pollutants, such as chlorides, selenium and dissolved solids; requirements to minimize impacts and compensate for unavoidable impacts resulting from discharges of fill materials to regulated streams and wetlands; and requirements to dispose of produced wastes and other oil and gas wastes at approved disposal facilities. In addition, the Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) requirements of the CWA apply to all CoalCo operations that use or produce fluids and require the implementation of plans to address any spills and the installation of secondary containment around all storage tanks. These requirements may cause CoalCo to incur significant additional costs that could adversely affect our operating results, financial condition and cash flows.

CoalCo requires certain surface structures for its processing of coal, placement of refuse, and transportation of materials through pipelines and above-ground conveyance systems. On April 21, 2014 the EPA published a proposed rule called “Definition of ‘Waters of the United States’ (WoUS) Under the Clean Water Act.” The proposal would expand the scope of the CWA to include previously non-jurisdictional streams, wetlands, and waters, making these areas jurisdictional inter-coastal waters of the U.S. In February 2015 the EPA and ACOE issued a memorandum of understanding to withdraw the WoUS Interpretive Rule. The EPA published the latest version of the WoUS rule (the Clean Water Rule) on June 29, 2015, which was to become effective on August 28, 2015. However, on August 27, 2015, the District Court of North Dakota blocked implementation of the rule in 13 states. On October 9, 2015, the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit blocked implementation of the rule nationwide. The U.S. Supreme Court will now decide which court has jurisdiction—federal appeals court or district courts. Oral arguments on the case have been scheduled for October 11, 2017. Meanwhile, the current Administration has announced that it is working to rescind and replace the rulemaking, reestablish the 1986 rule and implement the 2008 guidance, which is less onerous than the current rule being litigated.

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and corresponding state laws and regulations affect coal mining by imposing requirements for the treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous wastes. Facilities at which hazardous wastes have been treated, stored or disposed of are subject to corrective action orders issued by the EPA that could adversely affect our financial results, financial condition and cash flows.

In 2010, the EPA proposed options for the regulation of Coal Combustion Residuals (CCRs) from the electric power sector as either hazardous waste or non-hazardous waste. On December 19, 2014, the EPA announced the first national regulations for the disposal of CCRs from electric utilities and independent power producers under RCRA. On April 17, 2015, the EPA finalized these regulations under the solid waste provisions (Subtitle D) of RCRA and not the hazardous waste provisions (Subtitle C) which became effective on October 19, 2015. The

 

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EPA affirms in the preamble to the final rule that “this rule does not apply to CCR placed in active or abandoned underground or surface mines.” Instead, “the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) and the EPA will address the management of CCR in mine fills in a separate regulatory action(s).” On November 3, 2015, the EPA published the final rule Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards (ELG), revising the regulations for the Steam Electric Power Generating category which became effective on January 4, 2016. The rule sets the first federal limits on the levels of toxic metals in wastewater that can be discharged from power plants, based on technology improvements in the steam electric power industry over the last three decades. The combined effect of the CCR and ELG regulations has forced power generating companies to close existing ash ponds and will likely force the closure of certain older existing coal burning power plants that can’t comply with the new standards.

Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act . The federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) establishes minimum national operational and reclamation standards for all surface mines, as well as most aspects of underground mines. SMCRA requires that comprehensive environmental protection and reclamation standards be met during the course of and following completion of mining activities. Permits for all mining operations must be obtained from the U.S. Office of Surface Mining (OSM) or, where state regulatory agencies have adopted federally approved state programs under SMCRA, the appropriate state regulatory authority. States that operate federally approved state programs may impose standards which are more stringent than the requirements of SMCRA and OSM’s regulations and in many instances have done so. Our active mining complexes are located in Pennsylvania which has primary jurisdiction for enforcement of SMCRA through its approved state program. In addition, SMCRA imposes a reclamation fee on all current mining operations, the proceeds of which are deposited in the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund (AML Fund), which is used to restore unreclaimed and abandoned mine lands mined before 1977. The current per ton fee is $0.28 per ton for surface mined coal and $0.12 per ton for underground mined coal. These fees are currently scheduled to be in effect until September 30, 2021.

Federal and state laws require bonds to secure our obligations to reclaim lands used for mining and to satisfy other miscellaneous obligations. These bonds are typically renewable on a yearly basis. Surety bond costs have increased while the market terms of surety bonds have generally become less favorable. It is possible that surety-bond issuers may refuse to renew bonds or may demand additional collateral. Any failure to maintain, or inability to acquire, surety bonds that are required by state and federal laws would have a material adverse effect on our ability to produce coal, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity and cash flows.

Excess Spoil, Coal Mine Waste, Diversions, and Buffer Zones for Perennial and Intermittent Streams. The OSM has issued final amendments to regulations concerning stream buffer zones, stream channel diversions, excess spoil, and coal mine waste to comply with an order issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on February 20, 2014, which vacated the stream buffer zone rule that was published December 12, 2008. On July 27, 2015, the OSM published the proposed Stream Protection Rule (SPR). After much debate and thousands of comments, the final SPR was published by the OSM in the Federal Register on December 20, 2016. The final SPR requires the restoration of the physical form, hydrologic function, and ecological function of the segment of a perennial or intermittent stream that a permittee mines through. Additionally, it requires that the post-mining surface configuration of the reclaimed mine site include a drainage pattern, including ephemeral streams, similar to the pre-mining drainage pattern, with exceptions for stability, topographical changes, fish and wildlife habitat, etc. The rule also requires the establishment of a 100-foot-wide streamside vegetative corridor of native species (including riparian species, when appropriate) along each bank of any restored or permanently-diverted perennial, intermittent, or ephemeral stream. This rulemaking was nullified by Congress under the Congressional Review Act in February 2017.

Health and Safety Laws

Mine Safety. Legislative and regulatory changes have required us to purchase additional safety equipment, construct stronger seals to isolate mined out areas, and engage in additional training. We have also experienced

 

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more aggressive inspection protocols and with new regulations the amount of civil penalties has increased. The actions taken thus far by federal and state governments include requiring:

 

   

the caching of additional supplies of self-contained self-rescuer (SCSR) devices underground;

 

   

the purchase and installation of electronic communication and personal tracking devices underground;

 

   

the purchase and installation of proximity detection services on continuous miner machines;

 

   

the placement of refuge chambers, which are structures designed to provide refuge for groups of miners during a mine emergency when evacuation from the mine is not possible, which will provide breathable air for 96 hours;

 

   

the replacement of existing seals in worked-out areas of mines with stronger seals;

 

   

the purchase of new fire resistant conveyor belting underground;

 

   

additional training and testing that creates the need to hire additional employees;

 

   

more stringent rock dusting requirements; and

 

   

the purchase of personal dust monitors for collecting respirable dust samples from certain miners.

On October 2, 2015, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) published proposed rules for underground coal mining operations concerning proximity detection systems for coal hauling machines and scoops. On January 15, 2015, MSHA published a final rule requiring underground coal mine operations to equip continuous mining machines, except full-face continuous mining machines, with proximity detection systems. The proximity detection system strengthens protection for miners by reducing the potential of pinning, crushing and striking hazards that result in accidents involving life-threatening injuries and death. The final rule became effective March 15, 2015 and included a phased in schedule for newly manufactured and in-service equipment. In 2010 MSHA rolled out the “End Black Lung, Act Now” initiative. As a result, MSHA implemented a new final rule on August 1, 2014 to lower miners’ exposure to respirable coal mine dust including using the new Personal Dust Monitor (PDM) technology. This final rule was implemented in three phases. The first phase began August 1, 2014 and utilizes the current gravimetric sampling device to take full shift dust samples from the current designated occupations and areas. It also requires additional record keeping and immediate corrective action in the event of overexposure. The second phase began February 1, 2016 and requires additional sampling for designated and other occupations using the new continuous personal dust monitor (CPDM) technology, which provides real time dust exposure information to the miner. The necessary CPDM equipment required to meet compliance with the new rule was ordered at a cost of $2 million. Dust Coordinators and Dust Technicians were also hired to meet the staffing demand to manage compliance with the new rule. The final phase of the rule was effective on August 1, 2016. when the current respirable dust standard was reduced from 2.0 to 1.5mg/m3 for designated occupations and from 1.0 to 0.5mg/m3 for Part 90 Miners.

Black Lung Legislation. Under federal black lung benefits legislation, each coal mine operator is required to make payments of black lung benefits or contributions to:

 

   

current and former coal miners totally disabled from black lung disease;

 

   

certain survivors of a coal miner who dies from black lung disease or pneumoconiosis; and

 

   

a trust fund for the payment of benefits and medical expenses to claimants whose last mine employment was before January 1, 1970, where no responsible coal mine operator has been identified

 

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for claims (where a coal miner’s last coal employment was after December 31, 1969), or where the responsible coal mine operator has defaulted on the payment of such benefits. The trust fund is funded by an excise tax on U.S. production of up to $1.10 per ton for deep mined coal and up to $0.55 per ton for surface-mined coal, neither amount to exceed 4.4% of the gross sales price.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) made two changes to the Federal Black Lung Benefits Act. First, it provided changes to the legal criteria used to assess and award claims by creating a legal presumption that miners are entitled to benefits if they have worked at least 15 years in underground coal mines, or in similar conditions, and suffer from a totally disabling lung disease. To rebut this presumption, a coal company would have to prove that a miner did not have black lung or that the disease was not caused by the miner’s work. Second, it changed the law so black lung benefits will continue to be paid to dependent survivors when the miner passes away, regardless of the cause of the miner’s death. The changes will result in increased cost to CoalCo of complying with the Federal Black Lung Benefits Act. In addition to the federal legislation, we are also liable under various state statutes for black lung claims.

Other State and Local Laws

Ownership of Coal Rights . CoalCo acquires ownership or leasehold rights to coal properties prior to conducting operations on those properties. As is customary in the coal industry, we have generally conducted only a summary review of the title to coal rights that are not in our development plans, but which we believe we control. This summary review is conducted at the time of acquisition or as part of a review of our land records to determine control of coal rights. Given ParentCo’s long history as a coal producer, we believe we have a well-developed ownership position relating to our coal control. Prior to the commencement of development operations on coal properties, we conduct a thorough title examination and perform curative work with respect to significant defects. We generally will not commence operations on a property until we have cured any material title defects on such property. We are typically responsible for the cost of curing any title defects. We have completed title work on substantially all of our coal producing properties and believe that we have satisfactory title to our producing properties in accordance with standards generally accepted in the industry.

Available Information

CoalCo will as of the time of separation maintain a website at www. consolenergy .com. CoalCo will make available, free of charge, on this website our future annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the 1934 Act), as soon as reasonably practicable after such reports are available, electronically filed with, or furnished to the SEC, and are also available at the SEC’s website www.sec.gov. Apart from SEC filings, we also use our website to publish information which may be important to investors, such as presentations to analysts. Our website and the information contained therein or connected thereto are not incorporated into this information statement or the registration statement of which this information statement forms a part, or in any other filings with, or any information furnished or submitted to, the SEC.

Legal and Environmental Proceedings

In the normal course of business, CoalCo and its subsidiaries are subject to various lawsuits and claims with respect to such matters as personal injury, wrongful death, damage to property, exposure to hazardous substances, governmental regulations including environmental remediation, employment and contract disputes and other claims and actions arising out of the normal course of business. CoalCo accrues the estimated loss for these lawsuits and claims when the loss is probable and can be estimated. CoalCo’s current estimated accruals related to these pending claims, individually and in the aggregate, are immaterial to the financial position, results of operations or cash flows of CoalCo. It is possible that the aggregate loss in the future with respect to these lawsuits and claims could ultimately be material to the financial position, results of operations or cash flows of CoalCo; however, such amounts cannot be reasonably estimated. The amount claimed against CoalCo is disclosed below when an amount is expressly stated in the lawsuit or claim, which is not often the case.

 

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The following royalty, land rights and other lawsuits and claims include those for which a loss is reasonably possible, but not probable, and accordingly, an accrual may not have been recognized. These claims are influenced by many factors which prevent the estimation of a range of potential loss. These factors include, but are not limited to, generalized allegations of unspecified damages (such as improper deductions), discovery having not commenced or not having been completed, unavailability of expert reports on damages and non-monetary issues being tried.

Fitzwater Litigation . Three nonunion retired coal miners filed an amended complaint on April 24, 2017 against ParentCo, Fola Coal Company, LLC, CONSOL of Kentucky and Consolidation Coal Company in West Virginia Federal Court alleging ERISA violations in the termination of retiree health care benefits. The Plaintiffs contend they relied to their detriment on oral statements and promises of “lifetime health benefits” allegedly made by various members of management during Plaintiffs’ employment and that they were allegedly denied access to Summary Plan Documents that clearly reserved to the Company the right to modify or terminate the CONSOL Energy Inc. Retiree Health and Welfare Plan. Plaintiffs request that retiree health benefits be reinstated and seek to represent a class of all nonunion retirees of Fola Coal Company, LLC and CONSOL of Kentucky. The Company believes it has meritorious defense and intends to vigorously defend this suit.

Casey Litigation . The Company has become aware of (but not served with) a Complaint filed on August 23, 2017, on behalf of two nonunion retired coal miners against ParentCo, CONSOL Buchanan Mining Co., Inc. and Consolidation Coal Company in West Virginia Federal Court alleging ERISA violations in the termination of retiree health care benefits. Filed by the same lawyers who filed the Fitzwater litigation , and raising nearly identical claims, the plaintiffs contend they relied to their detriment on oral promises of “lifetime health benefits” allegedly made by various members of management during plaintiffs’ employment and that they were not provided with copies of Summary Plan Documents clearly reserving to the Company the right to modify or terminate the existing Retiree Health and Welfare Plan. Plaintiffs request that retiree health benefits be reinstated for them and their dependents and seek to represent a class of all nonunion retirees of any ParentCo subsidiary that operated or employed individuals in McDowell or Mercer Counties, West Virginia, or Buchanan or Tazewell Counties, Virginia whose retiree welfare benefits were terminated.

Virginia Mine Void Litigation . Four lawsuits naming Consolidation Coal Company, Island Creek Coal Company, CNX Gas Company, and/or ParentCo have recently concluded in favor of the companies. After the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants in two of the actions upon its finding that plaintiffs’ claims are barred by the applicable statutes of limitation, plaintiffs appealed both cases to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. On March 9, 2017, the Fourth Circuit affirmed and entered judgment in favor of the defendants. Plaintiffs did not seek review by the U.S. Supreme Court and those judgments are now final. As a direct result of the Fourth Circuit action, Motions for Voluntary Dismissal were filed and granted by the court in both of the two remaining cases. On January 26, 2016, six mine void lawsuits that had twice before been filed and voluntarily dismissed were refiled for a third time in state court but have not been served. Because each had twice before been filed and voluntarily dismissed, and because the most recent refilings were not served within a one-year period, under these procedural circumstances these actions should no longer be viable under federal or Virginia state law. The complaints sought damages and injunctive relief in connection with the transfer of water from mining activities at Buchanan Mine into void spaces in inactive ICCC mines adjacent to the Buchanan operations, voids ostensibly underlying plaintiffs’ properties. While some of the plaintiffs claimed an ownership interest in the coal, others had some interest in one or more of the fee, surface, oil/gas or other mineral estates. The suits alleged the water storage precluded access to and damaged coal, impeded coalbed methane gas production and was made without compensation to the property owners. Plaintiffs sought recovery in tort, contract and trespass assumpsit (quasi-contract). The suits each sought damages between $50,000 and in excess of $100,000 plus punitive damages.

Environmental Proceedings On September 4, 2017, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) provided notice that it required additional time to review the technical merits of a prior permit submission for continued longwall mining in the 4L panel at the Bailey Mine (the 4L Pending Permit), in light of a recent

 

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Environmental Hearing Board (EHB) decision, which is discussed further below. As a result, the longwall was idled at that time and workforce adjustments were made, pending further developments with the DEP and permit submission. This was the first time in the 35-year history of the Bailey Mine that a needed mining permit had not been received in a timely fashion.

As noted above, the DEP’s determination with respect to the 4L Pending Permit related to part of an August 2017 EHB decision that impacts the application of DEP-required stream mitigation techniques, specifically the installation of synthetic stream-channel liner systems. The EHB is the quasi-judicial agency that hears appeals of DEP permitting decisions. The EHB decision held, in part, that the requirement to install a stream-channel liner system constituted impermissible pollution under applicable environmental laws. That determination had direct and specific implications for the 4L Pending Permit with respect to undermining one particular stream, Polen Run, for which the DEP was proposing to require the installation of the stream-channel liner system as a mitigation measure. The DEP requested alternative mitigation measures for consideration, which ParentCo supplied. Due to the narrowly focused EHB decision, the DEP is carefully reviewing alternative approaches and continues to evaluate the requested data submitted in support of the 4L Pending Permit. Given the potential for a protracted review, ParentCo felt it prudent to temporarily idle the longwall and dismantle and relocate it to another panel where it held an operating permit.

To that end, on September 18, 2017, ParentCo issued a press release stating that the DEP was requiring additional time to evaluate the approval of the 4L Pending Permit and that, as a result of this ongoing evaluation, ParentCo determined to move the longwall to another permitted panel in order to resume operations. The longwall was moved and resumed operations the first week of October 2017. Management has implemented several measures to mitigate the production impact from this delay, including working additional unscheduled shifts as compared to the previous five and a half day schedule. This operating schedule change is intended to allow ParentCo to meet customer needs.

ParentCo continues to work closely with the necessary agencies to obtain operating permits to allow for continuity of longwall mining operations. The PAMC operates five total longwalls, with many of the approved permits as far out as ten years in advance.

 

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

You should read the following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (MD&A) in conjunction with the audited Combined Financial Statements and corresponding notes and the Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Statements and corresponding notes included elsewhere in this information statement. This MD&A contains forward-looking statements and covers periods prior to the consummation of the separation, and accordingly the discussion of such historical periods does not necessarily reflect the impact the separation may have on CoalCo. The matters discussed in these forward-looking statements are subject to risk, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or implied in the forward-looking statements. Please see “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements” for a discussion of the uncertainties, risks and assumptions associated with these statements.

All amounts discussed are in millions of U.S. dollars, unless otherwise indicated.

The Separation

In December 2016, ParentCo announced its intent to separate into two independent, publicly-traded companies (the separation): CoalCo, which will hold ParentCo’s PAMC and certain related coal assets, including ParentCo’s ownership interest in CNXC, which owns a 25% stake in PAMC, the CNX Marine Terminal, and Greenfield Reserves (collectively, the Coal Business), and an oil and natural gas exploration and production (E&P) company focused on Appalachian area natural gas and liquids activities, including production, gathering, processing and acquisition of natural gas properties in the Appalachian Basin (the Gas Business) of ParentCo.

The separation will occur by means of a pro rata distribution by ParentCo of all of the outstanding common stock of CoalCo. ParentCo, the existing publicly traded company, will continue to own the Gas Business. In connection with the separation, CoalCo will change its name to CONSOL Energy Inc. and ParentCo, the existing publicly traded company, will continue to own the Gas Business and will change its name to CNX Resources Corporation.

The separation transaction, which is expected to be completed in the second half of 2017, is subject to a number of conditions, including, but not limited to: final approval by ParentCo’s Board of Directors; receipt of a private letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service, which was received on October 16, 2017, and one or more opinions of its tax advisors, in each case satisfactory to ParentCo’s Board of Directors, regarding certain U.S. federal income tax matters relating to the transaction; and the SEC declaring effective the registration statement of which this information statement forms a part.

CoalCo and GasCo will enter into a separation agreement that will identify the assets to be transferred, the liabilities to be assumed and the contracts to be transferred to each of CoalCo and GasCo as part of the separation of ParentCo into two companies, and will provide for when and how these transfers and assumptions will occur. ParentCo may, at any time and for any reason until the proposed transaction is complete, abandon the separation plan or modify its terms.

For purposes of the following sections of the MD&A, we use the terms “CoalCo,” “the Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our,” when referring to periods prior to the distribution, to refer to the Coal Business of ParentCo.

Our Business

We are a leading, low-cost producer of high-quality bituminous coal from the Northern Appalachian Basin (NAPP) with excellent access to major U.S. and international coal markets and a highly experienced management team. Our company and its predecessors have been mining coal, primarily in NAPP, since 1864. We have the capacity to produce up to 28.5 million tons per year of thermal and crossover metallurgical coal from our PAMC, which consists of three highly productive, well-capitalized underground mines in the Pittsburgh No. 8 coal seam

 

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and the largest coal preparation plant in the United States. Coal from the PAMC is valued because of its high energy content (as measured in British thermal units, or Btu, per pound), relatively low levels of sulfur and other impurities, and strong thermoplastic properties that enable it to be used in metallurgical as well as thermal applications. We take advantage of these desirable quality characteristics and our extensive logistical network, which is directly served by both the Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads, to aggressively market our product to a broad base of strategically-selected, top-performing power plant customers in the eastern United States. We also capitalize on the operational synergies afforded by our wholly-owned CNX Marine Terminal in the Port of Baltimore to export our coal to thermal and metallurgical end-users in Europe, Asia, South America, and Canada. Our operations, including the PAMC and the CNX Marine Terminal, have consistently generated strong cash flows. The PAMC controls 766.7 million tons of high-quality Pittsburgh seam reserves (as of December 31, 2016), enough to allow for approximately 27 years of full-capacity production. In addition, we own or control approximately 1.6 billion tons of Greenfield Reserves in the eastern United States that could provide us with a solid growth platform in the future. Our vision is to maximize cash flow generation through the safe, compliant, and efficient operation of this world-class core asset base, while strategically reducing debt, returning capital through share buybacks or dividends, and when prudent, allocating capital toward compelling growth opportunities.

Our major assets include:

   

~90% economic ownership and full operational control of the PAMC, consisting of:

  o

75% undivided interest in the PAMC;

  o

~60% limited partner interest, a 1.7% general partner interest (reflecting 100% of the general partner units) and incentive distribution rights (IDRs) in CNX Coal Resources LP, which is a growth-oriented master limited partnership formed by us in 2015 to manage and further develop our active coal operations in Pennsylvania, and which owns the remaining 25% stake in PAMC;

   

the CNX Marine Terminal; and

   

1.6 billion tons of Greenfield Reserves in NAPP, the CAPP, and the ILB.

These assets and the diverse markets they serve provide robust flexibility for generating cash across a wide variety of demand and pricing scenarios. This flexibility begins with the low-cost structure and optionality afforded by our PAMC. The three mines at the PAMC, which include the Bailey, Enlow Fork, and Harvey mines, produce coal from the Pittsburgh No. 8 Coal Seam using longwall mining, a highly automated underground mining technique that produces large volumes of coal at lower costs compared to alternative mining methods. These three mines collectively operate five longwalls, and the production from all three mines is processed at a single, centralized preparation plant, which is connected via conveyor belts to each mine. The Bailey Central Preparation Plant, which can clean and process up to 8,200 raw tons of coal per hour, provides economies of scale while also maintaining the ability to segregate and blend coals based on quality. This infrastructure enables us to tailor our production levels and quality specifications to meet market demands. It also results in a highly productive, low-cost operation as compared to other NAPP coal mines. The PAMC was the most productive longwall operation in NAPP during 2015-2016, producing 6.77 tons of coal per employee hour, compared with an average of 4.94 tons per employee hour for all other currently-operating NAPP longwalls. As of June 30, 2017, productivity further increased to 7.43 tons of coal per employee hour, compared with an average of 5.24 tons per employee hour for all other currently-operating NAPP longwalls. Our high productivity helps drive a low cost structure, which according to Wood Mackenzie was in the first quartile among NAPP coal mines in 2016. Our efficiency strengthens our margins throughout the commodity cycle, and has allowed us to continue to generate positive margins even in challenging pricing environments.

Coal from the PAMC is versatile in that it can be sold either domestically or abroad, in the thermal coal market or as a crossover product in the high-volatile metallurgical coal market. Domestically, we have a well-established and diverse blue chip customer base, the majority of which is comprised of domestic utility companies located across the eastern United States. In 2016, we shipped coal to 38 plants located in 18 eastern U.S. states. As of June 30, 2017, the PAMC is fully contracted for 2017. For 2018 and 2019, our contracted position as of October 9, 2017 is at

 

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80% and 41%, respectively, assuming a 27 million ton coal sales volume. We believe our committed and contracted position is well-balanced in hedging against market downside risk while allowing us to continue to build out the customer portfolio strategically and opportunistically as the market evolves.

Going forward, we plan to continue to execute our sales strategy of targeting top-performing, environmentally-controlled, rail-served power plants in our core market areas in the eastern United States. Our top 15 domestic power plant customers in 2016, which accounted for 82% of our domestic power plant shipments that year, operated at a 15% higher capacity factor than other NAPP rail-served plants in 2016, and have consistently consumed more than 50 million tons of coal per year over the past five years. We have grown our share at these plants from 12% in 2011 to 32% in 2016, and we believe that we can continue to grow this share. Our customer plants consume coal from all four primary coal producing basins in the United States. However, we believe that we are favorably positioned to compete with producers from these basins primarily because of: (i) our significant transportation cost advantage compared to producers in the ILB and the Powder River Basin (PRB), which incur higher rail transportation rates to deliver coal to many of our core market areas in the eastern United States, (ii) our favorable operating environment compared to producers in CAPP, where production has been declining and is expected to continue to decline primarily due to the basin’s high cost production profile, reserve degradation and difficult permitting environment, and (iii) the attractive quality characteristics of our coal, which enable us to compete for demand from a broader range of coal-fired power plants as compared to (x) mining operations in basins that typically produce coal with a comparatively lower heat content, such as the ILB and PRB, (y) mining operations in basins that typically produce coal with a comparatively higher sulfur content, such as the ILB and most areas in NAPP, and (z) mining operations in basins that typically produce coal with a comparatively higher chlorine content, such as certain areas in the ILB.

The PAMC and our 100%-owned CNX Marine Terminal allow us to participate in the international thermal and metallurgical coal markets. The CNX Marine Terminal provides coal transshipments directly from rail cars to ocean-going vessels for both PAMC and third-party shippers, and is the only coal marine terminal on the East Coast served by two rail lines (Norfolk Southern and CSX). Located on 200 acres, the terminal has a throughput capacity of 15 million tons per year, as well as extensive blending capabilities and significant ground storage capacity of 1.1 million tons. In 2016, approximately 8.1 million tons of coal were shipped through the CNX Marine Terminal, with approximately 57% of that amount having been produced at our PAMC. The ability to serve both domestic and international markets with premium thermal and crossover metallurgical coal provides us with significant diversification and optionality, allowing us to pursue upside while helping to minimize both pricing and volume risk. Since 2014, our domestic thermal shipments from the PAMC have ranged from 17.3 to 22.8 million tons per year, our export thermal shipments have ranged from 2.1 to 4.4 million tons per year, and our export metallurgical shipments have ranged from 1.2 to 2.0 million tons per year. Historically, the CNX Marine Terminal served as a captive provider to company-owned or partnered mines. In 2016 the Company opened the terminal to third parties to utilize surplus capacity. The CNX Marine Terminal has since signed multiple third party contracts with market-based terms, including take-or-pay contract minimums, and is currently on track in 2017 to exceed its record throughput, set in 2011, of 12.9 million tons. After accounting for PAMC tons, the CNX Marine Terminal still has significant surplus capacity that may be used to generate additional revenue by providing services to third parties.

Finally, the 1.6 billion tons of Greenfield Reserves that we control in NAPP, CAPP, and ILB, which are in addition to the substantial reserve base associated with PAMC, feature both thermal and metallurgical reserves. Included among these are approximately 591 million tons and 377 million tons of contiguous greenfield reserves associated with the River Mine and Mason Dixon Mine projects, respectively, which are among the last remaining greenfield Pittsburgh No. 8 coal seam projects in the Northern Appalachian region. Also included are 26 million tons of low-volatile metallurgical coal reserves associated with our Itmann property, 40 million tons of high-volatile metallurgical coal reserves associated with our Martinka property, and 117 million tons of reserves associated with our Birch and Canfield properties that are classified as thermal but that have strong potential as a high-vol or crossover metallurgical product. Our Greenfield Reserves provide additional optionality for organic growth or monetization as market conditions allow.

 

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Results of Operations

2017 Outlook:

 

   

Our 2017 coal sales is expected to be approximately 26.0-27.0 million tons.

   

Due to a reduction in coal price realizations resulting from a cooler than normal summer, modest delivery impacts related to the railroads, and the permit delay relating to Bailey Mine discussed under “Legal and Environmental Proceedings”, which may negatively impact anticipated 2017 revenue amounts, we have decreased our expected 2017 coal capital investment to be between $92-$108 million, down from the previously stated amounts of $112-$120 million. These amounts intend to be utilized primarily for refuse storage area and maintenance capital expenditures related to equipment, buildings and other infrastructure. None of the anticipated expenditures are material in amount or represent a material project for our business.

Six Months Ended June 30, 2017 Compared with the Six Months Ended June 30, 2016

Net Income Attributable to CONSOL Mining Corporation Shareholder

CONSOL Mining Corporation had net income attributable to CONSOL Mining Corporation shareholder of $89 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017, compared to net income attributable to CONSOL Mining Corporation shareholder of $20 million for the six months ended June 30, 2016.

CONSOL Mining Corporation primarily consists of the Pennsylvania Mining Operations Complex (PAMC), as well as various corporate and other business activities that are not allocated to PAMC. The other business activities include CNX Marine Terminal operations, closed and idle mine activities, selling, general and administrative activities, income taxes, as well as various other non-operated activities.

PAMC ANALYSIS

The principal activities of the PAMC division are mining, preparation and marketing of thermal coal, sold primarily to power generators. It also includes selling, general and administrative activities, as well as various other activities assigned to the PAMC division.

 

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PAMC had earnings before income tax of $111 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017, compared to earnings before income tax of $46 million for the six months ended June 30, 2016. Variances are discussed below.

 

     For the Six Months Ended June 30,  
(in millions)    2017      2016      Difference  

Coal Sales

   $              620      $              477      $             143   

Freight Revenue

     30        25         

Miscellaneous Other Income

     6        7        (1)  

Gain on Sales of Assets

     6                
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Revenue and Other Income

    
662
 
    
509
 
    
153 
 

Operating Costs and Expenses:

        

Operating Costs

     390        313        77   

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     79        74         
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Operating Costs and Expenses

    
469
 
    
387
 
    
82 
 

Other Costs:

        

Other Costs

     11        25        (14)  

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     5        9        (4)  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Other Costs

     16        34        (18)  

Selling, General, and Administrative Costs

     32        13        19   

Freight Expense

     30        25         

Interest Expense

    
4
 
    
4
 
    
— 
 
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Costs and Expenses

    
551
 
    
463
 
    
88 
 
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Earnings Before Income Taxes

   $ 111      $ 46      $ 65   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Add: Interest Expense

     4        4        — 

Add: Depreciation, Depletion, and Amortization

     84        83       
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

EBITDA*

     199        133        66 

Add: Stock-Based Compensation

     8        3       
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Adjusted EBITDA*

   $  207      $  136      $  71 
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

*

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are non-GAAP financial measures. For a definition of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA and discussion regarding why management views these non-GAAP measures to be useful in reviewing the company’s results of operations, please see “—Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Coal Sales . PAMC coal sales were $620 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017, compared to $477 million for the six months ended June 30, 2016. The $143 million increase was attributable to a 2.1 million increase in tons sold and a $4.07 per ton higher average sales price. The increase in tons sold was primarily due to increased demand, in part due to higher natural gas prices. The higher average sales price per ton sold in the 2017 period was primarily the result of a tighter supply-demand balance in the international thermal and crossover metallurgical coal markets that the PAMC complex serves. The API2 index (the benchmark price reference for coal imported into northwest Europe) was up more than 60% versus the year-ago period, and global coking coal prices were up by an even greater percentage in the period-to-period comparison.

Freight Revenue and Freight Expense . Freight revenue is the amount billed to customers for transportation costs incurred. This revenue is based on the weight of coal shipped, negotiated freight rates and method of transportation, primarily rail, used by the customers to which the Company contractually provides transportation services. Freight revenue is completely offset in freight expense. Freight revenue and freight expense were both $30 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017, compared to $25 million for the six months ended June 30, 2016. The $5 million increase was due to increased shipments where transportation services were contractually provided.

 

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Gain on Sales of Assets . Gain on sale of assets was $6 million, primarily due to the sale of certain coal rights during the six months ended June 30, 2017. No such transactions occurred during the six months ended June 30, 2016.

Operating Costs and Expenses . Operating costs and expenses are comprised of costs related to produced tons sold, along with changes in both the volumes and carrying values of coal inventory. Operating costs and expenses include items such as direct operating costs, royalty and production taxes, employee-related expenses and depreciation, depletion, and amortization costs. Total operating costs and expenses for the PAMC division were $469 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017, or $82 million higher than the $387 million for the six months ended June 30, 2016. Total costs per PAMC ton sold were $34.65 per ton for the six months ended June 30, 2017, compared to $33.86 per ton for the six months ended June 30, 2016. The increase in the cost of coal sold was driven by an increase in production-related costs as more coal was mined to meet market demand, as well as an increase in mine development activity. Productivity for the six months ended June 30, 2017, as measured by tons per employee-hour, improved by 6% compared to the year earlier period.

Other Costs . Other costs, which include costs such as coal reserve holding costs and purchased coal costs, decreased $18 million in the six months ended June 30, 2017 compared to the six months ended June 30, 2016. The decrease was primarily attributable to prior year costs related to: the temporary idling of one longwall at the PAMC complex to optimize the production schedule and discretionary 401(k) contributions; offset by a reduction in litigation expense. This period-over-period decrease was partially offset by a current period increase in costs related to externally purchased coal for blending purposes only.

Selling, General and Administrative Costs . CNXC entered into a service agreement with CONSOL Energy that required CONSOL Energy, and now CONSOL Mining Corporation, to provide certain selling, general and administrative services. These services are paid monthly based on an agreed upon fixed fee that is reset at least annually. There is also an additional portion of CONSOL Energy’s selling, general and administrative costs that is allocated to the PAMC division, outside of the service agreement, based on a percentage of total revenue and a percentage of total projected capital expenditures. The amount of selling, general and administrative costs related to the PAMC division was $32 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017, compared to $13 million for the six months ended June 30, 2016. The $19 million increase in the period-to-period comparison is primarily due to an increase in incentive compensation, stock based compensation and other allocated and non-allocated charges, none of which were individually material.

Interest Expense . Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized, of $4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016, is primarily comprised of interest on the CNXC revolving credit facility.

PAMC coal revenue and cost components on a per unit basis for these periods were as follows:

 

     For the Six Months Ended June 30,  
     2017      2016      Variance     Percent
Change
 

Tons Sold (in millions)

     13.5        11.4        2.1       18.4%  

Average Sales Price Per Ton Sold

   $     45.77      $     41.70      $ 4.07       9.8%  

Total Operating Costs Per Ton Sold

   $ 28.91      $ 27.39      $ 1.52       5.5%  

Total Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization Costs Per Ton Sold

     5.74        6.47        (0.73     (11.3)%  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

Total Costs Per Ton Sold

   $ 34.65      $ 33.86      $     0.79       2.3%  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

Average Margin Per Ton Sold

   $ 11.12      $ 7.84      $ 3.28       41.8%  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

The increase in overall tons sold was primarily due to increased demand, in part due to higher natural gas prices. The higher average sales price per ton sold in the 2017 period was primarily the result of a tighter supply-demand balance in the international thermal and crossover metallurgical coal markets that the PAMC complex serves.

 

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The PAMC division priced 3.9 million tons on the export market for the six months ended June 30, 2017, compared to 3.6 million tons for the six months ended June 30, 2016. All other tons were sold on the domestic market. Changes in the total costs per ton sold were primarily driven by an increase in production-related costs as more coal was mined to meet market demand, as well as an increase in mine development activity.

OTHER ANALYSIS

Other includes expenses from various corporate and diversified business activities that are not allocated to the PAMC division. The diversified business activities include coal terminal operations, closed and idle mine activities, selling, general and administrative activities, as well as various other non-operated activities, none of which are individually significant to the Company.

Other business activities had earnings before income tax of $7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017, compared to a loss before income tax of $23 million for the six months ended June 30, 2016. Variances are discussed below.

 

     For the Six Months Ended June 30,
(in millions)    2017   2016   Variance

Other Outside Sales

   $             28     $             16     $             12  

Miscellaneous Other Income

     27       28       (1

Gain on Sale of Assets

     7       4       3  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Revenue and Other Income

     62       48       14  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating and Other Costs

     52       69       (17

Selling, General, and Administrative Costs

     5       5        

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     (6     (5     (1

Interest Expense

     4       2       2  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Costs and Expenses

     55       71       (16
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earnings/(Loss) Before Income Tax

     7       (23     30  

Income Tax Expense

     19             19  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net Loss

     (12     (23     11  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add: Interest Expense

     4       2       2  

Add: Income Tax Expense

     19             19  

Add: Depreciation, Depletion, and Amortization

     (6     (5     (1
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EBITDA*

     5       (26     31  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add: Stock Based Compensation

     1       2       (1

Add: Pension Settlement

           14       (14
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adjusted EBITDA*

   $ 6     $ (10   $ 16  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are non-GAAP financial measures. For a definition of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA and discussion regarding why management views these non-GAAP measures to be useful in reviewing the company’s results of operations, please see “—Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Other Outside Sales. Other outside sales consists of sales from CNX Marine Terminal which is located on 200 acres in the port of Baltimore, Maryland and provides access to international coal markets. CNX Marine Terminal sales were $28 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017, compared to $16 million for the six months ended June 30, 2016. The $12 million increase in the period-to-period comparison was primarily due to an increase in both the tons processed at the terminal and the rates charged to process those tons.

 

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Miscellaneous Other Income . Miscellaneous other income decreased $1 million in the period-to-period comparison due to the following items:

 

     For the Six Months Ended June 30,  
(in millions)    2017      2016      Variance  

Royalty Income

   $                 12       $                 4       $                 8   

Rental Income

     11         18         (7)   

Right of Way

                   (5)   

Other Income

            —          
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Miscellaneous Other Income

   $ 27       $ 28       $ (1)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Operating and Other Costs . Operating and Other Costs were $52 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017, compared to $69 million for the six months ended June 30, 2016. Operating and Other Costs decreased in the period-to-period comparison due to the following items:

 

     For the Six Months Ended June 30,  
(in millions)    2017      2016      Variance  

CNX Marine Terminal

   $                 9       $                 8       $                 1   

Lease Rental Expense

     11         15         (4)   

Workers’ Compensation

                   (1)   

UMWA Expenses

                   —   

UMWA OPEB Expense

     22         22         —   

Coal Reserve Holding Costs

                   (1)   

Closed and Idle Mines

                   (1)   

Pension

     (4)                (11)   

Other

                   —   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Operating and Other Cost

   $ 52       $ 69       $ (17)   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Selling, General and Administrative Costs . Selling General and Administrative costs are costs allocated to CONSOL Mining Corporation from CONSOL Energy Inc. for shared services and remained consistent in the period-to-period comparison.

Depreciation, Depletion, and Amortization. Depreciation, Depletion, and Amortization benefit of $6 million and $5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively, was primarily due to reductions of $19 million and $21 million, respectively, related to changes in CONSOL Mining Corporation’s Asset Retirement Obligation at several closed mine locations.

Interest Expense . Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized, of $4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and $2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2016, is primarily comprised of interest on the 5.75% MEDCO Revenue Bonds.

 

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Income Taxes . The effective income tax rate when excluding noncontrolling interest was 17.6% for the six months ended June 30, 2017, compared to (1.0)% for the six months ended June 30, 2016. The effective rates for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016 were calculated using the annual effective rate projections on recurring earnings and include tax liabilities related to certain discrete transactions. The fluctuation in the effective rate is primarily attributable to the impact of percentage of depletion on the respective period’s pre-tax income.

 

     For the Six Months Ended June 30,  
(in millions)    2017      2016      Variance      Percent
Change
 

Total Company Earnings Before Income Tax Excluding Noncontrolling Interest

   $           108      $           20      $             88         440.0%   

Income Tax Expense

   $ 19      $ —        $ 19         100.0%   

Effective Income Tax Rate

     17.6%        (1.0)%        18.6%     

Year ended December 31, 2016 compared to the year ended December 31, 2015 :

Net Income Attributable to CoalCo Shareholder

CoalCo had net income attributable to CoalCo shareholder of $41 million for the year ended December 31, 2016, compared to net income attributable to CoalCo shareholder of $307 million for the year ended December 31, 2015.

CoalCo primarily consists of the Pennsylvania Mining Operations Complex (PAMC), as well as various corporate and other business activities that are not allocated to PAMC. The other business activities include CNX Marine Terminal operations, closed and idle mine activities, selling, general and administrative activities, income taxes, as well as various other non-operated activities.

PAMC ANALYSIS

The principal activities of the PAMC division are mining, preparation and marketing of thermal coal, sold primarily to power generators. It also includes selling, general and administrative activities, as well as various other activities assigned to the PAMC division.

 

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PAMC had earnings before income tax of $131 million for the year ended December 31, 2016, compared to earnings before income tax of $405 million for the year ended December 31, 2015. Variances are discussed below.

 

     For the Year Ended December 31,  
(in millions)    2016      2015      Difference

Coal Sales

   $          1,066      $         1,289       $          (223)  

Freight Revenue

     46        20         26   

Miscellaneous Other Income

     13                
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Revenue and Other Income

     1,125        1,313         (188)  

Operating Costs and Expenses:

        

Operating Costs

     691        789         (98)  

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     154        167         (13)  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Operating Costs and Expenses

     845        956         (111)  

Other Costs:

        

Other Costs

     42        (122)        164   

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     14        10          
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Other Costs

     56        (112)        168   

Selling, General, and Administrative Costs

     38        41         (3)  

Freight Expense

     46        20         26   

Interest Expense

     9                
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Costs and Expenses

     994        908         86   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Earnings Before Income Taxes

   $ 131      $ 405       $ (274)  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Add: Interest Expense

     9                

Add: Depreciation, Depletion, and Amortization

     168        177         (9)  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

EBITDA*

     308        585         (277)  

Add: Stock-Based Compensation

     8                

Add: Other CNX MLP Transaction Fees

            12         (12)  

Add: OPEB Plan Changes

            (129)        129   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Adjusted EBITDA*

   $ 316      $ 473       $ (157)  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

*

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are non-GAAP financial measures. For a definition of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA and discussion regarding why management views these non-GAAP measures to be useful in reviewing the company’s results of operations, please see “—Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Coal Sales. PAMC coal sales were $1,066 million for the year ended December 31, 2016, compared to $1,289 million for the year ended December 31, 2015. The $223 million decrease was attributable to a $13.05 per ton lower average sales price, offset by a 1.7 million increase in tons sold. The lower average sales price per PAMC ton sold was primarily the result of the continued decline in both the domestic and global thermal coal markets, particularly in the first half of 2016. The decline was related to higher customer inventories and lower gas prices after persistently mild 2015 weather. The increase in overall tons sold reflects the improvement in both domestic and international coal demand throughout the second half of 2016.

Freight Revenue and Freight Expense . Freight revenue is the amount billed to customers for transportation costs incurred. This revenue is based on the weight of coal shipped, negotiated freight rates and method of transportation, primarily rail, used by the customers to which the Company contractually provides transportation services. Freight revenue is completely offset in freight expense. Freight revenue and freight expense were both $46 million for the year ended December 31, 2016, compared to $20 million for the year ended December 31, 2015. The $26 million increase was due to increased shipments where transportation services were contractually provided.

 

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Miscellaneous Other Income . Miscellaneous other income was $13 million for the year ended December 31, 2016, compared to $4 million for the year ended December 31, 2015. Approximately $6 million of the increase was the result of a partial coal contract buyout in the current period. The remaining $3 million increase was the result of various transactions that occurred during both periods, none of which were individually material.

Operating Costs and Expenses . Operating costs and expenses are comprised of costs related to produced tons sold, along with changes in both the volumes and carrying values of coal inventory. Operating costs and expenses include items such as direct operating costs, royalty and production taxes, employee-related expenses and depreciation, depletion, and amortization costs. Total operating costs and expenses for the PAMC division were $845 million for the year ended December 31, 2016, or $111 million lower than the $956 million for the year ended December 31, 2015. Total costs per PAMC ton sold were $34.35 per ton in the year ended December 31, 2016, compared to $41.78 per ton in the year ended December 31, 2015. The decrease in the cost of coal sold was driven by the idling of one longwall at the PAMC complex for approximately 90 days, a reduction of staffing levels, vendor concessions and a realignment of employee benefits. All of the above steps resulted in more consistent operating schedules, reduced labor costs and improved productivity. Productivity for the year ended December 31, 2016, as measured by tons per employee hour, improved by 17% compared to the year earlier period, despite the reduced number of longwalls in operation.

Other Costs . Other costs include items that are assigned to the PAMC division but are not included in unit costs. Other costs and expenses increased $168 million in the year ended December 31, 2016 compared to the year ended December 31, 2015. The increase was due to the following:

 

     For the Years Ended December 31,
     2016    2015   Variance

OPEB Plan Changes

   $                 —      $                 (129)     $                 129  

Idle Mine Costs

     19              19  

Purchased Coal Costs

     6              6  

Litigation Expense

     4              4  

Severance Expense

     1              1  

Coal Reserve Holding Costs

     4        5       (1)  

Discretionary 401(k) Contributions

     9              9  

Amortization of Capitalized Interest

     9        9        

Other

     4        3       1  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other Costs

   $ 56      $ (112   $ 168  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

Income of $129 million related to OPEB plan changes made in May 2015 for retired employees. No such transactions occurred during the year ended December 31, 2016.

   

Idle Mine Costs increased $19 million, due to the temporary idling of one longwall at the PAMC complex for approximately 90 days in the first half of 2016 to optimize operating schedules.

   

Purchased Coal Costs increased $6 million due to higher volumes of coal that needed to be purchased to fulfill various contracts.

   

Litigation expense relates to approximately $3 million of costs which were incurred during the year ended December 31, 2016 related to the proposed consent decree with respect to the Bailey mine complex. See Note 11—Commitments and Contingent Liabilities of the Notes to the Audited Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information. The remaining change was the result of various transactions that occurred, none of which were individually material.

   

Severance Expense of $1 million was incurred during the year ended December 31, 2016 in connection with the Company’s ongoing cost reduction efforts. No such transactions occurred in the prior period.

   

Discretionary 401(k) Contributions relate to a bonus of $9 million that was incurred during the year ended December 31, 2016 as a result of company performance and management approval.

   

Other increased $1 million in the period-to-period comparison primarily due to various transactions that occurred, none of which were material.

 

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Selling, General and Administrative Costs . Upon execution of the CNXC IPO, CNXC entered into a service agreement with ParentCo that required ParentCo to provide certain selling, general and administrative services. These services are paid monthly based on an agreed-upon fixed fee that is reset at least annually. See Note 3—Related Party Transactions of the Notes to the Audited Combined Financial Statements in this information statement for additional information. The amount of selling, general and administrative costs related to PAMC operations was $38 million for the year ended December 31, 2016, compared to $41 million for the year ended December 31, 2015.

Interest Expense . Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized, of $9 million and $3 million for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively, is primarily comprised of interest on the CNXC revolving credit facility that was drawn upon after the CNXC IPO on July 7, 2015.

PAMC coal revenue and cost components on a per unit basis for these periods were as follows:

 

     For the Year Ended December 31,  
     2016      2015      Variance      Percent
Change
 

Tons Sold (in millions)

     24.6        22.9        1.7        7.4%  

Average Sales Price Per Ton Sold

   $     43.31      $     56.36      $   (13.05)        (23.2%)  

Total Operating Costs Per Ton Sold

   $ 28.09      $ 34.47      $ (6.38)        (18.5%)  

Total Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization Costs Per Ton Sold

     6.26        7.31        (1.05)        (14.4%)  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

Total Costs Per Ton Sold

   $ 34.35      $ 41.78      $ (7.43)        (17.8%)  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

Average Margin Per Ton Sold

   $ 8.96      $ 14.58      $ (5.62)        (38.5%)  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

The lower average sales price per ton sold in the 2016 period was primarily the result of the overall decline in the domestic and global thermal coal markets, particularly in the first half of 2016. This decline was primarily related to higher customer inventories and lower gas prices after persistently mild 2015 weather. This was off-set by an increase in overall tons sold reflecting the improvement in both domestic and international coal demand throughout the second half of 2016.

The PAMC operations priced 5.4 million tons on the export market for the year ended December 31, 2016, compared to 5.5 million tons for the year ended December 31, 2015. All other tons were sold on the domestic market. Changes in the average cost of goods sold per ton were primarily driven by the idling of one longwall at the PAMC complex for approximately 90 days, a reduction of staffing levels and a realignment of employee benefits in the current year. All of the above steps resulted in more consistent operating schedules, reduced labor costs, and improved productivity.

OTHER ANALYSIS

Other includes expenses from various corporate and diversified business activities that are not allocated to PAMC division. The diversified business activities include coal terminal operations, closed and idle mine activities, selling, general and administrative activities, as well as various other non-operated activities, none of which are individually significant to the Company.

 

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Other business activities had a loss before income tax of $66 million for the year ended December 31, 2016, compared to earnings before income tax of $38 million for the year ended December 31, 2015. Variances are discussed below.

 

     For the Year Ended December 31,
(in millions)    2016   2015   Variance

Other Outside Sales

   $             31     $             31     $             —  

Miscellaneous Other Income

     69       65       4  

Gain on Sale of Assets

     5       13       (8
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Revenue and Other Income

     105       109       (4
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating and Other Costs

     143       33       110  

Selling, General, and Administrative Costs

     13       15       (2

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     10       18       (8

Interest Expense

     5       5        
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Costs and Expenses

     171       71       100  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loss Before Income Tax

     (66     38       (104

Income Tax Expense

     15       126       (111
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net Loss

   $ (81   $ (88   $ 7  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add: Interest Expense

     5       5        

Add: Income Tax Expense

     15       126       (111

Add: Depreciation, Depletion, and Amortization

     10       18       (8
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EBITDA*

     (51     61       (112
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add: Stock Based Compensation

     4       3       1  

Add: Pension Settlement

     22       19       3  

Add: Gain on Sale of Non-Core Assets

           (8     8  

Add: OPEB Plan Changes

           (115     115  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adjusted EBITDA*

   $ (25   $ (40   $ 15  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are non-GAAP financial measures. For a definition of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA and discussion regarding why management views these non-GAAP measures to be useful in reviewing the company’s results of operations, please see “—Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Other Outside Sales. Other outside sales consists of sales from CNX Marine Terminal which is located on 200 acres in the Port of Baltimore and provides access to international coal markets. CNX Marine Terminal sales were $31 million for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Miscellaneous Other Income. Miscellaneous other income was $69 million for the year ended December 31, 2016, compared to $65 million for the year ended December 31, 2015. The change is due to the following items:

 

     For the Year Ended December 31,
(in millions)    2016    2015    Variance  

Purchased Coal Sales

   $                       —      $                       2      $                     (2)  

Rental Income

     35        37        (2)  

Royalty Income

     20        15         

Right of Way Sales

     11        8         

Other Income

     3        3        —   
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Miscellaneous Other Income

   $ 69      $ 65      $  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

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Operating and Other Costs . Operating and Other Costs increased $110 million in the year ended December 31, 2016 compared to the year ended December 31, 2015. The increase was due to the following:

 

     For the Year Ended December 31,
(in millions)    2016    2015      Variance

OPEB Plan Changes

   $                 —      $                 (125)      $                 125  

Coal Reserve Holding Costs

     19        8        11  

Pension Settlement

     22        19        3  

Closed and Idle Mines

     9        9         

Purchased Coal

            1        (1)  

UMWA Expenses

     9        10        (1)  

Workers’ Compensation

     6        7        (1)  

Lease Rental Expense

     30        31        (1)  

CNX Marine Terminals

     18        20        (2)  

UMWA OPEB Expense

     43        47        (4)  

Pension Expense

     (14)        6        (20)  

Other

     1               1  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Operating and Other Costs

   $ 143      $ 33      $ 110  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

   

Income of $125 million was the result of modifications made to the OPEB plan in May 2015 for retired employees. No such transactions occurred in the current period. See Note 8—Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits Plans in the Notes to Combined Financial Statements for additional information.

   

Coal Reserve Holding Costs increased $11 million in the period-to-period comparison, primarily as a result of the surrender of various leases in the current period.

   

Pension Settlement expense is required when lump sum distributions made for a given plan year exceed the total of the service and interest costs for that same plan year. Settlement accounting was triggered in both periods.

   

Purchased Coal decreased $1 million due to lower volumes of coal that needed to be purchased to fulfill various contracts.

   

Lease Rental Expense decreased $1 million primarily due to the buyout of certain leased equipment in the current period.

   

Costs associated with the CNX Marine Terminal decreased $2 million due to a reduction in labor costs.

   

UMWA OPEB Expense decreased $4 million primarily due to a decrease in interest costs.

   

Pension Expense decreased $20 million in the period-to-period comparison due to a decrease in actuarially-calculated amortization related to modifications made to the pension plan in May 2015.

Selling, General and Administrative Costs . Selling General and Administrative costs are costs allocated to CoalCo from CONSOL Energy Inc. for shared services. The decrease in costs in the period-to-period comparison is due to a decrease in the amounts allocated by CONSOL Energy.

Interest Expense . Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized, of $5 million for the year ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, is primarily comprised of bond interest related to CNX Marine Terminals.

Income Taxes . The effective income tax rate when excluding noncontrolling interest was 26.0% for the year ended December 31, 2016, compared to 29.0% for the year ended December 31, 2015. The effective rates for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015 were calculated using the annual effective rate projections on recurring earnings and include tax liabilities related to certain discrete transactions. The fluctuation in the effective tax rates is primarily attributable to the impact of percentage depletion on the respective period’s pre-tax income. Our effective tax rate for 2016 was also impacted by a settlement of prior IRS and state tax examinations. As part

 

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of our IRS examination of the 2010-2013 tax years, the Company was able to claim bonus depreciation deduction, resulting in a net cash refund of $58 million. The bonus depreciation adversely impacted earnings by reducing the Company’s percentage depletion adjustment on our mining operations and reducing our Section 199 manufacturing deductions in the years 2010-2013. This resulted in a net charge to earnings of $14 million.

 

     For the Year Ended December 31,
(in millions)    2016   2015   Variance     Percent
Change

Total Company Earnings Before Income Tax Excluding

Noncontrolling Interest

   $             56     $             433     $             (377)       (87.1)%  

Income Tax Expense

   $ 15     $ 126     $ (111)       (88.1)%  

Effective Income Tax Rate

     26.0     29.0     (3.0)  

Year ended December 31, 2015 compared to the year ended December 31, 2014:

Net Income Attributable to CoalCo Shareholder

CoalCo had net income attributable to CoalCo shareholder of $307 million, for the year ended December 31, 2015, compared to net income attributable to CoalCo shareholder of $291 million, for the year ended December 31, 2014.

CoalCo primarily consists of the PAMC, as well as various corporate and other business activities that are not allocated to PAMC. The other business activities include CNX Marine Terminal operations, closed and idle mine activities, selling, general and administrative activities, income taxes, as well as various other non-operated activities.

PAMC ANALYSIS

The principal activities of the PAMC division are mining, preparation and marketing of thermal coal, sold primarily to power generators. It also includes selling, general and administrative activities, as well as various other activities assigned to the PAMC division.

 

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PAMC had earnings before income tax of $405 million for the year ended December 31, 2015, compared to earnings before income tax of $431 million for the year ended December 31, 2014. Variances are discussed below.

 

     For the Year Ended December 31,
(in millions)    2015   2014    Difference

Coal Sales

   $         1,289     $          1,617      $ (328

Freight Revenue

     20       23        (3

Miscellaneous Other Income

     4       38        (34

Gain on Sales of Assets

           1        (1
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Revenue and Other Income

     1,313       1,679        (366

Operating Costs and Expenses:

       

Operating Costs

     789       975        (186

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     167       165                       2  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Operating Costs and Expenses

     956       1,140        (184

Other Costs:

       

Other Costs

     (122     8        (130

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     10       8        2  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Other

     (112     16        (128

Selling, General, and Administrative Costs

     41       69        (28

Freight Expense

     20       23        (3

Interest Expense

     3              3  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Costs and Expenses

   $ 908     $ 1,248      $ (340
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Earnings Before Income Taxes

   $ 405     $ 431      $ (26
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Add: Interest Expense

     3              3  

Add: Depreciation, Depletion, and Amortization

     177       173        4  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

EBITDA*

     585       604        (19

Add: Stock-Based Compensation

     5       17        (12

Add: Other CNX MLP Transaction Fees

     12              12  

Add: OPEB Plan Changes

     (129            (129
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Adjusted EBITDA*

   $ 473     $ 621      $ (148
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

*

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are non-GAAP financial measures. For a definition of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA and discussion regarding why management views these non-GAAP measures to be useful in reviewing the company’s results of operations, please see “—Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Coal Sales . PAMC coal sales were $1,289 million for the year ended December 31, 2015, compared to $1,617 million for the year ended December 31, 2014. The $328 million decrease was attributable to a 3.2 million decrease in company produced tons sold and a $5.52 lower average sales price per ton sold. The lower tons sold and average sales price per PAMC operations ton sold were primarily the result of the continued decline in both the domestic and global thermal coal markets. Due to the weak domestic thermal spot market, 5.5 million tons were sold on the export market for the year ended December 31, 2015, compared to 3.3 million tons for the year ended December 31, 2014.

Freight Revenue and Freight Expense . Freight revenue is the amount billed to customers for transportation costs incurred. This revenue is based on the weight of coal shipped, negotiated freight rates and method of transportation, primarily rail, used by the customers to which the Company contractually provides transportation services. Freight revenue is completely offset in freight expense. Freight revenue and freight expense were both

 

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$20 million for the year ended December 31, 2015, compared to $23 million for the year ended December 31, 2014. The $3 million decrease was due to decreased shipments where transportation services were contractually provided.

Miscellaneous Other Income . Miscellaneous other income was $4 million for the year ended December 31, 2015, compared to $38 million for the year ended December 31, 2014. Approximately $30 million of the decrease related to a coal customer contract buyout in the prior period. The remaining $4 million decrease was the result of various transactions that occurred during both periods, none of which were individually material.

Operating Costs and Expenses . Operating costs and expenses are comprised of costs related to produced tons sold, along with changes in both the volumes and carrying values of coal inventory. Operating costs and expenses include items such as direct operating costs, royalty and production taxes, employee-related expenses and depreciation, depletion, and amortization costs. Total operating costs and expenses for the PAMC division were $956 million for the year ended December 31, 2015, or $184 million lower than the $1,140 million for the year ended December 31, 2014. Total costs per PAMC operations ton sold were $41.78 per ton in the year ended December 31, 2015, compared to $43.63 per ton in the year ended December 31, 2014. The decrease in the cost of coal sold was driven by improved operational efficiencies, better geological conditions, a reduced workforce, a decrease in stream subsidence expense and other ongoing cost reduction efforts. In order to preserve margins, the PAMC moved to a four-day work week in May 2015, compared to a normal five-day per week schedule. The decrease in unit costs was primarily the result of a change in allocation methodology, whereby OPEB plan changes are no longer included in unit costs.

Other Costs. Other costs include items that are assigned to the PAMC division but are not included in unit costs, such as OPEB plan changes, coal reserve holding costs and purchased coal costs. Total other costs and expenses decreased $128 million in the year ended December 31, 2015 compared to the year ended December 31, 2014. The decrease was primarily due to income of $129 million related to OPEB plan changes made in May 2015 for retired employees. No such transactions occurred during the year ended December 31, 2014.

Selling, General and Administrative Costs . Upon execution of the CNXC IPO, CNXC entered into a service agreement with ParentCo that required ParentCo to provide certain selling, general and administrative services. These services are paid monthly based on an agreed-upon fixed fee that is reset at least annually.

Interest Expense . Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized, of $3 million for the year ended December 31, 2015 is primarily comprised of interest on the CNXC revolving credit facility that was drawn upon after the CNXC IPO on July 7, 2015.

Sales tons, average sales price and average cost of goods sold per ton for the PAMC operations were as follows:

 

     For the Year Ended December 31,
     2015    2014    Variance   Percent
Change
 

Tons Sold (in millions)

     22.9        26.1        (3.2     (12.3%)  

Average Sales Price Per Ton Sold

   $ 56.36      $ 61.88      $ (5.52     (8.9%)  

Total Operating Costs Per Ton Sold

   $ 34.47      $ 37.29      $ (2.82     (7.6%)  

Total Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization Costs Per Ton Sold

     7.31        6.34        0.97       15.3%  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

Total Costs Per Ton Sold

   $ 41.78      $ 43.63      $ (1.85     (4.2%)  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

Average Margin Per Ton Sold

   $ 14.58      $ 18.25      $ (3.67     (20.1%)  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The lower average sales price per ton sold in the 2015 period was primarily the result of the continued decline in both the domestic and global thermal coal markets. Due to the weak domestic thermal spot market in 2014, the PAMC priced 5.5 million tons on the export market for the year ended December 31, 2015, compared to 3.3 million tons for the year ended December 31, 2014. All other tons were sold on the domestic market.

Changes in the average cost of goods sold per ton were primarily driven by improved operational efficiencies, better geological conditions, a reduced workforce, a decrease in stream subsidence expense and other ongoing cost reduction efforts. In order to preserve margins, PAMC operations moved to a four-day work week in May 2015, compared to a normal five-day per week schedule. The decrease in unit costs was primarily the result of Pension and OPEB plan modifications for active employees in September 2014.

OTHER ANALYSIS

Other includes expenses from various corporate and diversified business activities that are not allocated to PAMC division. The diversified business activities include coal terminal operations, closed and idle mine activities, selling, general and administrative activities, as well as various other non-operated activities, none of which are individually significant to the Company.

Other business activities had earnings before income tax of $38 million for the year ended December 31, 2015, compared to a loss before income tax of $19 million for the year ended December 31, 2014. Variances are discussed below.

 

     For the Year Ended December 31,
(in millions)    2015   2014   Variance

Other Outside Sales

   $ 31     $ 41     $ (10

Miscellaneous Other Income

     65       85       (20

Gain on Sale of Assets

     13       26       (13
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Revenue and Other Income

                 109                   152               (43
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating and Other Costs

     33       127       (94

Selling, General, and Administrative Costs

     15       10       5  

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     18       34       (16

Interest Expense

     5             5  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Costs and Expenses

     71       171       (100
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earnings/(Loss) Before Income Tax

     38       (19     57  

Income Tax Expense

     126       121       5  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net Loss

   $ (88   $ (140   $ 52  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add: Interest Expense

     5             5  

Add: Income Tax Expense

     126       121       5  

Add: Depreciation, Depletion, and Amortization

     18       34       (16
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EBITDA*

     61       15       46  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add: Stock Based Compensation

     3       3        

Add: Pension Settlement

     19       24       (5

Add: Gain on Sale of Non-Core Assets

     (8     (25     17  

Add: OPEB Plan Changes

     (115           (115
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adjusted EBITDA*

   $ (40   $ 17     $ (57
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are non-GAAP financial measures. For a definition of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA and discussion regarding why management views these non-GAAP measures to be useful in reviewing the company’s results of operations, please see “—Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

 

 

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Other Outside Sales. Other outside sales consists of sales from CNX Marine Terminal which is located on 200 acres in the port of Baltimore and provides access to international coal markets. CNX Marine Terminal sales were $31 million for the year ended December 31, 2015, compared to $41 million for the year ended December 31, 2014. The $10 million decrease in the period-to-period comparison was primarily due to a decrease in through-put volumes and rates in the current period.

Miscellaneous Other Income. Miscellaneous other income was $65 million for the year ended December 31, 2015, compared to $85 million for the year ended December 31, 2014. The change is due to the following items:

 

     For the Year Ended December 31,
(in millions)    2015    2014    Variance  

Purchased Coal Sales

   $      $      $ (7)          

Rental Income

     37         44         (7)          

Right of Way Sales

                   1           

Royalty Income

     15         20         (5)          

Other Income

                   (2)          
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Miscellaneous Other Income

   $             65       $             85       $             (20)          
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Operating and Other Costs . Operating and other costs decreased $94 million in the year ended December 31, 2015 compared to the year ended December 31, 2014. The decrease was due to the following:

 

     For the Year Ended December 31,  
(in millions)    2015      2014    Variance  

OPEB Plan Changes

   $             (125)      $ (36)      $ (89)  

Purchased Coal

            14        (13)  

Closed and Idle Mines

            20        (11)  

Pension Settlement

     19         29        (10)  

CNX Marine Terminals

     20         26        (6)  

Coal Reserve Holding Costs

            11        (3)  

Lease Rental Expense

     31         33        (2)  

UMWA Expenses

     10         10         

Workers’ Compensation

            4        3  

OPEB Expense

     47         15        32  

Pension Expense

            1        5  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Operating and Other Costs

   $ 33       $             127      $                             (94)  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

   

Income of $125 million was the result of modifications made to the OPEB plan in May 2015 for retired employees. Income of $36 million was the result of changes made to the OPEB plan during the year ended December 31, 2014. See Note 8—Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits Plans in the Notes to Combined Financial Statements for additional information.

   

Purchased Coal costs decreased $13 million due to lower volumes of coal that needed to be purchased to fulfill various contracts.

   

Closed and Idle Mines decreased $11 million, primarily due to a $7 million decrease in property taxes and a $5 million decrease in permitting and compliance costs. The remaining change was due to various transactions that occurred throughout both periods, none of which were individually material.

   

Pension Settlement expense is required when lump sum distributions made for a given plan year exceed the total of the service and interest costs for that same plan year. Settlement accounting was triggered in both periods.

   

Costs associated with the CNX Marine Terminal decreased $6 million due to a reduction in labor costs.

   

Lease Rental Expense decreased $2 million primarily due to the buyout of certain leased equipment in the current period.

 

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Workers’ Compensation increased $3 million primarily due to a change in the allocation methodology in the current period.

   

OPEB Expense increased $32 million primarily due to a change in the allocation methodology in 2015.

   

Pension Expense increased $5 million in the period-to-period comparison primarily due to a change in the allocation methodology in 2015, offset in part, by modifications made to the Pension plan in September 2014.

Selling, General and Administrative Costs . Selling, General and Administrative costs are costs allocated to CoalCo from ParentCo for shared services. The increase in costs in the period-to-period comparison is due to an increase in the amounts allocated by ParentCo.

Interest Expense . Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized, of $5 million for the year ended December 31, 2015, is primarily comprised of bond interest related to CNX Marine Terminals.

Income Taxes . The effective income tax rate when excluding noncontrolling interest was 29.0% for the year ended December 31, 2015, compared to 29.6% for the year ended December 31, 2014. The effective rates for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014 were calculated using the annual effective rate projections on recurring earnings and include tax liabilities related to certain discrete transactions.

 

     For the Year Ended December 31,  
(in millions)    2015      2014      Variance      Percent
Change
 
Total Company Earnings Before Income Tax Excluding Noncontrolling Interest    $         433         $ 412         $         21                    5.1%  

Income Tax Expense

   $ 126         $         121         $ 5            4.1%  

Effective Income Tax Rate

     29.0%        29.6%        (0.6)%     

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

EBITDA is defined as earnings before deducting net interest expense (interest expense less interest income), income taxes and depreciation, depletion and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as EBITDA after adjusting for the discrete items listed below. Although EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are not measures of performance calculated in accordance with GAAP, management believes that they are useful to an investor in evaluating CONSOL Energy because they are widely used to evaluate a company’s operating performance. CoalCo excludes stock-based compensation from Adjusted EBITDA because it does not believe it accurately reflects the actual operating expense incurred during the relevant period and may vary widely from period to period irrespective of operating results. Readers should not view these metrics as a substitute for measures of performance that are calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. In addition, because all companies do not calculate EBITDA or Adjusted EBITDA uniformly, the presentation here may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.

 

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Reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures

EBIT, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA

The following tables present a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures, EBIT, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, which we use in the analysis of our business.

 

    For the Six Months Ended
June 30, 2017
    For the Six Months Ended
June 30, 2016
 

(in millions)

  PAMC
Division
    Other
Division
    Combined     PAMC
Division
    Other
Division
    Combined  

Net Income (Loss)

  $ 111     $ (12   $ 99     $ 46     $ (23   $ 23  

Add: Income Tax Expense

          19       19                    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Earnings (Loss) Before Income Taxes

        111               7               118               46       (23               23  

Add: Interest Expense

    4       4       8       4               2       6  

Add: Depreciation, Depletion, and Amortization

    84       (6     78       83       (5     78  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

EBITDA*

    199       5       204       133       (26     107  

Add: Stock-Based Compensation

    8       1       9       3       2       5  

Add: Pension Settlement

                            14       14  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Adjusted EBITDA*

  $ 207     $ 6     $ 213     $ 136     $ (10   $ 126  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

    For the Year Ended
December 31, 2016
    For the Year Ended
December 31, 2015
    For the Year Ended
December 31, 2014
 

(in millions)

  PAMC
Division
    Other
Division
    Combined     PAMC
Division
    Other
Division
    Combined     PAMC
Division
    Other
Division
    Combined  

Net Income (Loss)

  $ 131     $ (81   $ 50     $ 405     $ (88   $ 317     $ 431     $ (140   $ 291  

Add: Income Tax Expense

          15       15             126       126             121       121  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Earnings (Loss) Before Income Taxes

    131       (66     65       405       38       443       431       (19     412  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Add: Interest Expense

    9       5       14       3       5       8                    

Add: Depreciation, Depletion, and Amortization

    168       10       178       177       18       195       173       34       207  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

EBITDA*

    308       (51     257       585       61       646       604       15       619  

Add: Stock-Based Compensation

    8       4       12       5       3       8       17       3       20  

Add: Pension Settlemnet

          22       22             19       19             24       24  

Add: Gain on Sale of Non-Core Assets

                            (8     (8           (25     (25

Add: OPEB Plan Changes

                      (129     (115     (244                  

Add: Other CNXC MLP Transactions Fees

                —             12             —       12                    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Adjusted EBITDA*

  $     316     $ (25   $         291     $     473     $ (40   $         433     $       621     $         17     $         638  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

CoalCo management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information that enhances management’s, investors’ and prospective lenders’ ability to evaluate the Company’s operating results and ability to repay its obligations. However, these non-GAAP financial measures are not intended to be used in isolation and should not be considered a substitute for any other performance measure determined in accordance with GAAP. Readers are cautioned that there are material limitations associated with the use of non-GAAP financial measures as an analytical tool, including that other companies may calculate similar non-GAAP financial measures differently than as defined in these materials, limiting their usefulness as a comparative tool. CoalCo compensates for these limitations by providing specific information regarding the GAAP amounts excluded from the non-GAAP financial measures. CoalCo further compensates for the limitations of its use of non-GAAP financial measures by presenting comparable GAAP measures. Readers are encouraged to review the reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures contained herein.

 

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Critical Accounting Policies

The preparation of the Combined Financial Statements of CoalCo in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make judgments, estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts of assets and liabilities, revenues and expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities in the Consolidated Financial Statements and at the date of the financial statements. See Note 2 - Significant Accounting Policies in the Notes to the Audited Combined Financial Statements in this information statement for further discussion. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making the judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. We evaluate our estimates on an on-going basis. Actual results could differ from those estimates upon subsequent resolution of identified matters. Management believes that the estimates utilized are reasonable. The following critical accounting policies are materially impacted by judgments, assumptions and estimates used in the preparation of the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB), Salaried Pensions, Workers’ Compensation and Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis (CWP) . Liabilities and expenses for OPEB, pension, workers’ compensation and CWP are determined using actuarial methodologies and incorporate significant assumptions, including the interest rate used to discount the future estimated liability, the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets, and several assumptions relating to the employee workforce (salary increases, health care cost trend rates, retirement age, and mortality).

The interest rate used to discount future estimated liabilities is determined using a Company-specific yield curve model (above-mean) developed with the assistance of an external actuary. The Company-specific yield curve uses a subset of the expanded bond universe to determine the Company-specific discount rate. Bonds used in the yield curve are rated AA by Moody’s or Standard & Poor’s as of the measurement date. The yield curve model parallels the plans’ projected cash flows.

The assumed rate of return on plan assets can also impact CoalCo’s pension liability. The market related asset value is derived by taking the cost value of assets as of December 31, 2016 and multiplying it by the average 36-month ratio of the market value of assets to the cost value of assets. CoalCo’s pension plan weighted average asset allocations at December 31, 2016 consisted of 51% equity securities and 49% debt securities.

The estimated liabilities recognized at December 31, 2016 and the benefit payments made for the year ended December 31, 2016 were as follows (Dollars in Thousands):

 

Plan

  

Estimated Liability as of December 31,
2016

  

Benefit Payments for the year ended
December 31, 2016

OPEB

   $700,085    $45,387

Pension

   $102,743    $35,709

Workers’ Compensation

   $78,099    $16,688

CWP

   $118,836    $10,191

Mine Closure Obligations . The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act established operational, reclamation and closure standards for all aspects of surface mining as well as most aspects of deep mining. CoalCo accrues for the costs of current coal mine disturbance and final coal mine and gas well closure, including the cost of treating mine water discharge where necessary. Estimates of our total mine-closing and gas well closing liabilities, which are based upon permit requirements and CoalCo engineering expertise related to these requirements, including the current portion, were approximately $257 million at June 30, 2017. This liability is reviewed annually, or when events and circumstances indicate an adjustment is necessary, by CoalCo management and engineers. The estimated liability can significantly change if actual costs vary from assumptions or if governmental regulations change significantly.

 

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Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations requires that the fair value of an asset retirement obligation be recognized in the period in which it is incurred if a reasonable estimate of fair value can be made. The present value of the estimated asset retirement costs is capitalized as part of the carrying amount of the long-lived asset. Asset retirement obligations primarily relate to the closure of mines and gas wells and the reclamation of land upon exhaustion of coal and gas reserves. Changes in the variables used to calculate the liabilities can have a significant effect on the mine closing and gas well closing liabilities. The amounts of assets and liabilities recorded are dependent upon a number of variables, including the estimated future retirement costs, estimated proved reserves, assumptions involving profit margins, inflation rates and the assumed credit-adjusted risk-free interest rate.

Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations also requires depreciation of the capitalized asset retirement cost and accretion of the asset retirement obligation over time. The depreciation will generally be determined on a units-of-production basis, whereas the accretion to be recognized will escalate over the life of the producing assets, typically as production declines.

Income Taxes . CoalCo’s operations have historically been included in the income tax filings of CONSOL Energy. The provision for income taxes in the CoalCo’s combined statement of income is based on a separate return methodology using the asset and liability approach of accounting for income taxes. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized using enacted tax rates for the estimated future tax effects of temporary differences between the book and tax basis of recorded assets and liabilities. Deferred tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance if it is more likely than not that some portion of the deferred tax asset will not be realized. All available evidence, both positive and negative, must be considered in determining the need for a valuation allowance.

CoalCo evaluates all tax positions taken on the state and federal tax filings to determine if the position is more likely than not to be sustained upon examination. For positions that meet the more likely than not to be sustained criteria, an evaluation to determine the largest amount of benefit, determined on a cumulative probability basis that is more likely than not to be realized upon ultimate settlement is determined. A previously recognized tax position is reversed when it is subsequently determined that a tax position no longer meets the more likely than not threshold to be sustained. The evaluation of the sustainability of a tax position and the probable amount that is more likely than not is based on judgment, historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances. The results of these estimates, that are not readily apparent from other sources, form the basis for recognizing an uncertain tax liability. Actual results could differ from those estimates upon subsequent resolution of identified matters.

Stock-Based Compensation . As of December 31, 2016, ParentCo has issued four types of share-based payment awards in which CoalCo employees may participate: options, restricted stock units, performance stock options, and performance share units.

The fair value of each restricted stock unit awarded is equivalent to the closing market price of a share of the ParentCo’s stock on the date of the grant. The fair value of each performance share unit is determined by a Monte Carlo simulation method. The fair value of each option is determined using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. All outstanding performance stock options are fully vested.

Contingencies . CoalCo is currently involved in certain legal proceedings. We have accrued our estimate of the probable costs for the resolution of these claims. This estimate has been developed in consultation with legal counsel involved in the defense of these matters and is based upon the nature of the lawsuit, progress of the case in court, view of legal counsel, prior experience in similar matters, and management’s intended response. Future results of operations for any particular quarter or annual period could be materially affected by changes in our assumptions or the outcome of these proceedings. Legal fees associated with defending these various lawsuits and claims are expensed when incurred. See Note 11—Commitments and Contingencies in the Notes to the Audited Combined Financial Statements in this information statement for more information.

 

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Coal Reserves . There are numerous uncertainties inherent in estimating quantities and values of economically recoverable coal reserves, including many factors beyond our control. As a result, estimates of economically recoverable coal reserves are by their nature uncertain. Information about our reserves consists of estimates based on engineering, economic and geological data assembled and analyzed by our staff. Our coal reserves are periodically reviewed by an independent third party consultant. Some of the factors and assumptions which impact economically recoverable reserve estimates include:

 

   

geological conditions;

 

   

historical production from the area compared with production from other producing areas;

 

   

the assumed effects of regulations and taxes by governmental agencies;

 

   

assumptions governing future prices; and

 

   

future operating costs.

Each of these factors may in fact vary considerably from the assumptions used in estimating reserves. For these reasons, estimates of the economically recoverable quantities of gas and coal attributable to a particular group of properties, and classifications of these reserves based on risk of recovery and estimates of future net cash flows, may vary substantially. Actual production, revenues and expenditures with respect to our reserves will likely vary from estimates, and these variances may be material. See “Risk Factors” for a discussion of the uncertainties in estimating our reserves.

Impairment of Long-lived Assets. Impairment of long-lived assets is recorded when indicators of impairment are present and the undiscounted cash flows estimated to be generated by those assets are less than the assets’ carrying value. The carrying value of the assets is then reduced to its estimated fair value which is usually measured based on an estimate of future discounted cash flows. There were no impairment losses recognized during the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Historically, ParentCo has provided capital, cash management and other treasury services to CoalCo. ParentCo will continue to provide these services to CoalCo until the separation is consummated. Only cash amounts specifically attributable to CoalCo are reflected in the Combined Financial Statements of CoalCo. Transfers of cash, both to and from ParentCo’s centralized cash management system, are reflected as a component of Net Change in Parent Advancement in the Combined Financial Statements of CoalCo.

CoalCo’s primary future cash needs will be centered on operating activities, including working capital, as well as recurring and strategic capital expenditures. Following the separation, CoalCo’s capital structure and sources of liquidity will change significantly from its historical capital structure. CoalCo will no longer participate in capital management with ParentCo, rather CoalCo’s ability to fund its cash needs will depend on its ongoing ability to generate and raise cash in the future. Although we believe that our future cash from operations, together with our access to capital markets, will provide adequate resources to fund our operating and investing needs, our access to, and the availability of, financing on acceptable terms in the future will be affected by many factors, including: (i) our credit rating; (ii) the liquidity of the overall capital markets; and (iii) the current state of the economy and economic conditions in the coal industries, and other financial and business factors, some of which are beyond CoalCo’s control. There can be no assurances that we will continue to have access to capital markets on terms acceptable to us. See “Risk Factors” for a further discussion.

CoalCo owns 75% of the PAMC and CNXC owns the remaining 25%. CoalCo has a 61.5% economic ownership interest in CNXC through our various holdings of the general partner and limited partner interests of CNXC.

 

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During the twelve months ended June 30, 2017, CNXC’s share of our pro forma Adjusted EBITDA, net of the cash distributions CoalCo received from CNXC, was $61.5 million. Additionally, CoalCo has certain liabilities attributable to OPEB, Salaried Pensions, Workers’ Compensation and Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis. The impacts from these liabilities on the income statement can differ from the amount of cash CoalCo expends to pay the actual periodic costs of such liabilities. For the twelve months ended June 30, 2017, our cash costs exceeded the income statement expenses for these items by $21.3 million.

Cash Flows (in millions)

 

    

 

     For the Six Months Ended June 30,
     2017    2016    Change

Cash Provided by Operating Activities

   $ 104       $ 95       $ 9               

Cash Used in Investing Activities

   $ (6)      $ (23)      $ 17               

Cash Used in Financing Activities

   $             (104)      $         (70)      $             (34)              

Cash provided by operating activities increased $9 million in the six months ended June 30, 2017 compared to six months ended June 30, 2016 primarily due to a $76 million increase in net income, offset by changes in various operating assets and liabilities that occurred throughout both periods, none of which were individually material.

Cash used in investing activities decreased $17 million in the period-to-period comparison due to a $4 million decrease in capital expenditures primarily related to a decrease in building and infrastructure expenditures and equipment purchases and a $13 million increase in proceeds from asset sales related to the sale of surface rights.

Cash used in financing activities increased $34 million, primarily due to a $24 million difference in the revolving credit facility activity in the period-to-period comparison, which was comprised of $13 million in borrowing during the six months ended June 30, 2016 versus $11 million of payments during the six months ended June 30, 2017. The remaining variance is primarily due to an $8 million change in Net Parent Distributions.

 

Cash Flows (in millions)

 

        
    

 

     For the Years Ended December 31,
     2016    2015    Change

Cash Provided By Operating Activities

   $ 329       $ 292       $ 37               

Cash Used In Investing Activities

   $ (46)      $ (130)      $ 84               

Cash Used In Financing Activities

   $         (277)      $         (155)      $             (122)              

Cash provided by operating activities increased $37 million in the year ended December 31, 2016 compared to the year ended December 31, 2015 primarily due to a $50 million increase in other assets. The change in other assets primarily related to cash payments for stream mitigation credits in the year ended December 31, 2015. No such transaction occurred in the year ended December 31, 2016. The remaining decrease was due to changes in various operating assets and liabilities that occurred throughout both periods, none of which were individually material.

Cash used in investing activities decreased $84 million in the period-to-period comparison primarily due to a $37 million decrease in equipment purchases and rebuilds, a $25 million decrease in preparation plant expenditures and a $25 million decrease in land project expenditures. The remaining variance is due to various other items that occurred throughout both periods none of which were individually material.

 

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Cash used in financing activities increased $122 million in the year ended December 31, 2016 compared to the year ended December 31, 2015, primarily due to the 2015 IPO, which resulted in net proceeds from the issuance of common units of $148 million plus $185 million of borrowings on the CNXC Revolver, along with $16 million in debt issuance and financing fees. The decreases were offset by $16 million in borrowing in 2016 on the CNXC Revolver. The remaining variance is primarily due to changes in Net Parent Distributions.

Contractual Obligations and Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

Following the separation, CoalCo’s capital structure and sources of liquidity will differ from our condensed historical capital structure. Please refer to the “The Separation and Distribution,” “Capitalization” and “Unaudited Pro Forma Combined Condensed Financial Statements” sections included elsewhere in this information statement for additional information regarding the capital structure of CoalCo following the distribution. Following the separation, CoalCo will no longer participate in cash management and intercompany funding arrangements with ParentCo. Our ability to fund our operating and capital needs will depend on our ability to generate cash from operations and access capital markets. The following table and discussion summarize our contractual obligations as of December 31, 2016, that may have an impact on liquidity and cash flows in future periods.

Contractual Obligations. CoalCo is required to make future payments under various contracts. CoalCo also has commitments to fund its pension plans, provide payments for other postretirement benefit plans, and fund capital projects. The following is a summary of our significant contractual obligations at December 31, 2016 (in thousands):

 

    Payments due by Year Ending December 31
    Less Than 1
Year
  1-3
Years
  3-5
Years
  More
Than 5
Years
  Total
Purchase Order Firm Commitments           $ 1,719       $       $       $       $ 1,719  
Long-Term Debt     373       607       201,520       104,043       306,543  
Interest on Long-term Debt     13,975       28,021       16,014       24,838       82,848  
Capital (Finance) Lease Obligations     3,703       6,378       5,434             15,515  
Interest on Capital (Finance) Lease Obligations     789       1,045       291             2,125  

Operating Lease Obligations

    93,818       86,214       41,332       20,696       242,060  
Long-Term Liabilities—Employee Related (a)     67,059       132,238       129,300       585,844       914,441  

Other Long-Term Liabilities (b)

    188,237       53,146       45,743       165,295       452,421  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Contractual Obligations (c)

    $     369,673       $   307,649       $   439,634       $   900,716     $   2,017,672  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(a)

Employee related long-term liabilities include other post-employment benefits, work-related injuries and illnesses. Estimated salaried retirement contributions required to meet minimum funding standards under ERISA are excluded from the pay-out table due to the uncertainty regarding amounts to be contributed. CoalCo does not expect to contribute to the pension in 2017.

(b)

Other long-term liabilities include mine reclamation and closure and other long-term liability costs.

(c)

The significant obligation table does not include obligations to taxing authorities due to the uncertainty surrounding the ultimate settlement of amounts and timing of these obligations.

Debt. Subject to market conditions and other factors, prior to or concurrent with the separation, CoalCo intends to secure new borrowings from third-party financing sources, a portion of which is anticipated to be distributed to GasCo. In addition, CoalCo intends to retain those 5.75% MEDCO Revenue Bonds due September 2025, for

 

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which the principal amount as of June 30, 2017 was $103 million, and for which GasCo will remain as a guarantor with CoalCo providing indemnification with respect to such guarantee.

Total Equity. CoalCo had total equity of $826,297 thousand at June 30, 2017 compared to $800,124 thousand at December 31, 2016 and $1,061,839 thousand at December 31, 2015. See the Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity in this information for additional details.

On July 27, 2017, the Board of Directors of CNXC declared a cash distribution to the Partnership’s unitholders for the second quarter of 2017 of $0.5125 per common and subordinated units and $0.4678 per Class A Preferred Unit. The cash distribution was paid on August 15, 2017 to the unitholders of record at the close of business on August 7, 2017.

Off-Balance Sheet Transactions. CoalCo does not maintain off-balance sheet transactions, arrangements, obligations or other relationships with unconsolidated entities or others that are reasonably likely to have a material current or future effect on CoalCo’s financial condition, changes in financial condition, revenues or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources which are not disclosed in the Notes to the Audited Combined Financial Statements. CoalCo participates in the United Mine Workers of America (the “UMWA”) Combined Benefit Fund and the UMWA 1992 Benefit Plan which generally accepted accounting principles recognize on a pay as you go basis. These benefit arrangements may result in additional liabilities that are not recognized on the balance sheet at December 31, 2016. The various multi-employer benefit plans are discussed in Note 10—Other Benefit Plans in the Notes to the Audited Combined Financial Statements in this information statement. CoalCo also uses a combination of surety bonds, corporate guarantees and letters of credit to secure our financial obligations for employee-related, environmental, performance and various other items which are not reflected on the balance sheet at December 31, 2016. Management believes these items will expire without being funded. See Note 11 - Commitments and Contingencies in the Notes to the Audited Combined Financial Statements included in this information statement for additional details of the various financial guarantees that have been issued by CoalCo.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In January 2017, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) issued Update 2017-01 - Business Combinations (Topic 805). This update clarifies the definition of a business with the objective of adding guidance to assist entities with evaluating whether transactions should be accounted for as acquisitions (or disposals) of assets or businesses. For public business entities, the amendments in this Update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The adoption of this new guidance is not expected to have a material impact on CoalCo’s financial statements.

In December 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-19 - Technical Corrections and Improvements, which covers a wide range of Topics in the Accounting Standards Codification (ASC). The amendments in this Update represent changes to clarify, correct errors, or make minor improvements to the ASC, making it easier to understand and apply by eliminating inconsistencies and providing clarifications. The amendments generally fall into one of the following categories: amendments related to differences between original guidance and the ASC, guidance clarification and reference corrections, simplification, or minor improvements. Most of the amendments in this Update do not require transition guidance and are effective upon issuance of this Update.

In October 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-17 - Consolidation (Topic 810): Interests Held through Related Parties that are Under Common Control, which amends the consolidation guidance on how a reporting entity that is the single decision maker of a variable interest entity (VIE) should treat indirect interests in the entity held through related parties that are under common control with the reporting entity when determining whether it is the primary beneficiary of that VIE. The Update requires the reporting entity, in determining whether it satisfies the second characteristic of a primary beneficiary, to include its indirect variable interests in a VIE held through related parties that are under common control on a proportionate basis as opposed to in their entirety. The

 

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amendments in this Update will be applied retrospectively and are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The adoption of this new guidance did not have a material impact on CoalCo’s financial statements.

In August 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-15 - Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments, which addresses eight specific cash flow issues with the objective of reducing the existing diversity in practice. The amendments relate to debt prepayment or debt extinguishment costs, settlement of zero-coupon debt instruments or other debt instruments with coupon interest rates that are insignificant in relation to the effective interest rate of the borrowing, contingent consideration payments made after a business combination, proceeds from the settlement of insurance claims, proceeds from the settlement of corporate-owned life insurance policies, distributions received from equity method investees, and beneficial interests in securitization transactions. The Update also states that, in the absence of specific guidance for cash receipts and payments that have aspects of more than one class of cash flows, an entity should classify each separately identifiable source or use within the cash receipts and payments on the basis of their nature in financing, investing, or operating activities. In situations in which cash receipts or payments cannot be separated by source or use, the appropriate classification should depend on the activity that is likely to be the predominant source or use of cash flows for the item. The amendments in the Update will be applied using a retrospective transition method to each period presented and, for public entities, are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017 and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in an interim period. Management is currently evaluating the impact this guidance may have on CoalCo’s financial statements.

In June 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-13 - Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, which provides financial statement users with more decision-useful information about the expected credit losses on financial instruments and other commitments to extend credit held by a reporting entity at each reporting date. To achieve this, the amendments in this Update replace the incurred loss impairment methodology in current Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) with a methodology that reflects expected credit losses and requires consideration of a broader range of reasonable and supportable information to inform credit loss estimates. The measurement of expected credit losses will be based on relevant information about past events, including historical experience, current conditions, and reasonable and supportable forecasts that affect the collectability of the reported amount. The amendments in this Update will be applied using a modified-retrospective approach and, for public entities, are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019 and interim periods within those annual periods. Early adoption is permitted for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018 and interim periods within those annual periods. Management believes this guidance will not have a material impact on CoalCo’s financial statements.

In May 2014, the FASB issued Update 2014-09 - Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), which supersedes the revenue recognition requirements in Topic 605 - Revenue Recognition and most industry-specific guidance throughout the Industry Topics of the Codification. The objective of the amendments in this Update is to improve financial reporting by creating common revenue recognition guidance for U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The core principle of the guidance is that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services and should disclose sufficient information, both qualitative and quantitative, to enable users of financial statements to understand the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers. The following updates to Topic 606 were made during 2016:

 

   

In March 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-08 - Principal versus Agent Considerations (Reporting Revenue Gross versus Net), which clarifies how an entity determines whether it is a principal or an agent for goods or services promised to a customer as well as the nature of the goods or services promised to their customers.

 

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In April 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-10 - Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Identifying Performance Obligations and Licensing, which seeks to address implementation issues in the areas of identifying performance obligations and licensing.

 

   

In May 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-12 - Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Narrow Scope Improvements and Practical Expedients, which seeks to address implementation issues in the areas of collectability, presentation of sales taxes, noncash consideration, and completed contracts and contract modifications at transition.

 

   

In December 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-20 - Technical Corrections and Improvements to Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which includes amendments related to loan guarantee fees, contract costs, provisions for losses on construction and production-type contracts, scope, disclosures, contract modification, contract asset versus receivable, refund liability and advertising costs.

The new standards are effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, with the option to adopt as early as annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016. Management continues to evaluate the impacts that these standards will have on CoalCo’s financial statements, specifically as it relates to contracts that contain positive electric power price related adjustments. CoalCo anticipates using the modified retrospective approach at adoption as it relates to ASU 2014-09.

In March 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-09 - Compensation-Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting, which simplifies several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment transactions, including the income tax consequences, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, and classification on the statement of cash flows. Specifically, this Update states that: all excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies should be recognized as income tax expense or benefit in the income statement; excess tax benefits should be classified along with other income tax cash flows as an operating activity; an entity can make an accounting policy election to either estimate the number of awards that are expected to vest or account for forfeitures when they occur; the threshold to qualify for equity classification permits withholding up to the maximum statutory tax rates in the applicable jurisdictions; and cash paid by an employer when directly withholding shares for tax-withholding purposes should be classified as a financing activity. For public entities, the amendments in this Update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016 and interim periods within those annual periods. Early adoption is permitted. The adoption of this new guidance did not have a material impact on CoalCo’s financial statements.

In February 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-02 - Leases (Topic 842), which increases transparency and comparability among organizations by recognizing lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet and disclosing key information about leasing arrangements. Update 2016-02 does retain a distinction between finance leases and operating leases, which is substantially similar to the classification criteria for distinguishing between capital leases and operating leases in the previous lease guidance.

Retaining this distinction allows the recognition, measurement and presentation of expenses and cash flows arising from a lease to not significantly change from previous GAAP. For leases with a term of 12 months or less, a lessee is permitted to make an accounting policy election by class of underlying asset not to recognize lease assets and lease liabilities, but to recognize lease expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term. For both financing and operating leases, the right-to-use asset and lease liability will be initially measured at the present value of the lease payments in the statement of financial position. The accounting applied by a lessor is largely unchanged from that applied under previous GAAP. For public business entities, the amendments in this Update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early application is permitted. In transition, lessees and lessors are required to recognize and measure leases at the beginning of the earliest period presented using a modified retrospective approach. Management is currently evaluating the impact this guidance may have on CoalCo’s financial statements.

 

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Market Risks

In addition to the risks inherent in operations, CoalCo is exposed to financial, market, political and economic risks. The following discussion provides additional detail regarding CoalCo’s exposure to the risks of changing commodity prices and foreign exchange rates. CoalCo is exposed to market price risk in the normal course of selling coal. CoalCo sells coal in the spot market and under both short-term and multi-year contracts that may contain base prices subject to pre-established price adjustments that reflect (i) variances in the quality characteristics of coal delivered to the customer beyond threshold quality characteristics specified in the applicable sales contract, (ii) the actual calorific value of coal delivered to the customer, and/or (iii) changes in electric power prices in the markets in which CoalCo’s customers operate, as adjusted for any factors set forth in the applicable contract.

CoalCo has established risk management policies and procedures to strengthen the internal control environment of the marketing of commodities produced from its asset base. CoalCo’s market risk strategy incorporates fundamental risk management tools to assess market price risk and establish a framework in which management can maintain a portfolio of transactions within pre-defined risk parameters.

Almost all of CoalCo’s transactions are denominated in U.S. dollars, and, as a result, it does not have material exposure to currency exchange-rate risks. However, because coal is sold internationally in U.S. dollars, general economic conditions in foreign markets and changes in foreign currency exchange rates may provide CoalCo’s foreign competitors with a competitive advantage. If CoalCo’s competitors’ currencies decline against the U.S. dollar or against CoalCo’s foreign customers’ local currencies, those competitors may be able to offer lower prices for coal to CoalCo’s customers. Furthermore, if the currencies of CoalCo’s overseas customers were to significantly decline in value in comparison to the U.S. dollar, those customers may seek decreased prices for the coal CoalCo sells to them. Consequently, currency fluctuations could adversely affect the competitiveness of CoalCo’s coal in international markets.

 

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MANAGEMENT

Executive Officers Following the Distribution

The following table sets forth information regarding individuals who are serving as our executive officers and are expected to continue to serve following the distribution and is followed by biographical information. All CoalCo executive officers are currently employees of ParentCo or its wholly-owned subsidiary Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company LLC (CPCC), and some also serve as executive officers of ParentCo or CNXC. After the separation and distribution, the individuals will no longer be employed by ParentCo, but will continue to serve in their roles with the CNXC GP to the extent applicable.

 

Name

  

Age

  

Position

James A. Brock

  

61

  

Chief Executive Officer

David M. Khani

  

53

  

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Katharine Fredriksen

  

52

  

President

Kurt Salvatori

  

47

  

Chief Administrative Officer

James McCaffrey

  

60

  

Senior Vice President- Coal Marketing

Martha A. Wiegand

  

46

  

General Counsel and Secretary

James A. Brock , Chief Executive Officer of CONSOL Mining. Mr. Brock has served as Chief Operating Officer-Coal of ParentCo since December 10, 2010, and as Chief Executive Officer and a director of the CNXC GP since March 16, 2015. He served as Senior Vice President-Northern Appalachia-West Virginia Operations of ParentCo from 2007 to 2010. From 2006 to 2007, Mr. Brock served as Vice President-Operations of ParentCo. Mr. Brock began his career with ParentCo in 1979 at the Matthews Mine and since then has served at various locations in many positions including Section Foreman, Mine Longwall Coordinator, General Mine Foreman and Superintendent. With a career in coal spanning five decades, we believe Mr. Brock’s extensive knowledge of our industry and our operations gained during his years of service with ParentCo in positions of increasing responsibility in its coal operations will provide our board of directors with valuable experience.

David M. Khani , Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of CONSOL Mining. Mr. Khani served the same role at ParentCo from March 1, 2013 to August 2, 2017. Mr. Khani joined ParentCo in 2011 as Vice President of Finance, where he played a key role in the growth of ParentCo’s E&P business, and has been deeply involved in the separation of the Coal Business. Prior to joining ParentCo, Mr. Khani was with FBR Capital Markets & Co., an investment banking and advisory firm, and held the following positions: Director of Research from February 2007 through October 2010, and then Co-Director of Research from November 2010 through August 2011. Mr. Khani also serves as Chief Financial Officer and a Board Member of CNXC and CONE Midstream Partners LP.

Katharine Fredriksen , President of CONSOL Mining. Ms. Fredriksen has served as Senior Vice President for Diversified Business Units and Environmental Affairs at ParentCo since June 20, 2016, where she is responsible for the management of ParentCo’s health, safety and environmental matters, including management of ParentCo’s environmental legacy coal liabilities. She is also responsible for overseeing operation of the Baltimore Marine Terminal. For a portion of 2016, she was responsible for Central Appalachia mining operations. Prior to that time, Ms. Fredriksen served as Senior Vice President of Health, Safety and Environmental from August 2015 to June 2016, and Senior Vice President of Environmental Strategy and Regulatory Affairs from January 2011 to August 2015. Previously, Ms. Fredriksen served in the George W. Bush administration as Assistant Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Policy and International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy.

James McCaffrey , Senior Vice President- Coal Marketing of CONSOL Mining. Mr. McCaffrey has served as Senior Vice President- Sales of CPCC since June 2016. From January 2013 to current time, Mr. McCaffrey has served as Senior Vice President- Energy Marketing for CPCC, and from April 2002 to June 2016, Mr. McCaffrey

 

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served as Senior Vice President of Sales, Vice President of Materials & Supply Chain Management and Senior Vice President- CNX Land Resources for ParentCo. Mr. McCaffrey started his career as a coal miner with ParentCo in 1976, and joined ParentCo’s management team as Vice President and General Manager of Consolidation Coal Mining Operations in March 2002.

Kurt Salvatori , Chief Administrative Officer of CONSOL Mining. Mr. Salvatori has served as Vice President- Administration of CPCC since January 1, 2017. Previously Mr. Salvatori served as Vice President Shared Services for ParentCo from 2016 to January 2017, and prior to that as Vice President Human Resources from September 2011 to June 2016. Mr. Salvatori joined CONSOL Energy in April 1992 and held numerous positions at CONSOL Energy and CNX Gas Corporation, including Director of Human Resources from April 2006 to September 2011, Manager of Human Resources from January 2005 to April 2006, and Supervisor of Retirement and Investment Plans from April 2002 to January 2005.

Martha A. Wiegand , General Counsel and Secretary of CONSOL Mining. Ms. Wiegand has served as General Counsel and Secretary of the CNXC GP since March 16, 2015. Ms. Wiegand joined ParentCo’s Legal Department in December 2008 as Senior Counsel and was promoted to Associate General Counsel of ParentCo effective in 2012, where she was responsible for a variety of legal matters, including coal and natural gas marketing and transportation, labor and employment, financing arrangements and certain corporate transactions. Prior to joining ParentCo, Ms. Wiegand worked for approximately 10 years for several large Pittsburgh-based law firms, where she handled financing and corporate transactions for clients in the banking and energy industries, among others. She is licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and a member of the American Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Energy & Mineral Law Foundation.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOLLOWING THE SEPARATION

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws will provide that, following the separation, our Board of Directors will initially be divided into three classes, with each director serving for a term ending at the election of directors at the third annual meeting of stockholders at which the director was elected, subject to the provisions described in the remainder of this paragraph. The two directors designated as Class I directors will have initial terms expiring at the first annual meeting of stockholders following the separation, expected to be held in 2018. Directors up for reelection at this annual meeting will be elected to a new three year term expiring in 2021. The two directors designated as Class II directors will have initial terms expiring at the second annual meeting of stockholders following the separation, expected to be held in 2019. Directors up for reelection at this annual meeting will be elected to a new three year term expiring in 2022. The two directors designated as Class III directors will have initial terms expiring at the third annual meeting of stockholders following the separation, expected to be held in 2020. Each director whose term expires at the 2020 annual meeting of stockholders or any annual meeting thereafter (and any other individual who is nominated for election at any such meeting) will be elected for a term expiring the next annual meeting of stockholders.

 

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The following table sets forth those individuals expected to serve on CoalCo’s Board of Directors following completion of the separation. Biographical information is provided for each director (other than Mr. Brock, whose biographical information is set forth above under “Management”). All of the individuals listed below, other than Mr. Brock, our Chief Executive Officer, currently serve as directors of ParentCo and are expected to continue to do so until the separation, at which time they will resign from the board of directors of ParentCo. As described in “Description of CoalCo Capital Stock” our Board will initially be divided into three classes. Disclosure will be provided on a Form 8-K prior to the closing of the distribution regarding the specific classes into which each director will be placed, once such determination has been made.

 

     Age      Audit
Committee
     Compensation
Committee
     Nominating
and
Corporate
Governance
Committee
     Health, Safety and
Environmental
Committee
 

James A. Brock

     61                 X  

Alvin R. Carpenter

     75           X           C  

John T. Mills

     69        C        X           X  

Joseph P. Platt

     69           C        X        X  

William P. Powell (Chair)

     61        X           X        X  

Edwin S. Roberson

     72        X           C        X  

 

C = Chair

Alvin R. Carpenter . Mr. Carpenter has served as a member of the ParentCo Board of Directors since June 2013, and currently serves as a member Compensation Committee, Finance and Investment (F&I) Committee and the Health, Safety and Environmental (HS&E) Committee. He retired from CSX Corporation (CSX), a railroad company, in February 2001, where he had served as vice chairman from July 1999 until his retirement. From 1962 until February 2001, he held various positions with CSX, including President and Chief Executive Officer of CSX Transportation, Inc. from 1992 to 1999 and Executive Vice President-Sales and Marketing of CSX Transportation, Inc. from 1989 to 1992. Mr. Carpenter served as a director of Stein Mart, Inc., a retail company, from 1996 to 2015, where he served as chairman of its compensation committee and as a member of the corporate governance committee. Mr. Carpenter served as a director of Regency Centers Corporation, an owner and developer of dominant, grocery-anchored retail centers, from 1993 until 2016, where he served as a member of its audit, compensation and nominating and corporate governance committees. He served as a director of Lender Processing Services, Inc. from 2009 until it was sold to Fidelity National Financial, Inc. in January 2014, where he had served as its lead director, chairman of the corporate governance and nominating committee and as a member of the compensation committee. Additionally, he previously served on the boards of PSS World Medical, Inc., Barnett Bank, Inc., Nations Bank, American Heritage Life Insurance Company, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Florida, One Valley Bancorp of West Virginia and Florida Rock Industries, Inc. He also chaired Governor Jeb Bush’s Commission on Workers’ Compensation Reform and served on Governor Bush’s Advisory Council on Base Realignment and Closure. Mr. Carpenter will bring over 50 years of business experience to our Board, including 40 years of experience in the railroad industry where he has served in a wide variety of operating, planning and sales and marketing positions. In addition to the business expertise he developed while employed in the railroad industry, Mr. Carpenter has developed significant expertise in the areas of corporate governance, compensation and audit matters through his service on various public company boards.

John T. Mills . Mr. Mills has served on the ParentCo Board of Directors since March 2006, and currently serves as Chair of its Audit Committee and as a member of its Compensation Committee and HS&E Committee. From December 2007 until August 2015, he served on the board of directors of Cal Dive International Inc., a marine contractor providing manned diving, derrick, pipelay and pipe burial services to the offshore oil and natural gas industry, where he served as lead independent director, and as a member of the audit, compensation, and corporate governance and nominating committees. From January 2008 through June 2010, Mr. Mills was a member of the board of directors and audit, conflicts and risk management committees of Regency GP, LLC, the general partner of Regency GP, LP, the general partner of Regency Energy Partners LP, a natural gas gathering,

 

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processing and transportation master limited partnership. Mr. Mills joined the board of directors of Horizon Offshore, Inc., a marine construction company, in June 2002 and served as the chairman of the board of directors from September 2004 until December 2007, when Horizon Offshore, Inc. was acquired by Cal Dive International, Inc. Mr. Mills was the Chief Financial Officer of Marathon Oil Corporation, an integrated energy company, from January 2002 until his retirement in December 2003. In 2011, Mr. Mills attended the Harvard Business School program “Making Corporate Boards More Effective.” As a licensed attorney with over 40 years of business experience, including 16 years as an officer of Marathon Oil Corporation and U.S. Steel Corporation, Mr. Mills will bring significant knowledge and experience to our Board. In particular, Mr. Mills brings an in-depth understanding of the evaluation of organic growth capital projects and acquisition and disposition opportunities, and the importance of maintaining a competitive capital structure and liquidity. In addition, having previously served as Senior Vice President, Finance and Administration, and later Chief Financial Officer of Marathon Oil Corporation, Mr. Mills has developed a wealth of financial knowledge with respect to the oversight of (i) the preparation of consolidated financial statements, (ii) internal audit functions, and (iii) public accountants, skills which are critical to our company and particularly our Audit Committee.

Joseph Platt . Mr. Platt has served on the ParentCo Board of Directors since May 2016, and currently serves as Chair of its Compensation Committee and as a member of its F&I Committee and HS&E Committee. He is the general partner at Thorn Partners, LP, a family limited partnership, a position he has held since 1998. Mr. Platt’s career at Johnson and Higgins, a global insurance broker and employee benefits consultant (J&H), spanned 27 years until 1997, when J&H was sold to Marsh & McLennan Companies. At the time of the sale, Mr. Platt was an owner, director and executive vice president of J&H. Mr. Platt has served on the board of directors of Greenlight Capital Re, Ltd., a property and casualty reinsurer, since 2004 and has been its lead independent director since 2007, and also serves as an independent director of BlackRock’s Open End & Liquidity Funds and on the boards of various other nonpublic companies and not-for-profit institutions. Mr. Platt will bring significant financial, compensation and risk management expertise to our Board.

William P. Powell . Mr. Powell has served on the ParentCo Board of Directors since January 2004, and currently serves as Chair of its F&I Committee and as a member of its Nominating and Corporate Governance (N&CG) Committee and the HS&E Committee. Mr. Powell previously was a director of Cytec Industries, a global specialty chemicals and materials company, from 1993 until its merger with Solvay SA in December 2015, where he served as lead independent director, chair of the governance committee and as a member of the audit committee. Until May 2007, Mr. Powell was a Managing Director of William Street Advisors, a New York City-based merchant banking boutique. Mr. Powell resigned from William Street Advisors to establish a family office, 535 Partners LLC, where he serves as Managing Partner. Prior to his time at William Street Advisors, he served as a Managing Director of UBS Warburg LLC and its predecessor Dillon, Read & Co. Inc. since 1991. With an MBA degree and over 30 years of financial, management and investment experience, Mr. Powell will bring a wealth of knowledge to our Board. Having served on multiple public company boards for over 20 years, Mr. Powell also has significant expertise in corporate governance matters.

Edwin S. Roberson . Mr. Roberson has served on the ParentCo Board of Directors since May 2016, and currently serves as a member of its Audit Committee, N&CG Committee, and HS&E Committee. Most recently, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Christ Community Health Services, a health system of eight clinics providing high quality healthcare to the underserved in the Memphis, Tennessee community, a position he held since 2014. Prior to that, Mr. Roberson served as Chief Executive Officer of various cancer research and biotech firms, and as President of Beacon Consulting, LLC, a business consulting firm, from 2006 to 2011. From 1991 to 2006, he worked at Conwood LLC, the nation’s second-largest manufacturer of smokeless tobacco products and a major seller and distributor of tobacco products manufactured by third parties, where he served in several roles, including Chief Financial Officer and, ultimately, President. After serving in the Army from 1969 to 1971, where he was awarded two Bronze Stars in Vietnam, Mr. Roberson began his professional career at KPMG, an international accounting and consulting firm, where he was a tax partner until 1991. Mr. Roberson also served on the board of Paragon National Bank, where he was chairman of the audit committee. Mr. Roberson serves on the board of directors of Infocare, Inc. (US). Additionally, he also serves on the board of directors of several private

 

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corporations and currently serves or has served as a board member for a number of educational, religious, civic and charitable organizations, including Duke University Divinity School, the Boy Scouts of America, and Chairman of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare. Mr. Roberson will bring significant leadership skills and financial, accounting and strategy expertise to our Board. Further, Mr. Roberson is a certified public accountant.

Director Independence

Providing objective, independent judgment is at the core of a board’s oversight function. CoalCo’s Corporate Governance Guidelines will provide that a director will be “independent” if such director meets the standards for independence set forth in the SEC rules and the NYSE Listed Company Manual. In order for a CoalCo director to be deemed “independent” in accordance with such standards (i) the CoalCo Board must affirmatively determine that the director has no material relationship with CoalCo or any subsidiary in its group and (ii) none of the following can be true with respect to such director:

 

(i)

the director is, or has been within the previous three years, employed by CoalCo or its subsidiaries, or an immediate family member is, or has been within the previous three years, an executive officer of CoalCo; provided, that employment as an interim Chairman of the Board or CEO or other executive officer shall not disqualify a director from being considered independent following that employment;

 

(ii)

the director or an immediate family member has received, during any twelve-month period within the last three years, more than $120,000 in direct compensation from CoalCo or its subsidiaries, other than director and committee fees and pension or other forms of deferred compensation for prior service (provided such compensation is not contingent in any way on continued service); provided, that compensation received by a director for former service as an interim Chairman of the Board or CEO or other executive officer need not be considered in determining independence under this paragraph (ii) and provided further, that compensation received by an immediate family member for service as an employee of CoalCo or its subsidiaries (other than an executive officer) need not be considered in determining independence under this paragraph (ii);

 

(iii)

(A) the director or an immediate family member is a current partner of the firm that is CoalCo’s internal auditor or external auditor (each an Audit Firm); (B) the director is a current employee of an Audit Firm; (C) the director has an immediate family member who is a current employee of an Audit Firm and who personally works on CoalCo’s audit or (D) the director or an immediate family member was, within the previous three years (but is no longer), a partner or employee of an Audit Firm and personally worked on CoalCo’s audit within that time;

 

(iv)

the director or an immediate family member is, or has been within the previous three years, employed as an executive officer of another company where any of CoalCo’s present executive officers at the same time serves or served on such company’s compensation (or equivalent) committee of the board of directors; or

 

(v)

the director is a current employee, or an immediate family member is an executive officer, of a company that has made payments to, or received payments from, CoalCo or its subsidiaries for property or services in an amount which, in any of the previous three fiscal years, exceeds the greater of $1 million or 2% of such other company’s consolidated gross revenues. For purposes of the foregoing, both the payments and the consolidated gross revenues to be measured shall be those reported in the last completed fiscal year; and

 

(vi)

for members of the audit committee only: other than in the capacity as a member of the audit committee, the Board or any other committee of the Board, the director (A) does not accept, directly or indirectly, any consulting, advisory or other compensatory fee from CoalCo or its subsidiaries; provided that compensatory fees do not include the receipt of fixed amounts of compensation under a retirement plan (including deferred compensation) for prior service with CoalCo or its subsidiaries (provided that such compensation is not contingent in any way on continued service) or (B) is not an affiliated person of CoalCo or its subsidiaries.

 

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Any relationship that falls below a threshold set forth in the Corporate Governance Guidelines to be adopted, or is not otherwise listed in the Corporate Governance Guidelines, or may not be required to be disclosed under Item 404(a) of SEC Regulation S-K, will be deemed to be an immaterial relationship. CoalCo also intends for members of its Audit and Compensation Committees to satisfy all applicable independence standards.

Committees of the Board of Directors

Effective upon the completion of the distribution, our Board of Directors will have the following four standing committees: Audit, Compensation, Nominating and Corporate Governance (N&CG), and Health, Safety & Environmental (HS&E). The Board of Directors is expected to adopt written charters for each standing committee, which will be made available on our website in connection with the separation.

Following our listing on the NYSE and in accordance with the relevant transition provisions applicable to companies listing in conjunction with a spin-off transaction, each of the Audit, Compensation, and N&CG Committees will consist solely of directors who have been determined by the Board of Directors to be independent in accordance with SEC regulations, NYSE listing standards and CoalCo’s governance guidelines (including the heightened independence standards for members of the Audit and Compensation Committees).

The following sets forth the expected primary responsibilities of the committees of the Board of Directors:

 

Committee

  

Responsibilities

Audit Committee

  

•    Assist the Board in its oversight of the integrity of our financial statements, CoalCo’s compliance with its legal and regulatory requirements, our risk management policies and practices and CoalCo’s cybersecurity;

 

•    Interact with and evaluate the performance and independence of our independent registered public accounting firm;

 

•    Provide general oversight over the accounting principles employed in our financial reporting and the effectiveness of CoalCo’s internal controls over financial reporting and the performance of our internal audit function; and

 

•    Prepare any required Audit Committee Report.

Each member of the Audit Committee will be financially literate, and the Board of Directors will determine which committee members qualify as “financial experts” under applicable SEC rules.

Compensation Committee

  

•    Establish and review CoalCo’s compensation philosophies, policies, plans and programs, consistent with CoalCo’s objectives and stockholder interests, for our non-employee directors, executive officers and certain other employees;

 

•    Review the performance of our executive officers and award incentive compensation;

 

•    Review and monitor our management development and succession plans and activities;

 

•    Engage and oversee any outside compensation consultant; and

 

•    Prepare any required Compensation Committee Report.

 

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Committee

  

Responsibilities

The Compensation Committee may form and delegate its authority to subcommittees when appropriate (including subcommittees of management). Executive officers will not determine the amount or form of executive or director compensation, although the Chief Executive Officer may provide recommendations to the Compensation Committee regarding compensation changes and incentive compensation for executive officers other than himself. See “Executive Compensation” and “Compensation Discussion and Analysis.”

Nominating & Corporate

Governance Committee

  

•    Identify qualified individuals for nomination, election or appointment to the Board of Directors;

 

•    Ensure appropriate Board composition, and recommend appropriate Board structure and operations;

 

•    Oversee and assess CoalCo’s corporate governance system, including the responsibilities of Board members and committees, and related policies and procedures;

•    Oversee annual evaluations of the Board, committees, and management, including the CEO; and

 

•    recommend each director nominee to our Board for nomination for election at the annual meeting, taking into account nomination candidates whose names are submitted by stockholders.

CoalCo does not anticipate maintaining a separate policy regarding the diversity of its Board members. However, we expect that the N&CG Committee, and ultimately the Board, will seek director nominees with diverse personal and professional backgrounds, experience and perspectives that, when combined, provide a diverse portfolio of experience and knowledge that will well serve CoalCo’s governance and strategic needs.

 

Health, Safety & Environmental

Committee

  

•    Provide risk oversight of CoalCo’s policies and procedures with respect to health, safety, environmental and security matters;

  

•    Review CoalCo’s strategy, including objectives and policies, relative to the protection of the safety and health of employees, contractors, customers and the public, and environmental protection;

  

•    Review material compliance issues or pending or threatened proceedings regarding health, safety or environmental matters, and management’s response to the same; and

  

•    Review any significant health, safety and environmental public policy and legislative, political and social issues and trends.

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

During our fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, CoalCo was not an independent company, and did not have a compensation committee or any other committee serving a similar function. Decisions as to the compensation of those who will serve as CoalCo’s executive officers prior to the separation were made by ParentCo and the board of directors of the CNXC GP as described in “Executive Compensation” and “Compensation Discussion and Analysis.”

 

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Corporate Governance

We are committed to conducting our businesses in accordance with the highest level of ethical and corporate governance standards. We expect the Board will periodically review its corporate governance practices and take other actions to address changes in regulatory requirements, developments in governance best practices and matters raised by stockholders. The following describes some of the actions we expect the Board to take to help ensure that our conduct earns the respect and trust of stockholders, customers, business partners, employees and the communities in which we live and work.

Corporate Governance Guidelines and Code of Business Conduct and Ethics

In connection with the separation and distribution, the Board will adopt corporate governance guidelines that set forth the responsibilities of the Board and the qualifications and independence of its members and the members of its standing committees. We expect that these practices will be reviewed annually by the N&CG Committee.

In addition, in connection with the separation and distribution, the Board is expected to adopt, among other codes and policies, a code of business conduct and ethics policy setting forth standards applicable to all of our employees, including our CEO and senior financial officers; once adopted, these documents will be available on our website at www. consolenergy .com after the distribution. Only the Board or a committee thereof will be able to waive the code of conduct as it applies to our directors or executive officers. Any waiver of the code of conduct for our executive officers, service providers, contractors or directors will be promptly disclosed to our stockholders in any manner as may be required by law or NYSE regulation. Any additions or amendments to our ethics policy, and waivers thereof for our executive officers or directors, will be posted on the corporate governance page of our website, and similarly provided without charge upon written request.

Procedures for Treatment of Complaints Regarding Accounting, Internal Accounting Controls, and Auditing Matters

In accordance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, CoalCo expects that its Audit Committee will adopt procedures for the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints regarding accounting controls or auditing matters and to allow for the confidential, anonymous submission by employees and others of concerns regarding questionable accounting or auditing matters.

Qualification and Nominations of Directors

The N&CG Committee charter that is expected to be adopted in connection with the separation and distribution will provide that the N&CG Committee considers and recommends to the Board nominees for election to or for filling any vacancy on the Board in accordance with our by - laws, our governance guidelines, and the N&CG Committee’s charter. The N&CG Committee is expected to periodically review the requisite skills and characteristics of Board members as well as the size, composition, functioning and needs of the Board as a whole.

It is expected that, to be considered for Board membership, a nominee for director must be an individual of high personal and professional integrity, who has demonstrated exceptional ability and judgment, and who will be effective, in conjunction with the other nominees to our Board, in collectively serving the long - term interests of all of our stockholders. The N&CG Committee is also expected to consider Board members independence, the financial literacy of members of the Audit Committee, the qualification of Audit Committee members as “financial experts,” and the diversity, skills, background and experiences of members of the Board in the context of the needs of the Board. The N&CG Committee may also consider such other factors as it may deem to be in the best interests of CoalCo and our stockholders.

Whenever the Committee concludes, based on the reviews or considerations described above or due to a vacancy, that a new nominee to the Board is required or advisable, it will consider recommendations from directors,

 

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management, stockholders and, if it deems appropriate, consultants retained for that purpose. In such circumstances, it will evaluate individuals recommended by stockholders in the same manner as nominees recommended from other sources. Stockholders who wish to recommend an individual for nomination should send that person’s name and supporting information to the Committee, in care of the company’s Secretary. CoalCo’s amended and restated bylaws will contain provisions that address the process by which a stockholder may nominate an individual to stand for election to the Board. Stockholders who wish to directly nominate an individual for election as a director, without going through the Committee or using our proxy materials, will be required to comply with the procedures in our by - laws.

Communication with Non-Management Members of our Board of Directors

Information for stockholders and other parties interested in communicating with our Board or our independent directors, individually or as a group, will be available on our website at www. consolenergy .com after the separation and distribution. CoalCo’s Secretary will forward communications relating to Board matters to the Chairman; and communications relating to matters within a Board committee s area of responsibility to the chair of the appropriate committee.

Risk Oversight

The Board of Directors will be actively engaged in overseeing and reviewing CoalCo’s strategic direction and objectives, taking into account (among other considerations) CoalCo’s risk profile and exposures. It will be management’s responsibility to manage risk and bring to the Board of Directors’ attention the most material risks to the company. The Board of Directors will have oversight responsibility of the processes established to report and monitor systems for material risks applicable to the company. The Board of Directors will annually review the company’s enterprise risk management and receive regular updates on risk exposures.

Various aspects of the board of directors’ risk oversight will be delegated to its committees, which will meet regularly and report back to the full board. The following committees are expected to play significant roles in carrying out the risk oversight function:

 

   

The Audit Committee will oversee risks related to the company’s financial statements, the financial reporting and disclosure processes, the financial and other internal controls, accounting and legal matters. The Audit Committee will select and retain the company’s independent auditor and will also oversee the internal audit function. The company’s independent outside auditors and the vice president of the company’s internal audit department will be expected to regularly identify and discuss with the Audit Committee risks and related mitigation measures that may arise during their regular reviews of the company’s financial statements and audit work. The Audit Committee will meet separately on a regular basis with representatives of the independent auditing firm and the vice president of the company’s internal audit department. The Audit Committee will also be expected to review management’s annual capital expenditure plans and management’s assessment of the company’s capital structure, including dividend policies and stock repurchase programs.

 

   

The Compensation Committee will be expected to evaluate the risks and rewards associated with the company’s compensation philosophy and programs. The Compensation Committee will review and approve compensation programs with features designed to reward long-term achievement and discourage excessive short-term risk taking. It is expected that an independent executive compensation consulting firm hired by the Compensation Committee will advise the committee with respect to executive compensation practices and programs, including the risks associated with each of them.

 

   

The N&CG Committee will monitor our corporate governance practices against applicable requirements, including those of the NYSE, and against evolving developments and will be responsible for our code of conduct and ethics, including the code of business conduct applicable to the company’s

 

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employees. The Nominating and Governance Committee will also consider issues associated with the independence of the company’s board members.

 

   

The HS&E Committee will monitor, evaluate and address various risks associated with health, safety, the environment and security (including cybersecurity), and will review material compliance issues with health, safety and environmental regulatory requirements, material pending or threatened administrative, and regulatory or judicial proceedings regarding such matters.

Each committee will have the authority to engage such independent counsel as the committee deems necessary to carry out its duties and responsibilities. Annually, CoalCo’s chief executive officer and other senior executives, as deemed appropriate by management or the board members, will make a presentation to our Board of Directors about risks associated with our business and how CoalCo manages and mitigates those risks. Because overseeing risk is an ongoing process, the Board of Directors also will be expected to discuss risk throughout the year at other meetings in relation to proposed actions or discussions with respect to various aspects of CoalCo’s operations.

DIRECTOR COMPENSATION

Our Board of Directors will determine compensation to be paid to the CoalCo Nonemployee Directors following the separation and distribution. Compensation for CoalCo Nonemployee Directors is anticipated to consist of a mix of cash and equity-based compensation. The Chairman and committee chairs of our Board of Directors are anticipated to receive additional payments for their services in that capacity. In late 2017 or early 2018, the CoalCo Compensation Committee expects to undertake a review of competitive data and best practices with the input of an independent expert compensation consultant to determine our Board of Directors compensation going forward. We have not yet paid any compensation to the CoalCo Nonemployee Directors. Mr. Brock, our Chief Executive Officer, will not receive any additional compensation in connection with his service on our Board of Directors.

The table below sets forth the expected components of compensation for CoalCo Nonemployee Directors following the separation (to be prorated based on actual service periods), which compensation remains subject to final approval by our Board of Directors.

 

Element of 2017 Annual Compensation

   Dollar Value of
Board Compensation
(January 1, 2017 -
December 31, 2017)
 

Chairman Retainer

   $ 200,000  

Board Retainer

   $ 120,000  

Committee Chair Retainer (excluding Audit Committee and Compensation Committee Chair Retainer)

   $ 10,000  

Audit Committee Chair Retainer

   $ 30,000  

Compensation Committee Chair Retainer

   $ 20,000  

Audit Committee Member Retainer (excluding Audit Committee Chair Retainer)

   $ 7,500  

Annual Equity Award (Stock Options)

   $ 150,000  

Chairman Equity Award (Stock Options)

   $ 300,000  

Following the separation, the Board of Directors may adopt stock ownership guidelines for directors.

 

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COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

Introduction

As discussed above, CoalCo is currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of ParentCo and not an independent company, and its compensation committee has not yet been formed. For purposes of this Compensation Discussion and Analysis (CD&A) and executive compensation disclosures, the individuals listed below are collectively referred to as our named executives. These named executives include our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and the three most highly compensated individuals designated as CoalCo executive officers, based on 2016 compensation from ParentCo, its wholly-owned subsidiary CPCC, and/or the CNXC GP, as applicable:

 

   

James A. Brock, CoalCo Chief Executive Officer . Prior to the separation, Mr. Brock served as the Chief Operating Officer – Coal of ParentCo, and currently serves as Chief Executive Officer and director of the CNXC GP.

   

David M. Khani, CoalCo Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer . Prior to the separation, Mr. Khani served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of ParentCo until August 2, 2017, and thereafter assumed the position of Chief Financial Officer of CoalCo and the CNXC GP.

   

Katharine Fredriksen, CoalCo President . Prior to the separation, Ms. Fredriksen served as Senior Vice President for Diversified Business Units and Environmental Affairs of ParentCo.

   

James McCaffrey, CoalCo Senior Vice President—Coal Marketing . Prior to the separation, Mr. McCaffrey served as Senior Vice President for Energy Marketing for CPCC.

   

Kurt Salvatori, CoalCo Chief Administrative Officer . Prior to the separation, Mr. Salvatori served as the Vice President – Administration for CPCC.

Determinations regarding the 2016 compensation of our named executives, which correlate to their respective positions held in 2016, may be summarized as follows:

 

   

As named executive officers of ParentCo, decisions regarding the 2016 compensation of Messrs. Brock and Khani were recommended by the Chief Executive Officer of ParentCo and approved by the ParentCo Compensation Committee, other than with respect to CNXC phantom unit awards granted to Mr. Brock in his capacity as Chief Executive Officer of the CNXC GP under the CNX Coal Resources LP 2015 Long-Term Incentive Plan (the CNXC LTIP), which phantom unit awards were determined by the Board of Directors of the CNXC GP (the CNXC GP Board).

   

Decisions regarding the 2016 compensation of Messrs. McCaffrey, Salvatori and Ms. Fredriksen were made by ParentCo management in accordance with ParentCo’s plans and performance.

As historical compensation decisions relating to our named executives primarily were based on the compensation philosophy, practices and objectives of ParentCo, this CD&A primarily focuses on ParentCo’s executive compensation program and does not necessarily reflect the compensation programs that will be adopted by CoalCo following the separation. We also discuss grants made under the CNXC LTIP and other compensation decisions made by the CNXC GP Board where warranted. The CoalCo Compensation Committee anticipates reviewing the compensation of its named executive officers at, on or around the Effective Time.

This CD&A, which relates to 2016 compensation determinations, contains references to one or more financial measures (indicated by *) utilized by ParentCo that have not been calculated in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of disclosed non-GAAP financial measure used by ParentCo in its 2016 compensation determinations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is provided in Appendix A to this information statement.

 

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ParentCo 2016 Compensation Setting Process

ParentCo Compensation Philosophy and Objectives . ParentCo’s executive compensation program is designed to attract, motivate and retain key executives who drive success and industry leadership through compensation that:

 

   

links a significant portion of total compensation to performance to create long-term stockholder value;

   

consists primarily of stock-based compensation, which encourages executives to act as owners and aligns their interests with those of ParentCo’s stockholders;

   

is tied to ParentCo’s overall corporate performance, financial and operational goals (both annual and long-term);

   

enhances retention in a highly competitive market by subjecting a significant portion of total compensation to multi-year vesting or performance conditions;

   

discourages unnecessary and excessive risk taking; and

   

provides a competitive total pay opportunity.

Key factors that affected ParentCo’s 2016 compensation determinations include the nature and scope of an executive’s responsibilities, an executive’s performance (including contribution to financial results), and outside compensation consultant report(s) on survey and/or reported data for compensation paid to executives with similar responsibilities at similarly-situated companies.

Results of ParentCo 2017 Stockholder Vote on Named Executive Compensation . Approximately 94% of the shares voted at ParentCo’s 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders approved ParentCo’s 2016 executive compensation program. ParentCo believes that this vote outcome was positively impacted by ParentCo’s active historic stockholder engagement and continued efforts to structure executive compensation to better align the interests of its named executives and stockholders. Following the separation, CoalCo intends to engage with its stockholders on matters relating to executive compensation.

Use of Peer Group and Other Benchmarking Data . A primary factor considered by the ParentCo Compensation Committee in determining the total compensation opportunity available to each of its named executive officers is whether such total compensation opportunity is competitive with the total compensation opportunities offered to similarly-situated executives by ParentCo’s competitors. Due to ParentCo’s historically unique position of being both a natural gas and coal producer, for 2016 compensation purposes, the ParentCo Compensation Committee used a peer group of companies that included a mix of both natural gas and coal companies, against which the ParentCo Compensation Committee measured its overall compensation program. In selecting the peer group companies, the ParentCo Compensation Committee also considered ParentCo’s revenue and market capitalization relative to these peers and their business segment revenue.

In consideration of the above, the following peer companies were used by the ParentCo Compensation Committee to help establish 2016 compensation for Messrs. Brock and Khani, who were named executive officers of ParentCo in 2016:

 

Alpha Natural Resources, Inc.

  

EOG Resources, Inc.

  

Range Resources

Antero Resources

  

EQT Corporation

  

Southwestern Energy Co

Arch Coal Inc.

  

Noble Energy, Inc.

  

Teck Resources

Cabot Oil and Gas

  

Peabody Energy Corp

  

Walter Energy

Chesapeake Energy Corporation

  

QEP Resources, Inc.

  

WPX Energy, Inc.

Devon Energy Corporation

     

Role of ParentCo Compensation Consultant . In 2016, the ParentCo Compensation Committee engaged Willis Towers Watson to assist with the development of ParentCo’s 2016 executive compensation program. Willis Towers Watson provided no other services to ParentCo and its affiliates during 2016. The ParentCo Compensation Committee looked to its compensation consultant to review the elements of ParentCo’s

 

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compensation program, including the appropriate mix of short- and long-term incentives, and for any recommendations of modifications thereto, based on their review of the market practices of a peer group of companies and ParentCo’s compensation objectives. The consultant also provided ongoing input on the design of ParentCo’s incentive programs and the underlying performance metrics.

Process for Evaluating Compensation . In the first quarter of 2016, the ParentCo Compensation Committee met to establish the base salaries, incentive opportunities and related performance goals of ParentCo’s compensation programs, including its STIC and LTIC programs (both as defined below), for ParentCo named executive officers, including Messrs. Brock and Khani. To establish such compensation, ParentCo’s Human Resources personnel made initial assessments that were reviewed by the ParentCo Chief Executive Officer. This assessment included relevant industry salary practices, the complexity and level of responsibility associated with Messrs. Brock’s and Khani’s positions, their positions’ overall importance to ParentCo relative to other executive positions, and the competitiveness of their overall total compensation. A similar, but less formal process was undertaken by ParentCo management as it related to the establishment of base salaries, incentive opportunities and related performance goals, including its STIC and LTIC programs, for our other named executives. After considering these factors, and in consultation with the ParentCo Chief Executive Officer and Willis Towers Watson, the ParentCo Compensation Committee and the ParentCo Board of Directors approved the 2016 compensation packages for Messrs. Brock and Khani, and ParentCo management approved the 2016 compensation packages for Ms. Fredriksen and Messrs. McCaffrey and Salvatori. Long-term compensation granted to Mr. Brock in 2016 under the CNXC LTIP was determined and approved by the CNXC GP Board, as further described below.

After the separation, CoalCo anticipates that our Board of Directors (and its compensation committee, once formed) will determine the process for setting compensation with respect to our named executives. Our Board of Directors (or its compensation committee) will also select its own peer group of companies against whom it may choose to benchmark or compare its compensation programs.

 

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Elements of 2016 Compensation Program

The following chart shows the compensation elements applicable to our named executives in 2016:

 

Compensation
Element

 

Form of
Compensation

 

Performance Criteria/Formula/2016 Results

   

Applicability

 

Purpose and Key Facts

Base Salary

  Cash     All named executives   Provide fixed compensation necessary to attract and retain key executives and employees and to offset the cyclicality in ParentCo’s business that may impact variable pay year-to-year.
               
Short-Term Incentive Compensation (STIC)       All named executives   Provide incentives to achieve free cash flow*, operational, and stock price performance goals applicable to ParentCo and reward employees for the achievement of those goals.
 

Cash

 

Performance Measure

 

   

Modifier

 

     

 

Total
Result

 

 
 

 

   
    Free Cash Flow*     +/-     Safety +/- 20%     =       200%      
        Environmental +/- 5%         
        Stock Price +/- 5%        
               
               
Long-Term Incentive Compensation (LTIC)  

CNXC Phantom Units

(vesting one-third per year for three years)

 

 

  Mr. Brock   Create a strong incentive to achieve short- and long-term performance objectives and strategic plan goals, and align management’s interests with those of ParentCo stockholders and CNXC unitholders. Equity awards also are intended to retain executive talent.
 

ParentCo Performance Share Units

(vesting one-fifth per year for five years)

 

 

  All named executives  
               
      Performance Measure (2016 –2020)     Weight    


 Total Units 
Earned
2016
Tranche
 
 
 
 
 

Messrs. Khani, McCaffrey, Salvatori and Ms. Fredriksen

 
    Relative TSR (S&P 500)     50%     200%      
    Absolute Stock Price     50%            
               
  Options (vesting one-third per year for three years)      
               
Other Agreements and Benefits  

Change in Control Agreements

Other Retirement Benefits

 

 

  All named executives   Attract and retain key management members and, for change in control agreements, motivate named executives to take actions that are in the best interests of ParentCo and/or CNXC, as applicable.
               

Limited Perquisites

  See Summary Compensation Table     All named executives   Provide a competitive compensation package.

2016 Base Salary . Base salary is designed to provide a competitive fixed rate of pay recognizing the named executives’ different levels of responsibility and performance. In setting base salary amounts for 2016, ParentCo considered factors including, but not limited to, external market data, the internal worth and value assigned to the

 

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named executive’s role and responsibilities, and the named executive’s skills and performance. The chart below shows named executives’ base salary amounts for 2016 (rounded up to the nearest dollar):

 

CoalCo Named Executive

   Base Salary for 2016  

Chief Executive Officer

   $ 410,000  

Chief Financial Officer

   $ 517,625  

President

   $ 250,118  

SVP - Coal Marketing

   $ 379,710  

Chief Administrative Officer

   $ 220,835  

2016 STIC Program . The ParentCo 2016 STIC program was designed to deliver annual cash awards when ParentCo is successful in meeting or exceeding established performance targets and to pay less, or nothing at all, when ParentCo and/or its employees fall short of these targets. The STIC program provides incentive compensation (measured at target) that is comparable to compensation provided by companies with which ParentCo competes for executive talent.

The 2016 STIC (applicable to the January 1, 2016 – December 31, 2016 performance period) was structured to align management’s interests with the key goal of generating free cash flow* for ParentCo. The free cash flow* performance factor, which was based on ParentCo’s operating cash flow, was calculated as follows:

 

Operating

Cash

Flow(1)

  

-

  

Capital Expenditures

  

+

  

Asset

Sales

  

+

  

MLP

Distributions

Received(2)

  

=

  

Target Free Cash Flow*

 

(1)

The calculation of this ParentCo metric is set forth on Appendix A.

 

(2)

Refers to distributions that ParentCo received from CNXC and CONE Midstream Partners LP.

The free cash flow* performance factor had a score ranging from 0% – 200%, with a target score of 100%. If the threshold, or minimum, score of 50% had not been achieved, a score of zero would have been assigned, with no payout. Payout of the 2016 STIC could potentially have been modified by safety, environmental and stock price modifiers. The target free cash flow* performance factor was derived from the annual board-approved profit objective for ParentCo for 2016. Accordingly, the 2016 STIC award payout formula was as follows:

 

Annual

Base Salary

  

X

 

Target

Opportunity Percentage

(% of Base Salary)

  

X

  

(Free Cash Flow*

Performance Factor +/-

Modifiers)

(up to 200%)

  

=

  

STIC Award Payout

The free cash flow* performance factor metrics and percentage payout for the 2016 STIC, as well as ParentCo’s achievement of the same, were as follows:

 

Performance Factor – Free Cash Flow*  
(Metrics and % Payout)              

Metrics

          Payout (%)  

Threshold

   $ 166 M        50

Target

   $ 585 M        100

Maximum

   $ 866 M        200

Actual 2016 Results

   $ 957 M        200

As indicated in the chart above, in 2016, ParentCo achieved free cash flow* performance in excess of the maximum STIC payout, resulting in the named executives receiving annual STIC payouts as reflected below, based on their target payout (as a percentage of base salary) multiplied by the maximum payout percentage of

 

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200%. Due to the level of achievement for 2016, which exceeded the maximum STIC payout, the safety, environmental and stock price modifiers were not considered and therefore did not affect the 2016 STIC payout.

 

CoalCo Named Executive

   Target Opportunity
Percentages

(% of Base Salary)(1)
    Target Payout
Opportunity
     STIC Payout Score
(% of Opportunity)
    Actual
Payout
 

Chief Executive Officer

     65   $ 266,500        200   $ 533,000 (2) 

Chief Financial Officer

     70   $ 362,338        200   $ 725,000 (2) 

President

     35   $ 87,541        200   $ 175,082  

SVP- Coal Marketing

     50   $ 189,855        200   $ 379,710  

Chief Administrative Officer

     30   $ 66,250        200   $ 132,501  

 

(1)

The ParentCo Compensation Committee (with respect to Messrs. Brock and Khani) and ParentCo management (with respect to Ms. Fredriksen and Messrs. McCaffrey and Salvatori) determined the 2016 target opportunity percentages, based on a review of competitive data and performance.

 

(2)

Rounded up to the nearest thousand.

ParentCo LTIC . The ParentCo LTIC program is designed to create a strong incentive for our named executives to achieve the longer-term performance objectives in ParentCo’s strategic plan and to align management’s interests with those of ParentCo’s stockholders. Awards granted under the LTIC are made pursuant to the ParentCo Equity Incentive Plan, as amended and restated (the ParentCo LTIP).

In January 2016, the ParentCo Compensation Committee restructured the LTIC program to encourage retention, more fully align management’s interests with those of ParentCo’s stockholders and continue focus on stockholder return. The ParentCo Compensation Committee determined that Mr. Brock would receive his 2016 long-term incentive opportunity in the form of PSUs (55%) and CNXC phantom units (45%) (as further approved by the CNXC GP Board), while Mr. Khani would receive his 2016 long-term incentive opportunity in the form of PSUs (55%) and ParentCo stock options (45%). ParentCo management determined that Ms. Fredriksen and Messrs. McCaffrey and Salvatori would receive their 2016 long-term incentive opportunity in the form of PSUs (55%) and ParentCo stock options (45%).

2016 – 2020 PSU Grants and Payout. In January 2016, the named executives were granted PSUs that vest, if earned, ratably over a five-year period (January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2020) based on annual ParentCo performance measurements. The vesting of the 2016 – 2020 PSU awards will be calculated annually based on the following pre-established, equally-weighted ParentCo performance goals, with the aggregate payout capped at 200% of target:

 

(i)

Total Stockholder Return (TSR) of ParentCo relative to the S&P 500 (measured at the end of each year during the five-year performance period using the 10-day average closing stock price of ParentCo ending December 31 for the applicable tranche); and

 

(ii)

absolute stock price appreciation of ParentCo (measured at the end of each year during the five-year performance period using the 10-day average closing stock price per share of ParentCo against the grant date of $6.87 (the GDSP) as the starting point).

 

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LOGO

 

(1)

Straight-line interpolation between performance levels.

 

(2)

After reviewing ParentCo’s prior stock price performance and consideration of ParentCo’s business plan, the ParentCo Compensation Committee considered the stock price goals applicable to the remaining tranches of the 2016 – 2020 PSU awards to be challenging but attainable.

In the event that a tranche fails to pay out at the end of any annual tranche period with respect to the absolute stock price measure (a Missed Year), the unvested PSUs attributable to the Missed Year may still become fully vested, at a target level, if ParentCo achieves target performance (or greater) as determined after the end of a future tranche. The opportunity to recoup any missed payouts may occur for any prior tranche, but only up to target performance for that prior period.

The named executives received the following target awards for the 2016 – 2020 PSUs in the dollar amounts shown below:

 

Named Executive

   PSUs (Target) ($)  

Chief Executive Officer

     550,000  

Chief Financial Officer

     1,100,000  

President

     52,250  

SVP- Coal Marketing(1)

     137,500  

Chief Administrative Officer

     41,250  

 

(1)

Pursuant to the terms of Mr. McCaffrey’s retention agreement described below, ParentCo agreed that, if ParentCo shipped 24,462 thousand tons of coal from January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016 from the Bailey complex (the Coal Tonnage Goal) and he remained employed with ParentCo or its subsidiaries through December 31, 2016, he would vest in his 2016-2020 PSUs, subject to the attainment of the performance goals as determined by the ParentCo Compensation Committee after the end of the applicable performance period. The Coal Tonnage Goal was achieved and Mr. McCaffrey vested in his right to this award, subject to the attainment of the award’s performance goals as determined by the ParentCo Compensation Committee.

 

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In January 2017, the ParentCo Compensation Committee determined the payout, based on strict adherence to the above formula, of the first tranche of the 2016 – 2020 PSU awards, based on ParentCo’s relative TSR and absolute stock price performance during 2016. Based on the targets described above and the actual performance results for 2016 shown in the below chart, the ParentCo Compensation Committee determined that the first tranche of the 2016 – 2020 PSUs was earned at 200% of target, with (i) a relative TSR score of 200%, and (ii) an average stock price score of 200%.

 

Performance Metric

   Performance Results      Units Earned
(%)
    Weighting
(%)
    Total Units Earned
(%)
 

Relative TSR(1)

     99.5 percentile        200     50     200

Absolute Stock Price Per Share (2)

   $ 18.98        200     50     200

 

(1)

Relative TSR for the 2016 tranche was measured by comparing ParentCo’s 10-day average closing stock price per share ending on December 31, 2016 against those of the companies in the S&P 500 as of the same date against their 10-day average closing stock price per share ending on December 31, 2015. Dividends were included on a cash basis.

 

(2)

The absolute stock price metric for the 2016 tranche was measured by comparing ParentCo’s GDSP of $6.87 per share against ParentCo’s 10-day average closing stock price per share ending December 31, 2016 of $18.98 per share.

As a result of the achievement of the above performance factors, the named executives earned the following payouts with respect to the 2016 PSU tranche:

 

CoalCo Named Executive

   2016 PSU Tranche
(at target)
     Target Payout
(%)
    Payout Amounts
(# of shares)
 

Chief Executive Officer

     13,854        200     27,708  

Chief Financial Officer

     27,708        200     55,416  

President

     1,316        200     2,632  

SVP- Coal Marketing

     3,462        200     6,924  

Chief Administrative Officer

     1,038        200     2,076  

2016 – 2018 Option Grants. In order to provide competitive compensation, retain key executive talent, and align management’s interests with ParentCo’s stockholders, in January 2016, Messrs. Khani, McCaffrey, Salvatori and Ms. Fredriksen received awards of time-based, three-year ratable vesting option awards. Mr. Brock did not receive an option award as part of his 2016 LTIC, and instead received an equity award pursuant to the CNXC LTIP due to his service as Chief Executive Officer and a director of the CNXC GP (please see below under “2016 CNXC Phantom Unit Award to Mr. Brock”). The 2016 option awards granted to Messrs. Khani, McCaffrey, Salvatori and Ms. Fredriksen were as follows:

 

CoalCo Named Executive

   Aggregate Dollar Value of
3-Year Option Award
 

Chief Financial Officer

   $ 900,000  

President

   $ 42,750  

SVP- Coal Marketing(1)

   $ 112,500  

Chief Administrative Officer

   $ 33,750  

 

(1)

Pursuant to the terms of Mr. McCaffrey’s retention agreement described below, ParentCo agreed that, if ParentCo achieved the Coal Tonnage Goal and he remained employed with ParentCo or its subsidiaries through December 31, 2016, he would vest in his 2016 option award with such award remaining exercisable until the expiration date of the option term. As described above, the Coal Tonnage Goal was achieved and Mr. McCaffrey vested in his 2016 option award.

Payout of ParentCo PSUs Covering 2014 – 2016 Performance Period. In January 2014, the ParentCo Compensation Committee approved an award of PSUs to ParentCo’s named executive officers and other key

 

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employees of ParentCo at that time, including Messrs. Khani and McCaffrey, which awards had a performance period from January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2016. Additional information regarding the 2014 – 2016 PSUs is included in ParentCo’s Proxy Statement filed on March 25, 2015. In 2016, the ParentCo Compensation Committee determined the actual payout of the 2014 – 2016 PSU awards by strictly adhering to the following formula, with the two metrics of relative TSR and average Return on Capital Employed (ROCE*) being equally weighted.

 

LOGO

Based on the above targets and the actual performance results shown in the below chart, the ParentCo Compensation Committee determined that, with respect to the three-year performance period of January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2016, the PSUs were earned at 100% of target, based on (i) a TSR score of 0% and (ii) a ROCE* score of 200%, as follows:

 

Performance Metric

  

Performance Results

   Units Earned (%)     Weighting (%)     Total Units Earned (%)  

TSR(1)

   4.5% (Below Threshold)      0     50     100

ROCE*(2)

   12.25% (Outstanding)      200     50  

 

(1)

TSR was measured by comparing ParentCo’s 10-day average closing stock price per share ending on December 31, 2013 and the companies in the S&P 500 as of that same date against the 10-day average closing stock price per share of ParentCo ending December 31, 2016.

 

(2)

The calculation of the ROCE* result is set forth on Appendix A.

As a result of the above performance determinations, Messrs. Khani and McCaffrey earned the following PSUs for the 2014 – 2016 performance period:

 

CoalCo Named Executive

   PSUs Granted in January 2014 (Target)

(including Dividend Equivalents)

     Shares of Common Stock

Issued (Earned PSUs)

 

Chief Financial Officer

     13,561        13,561  

SVP- Coal Marketing(1)

     3,476        3,476  

 

(1)

Pursuant to the terms of Mr. McCaffrey’s retention agreement described below, ParentCo agreed that, if ParentCo achieved the Coal Tonnage Goal and he remained employed with ParentCo or its subsidiaries through December 31, 2016, he would vest in his 2014-2016 PSUs, subject to the attainment of the performance goals as determined by the ParentCo Compensation Committee after the end of the performance period. The Coal Tonnage Goal was achieved and Mr. McCaffrey vested in his right to this award, subject to the attainment of the award’s performance goals as determined by the ParentCo Compensation Committee.

2016 CNXC Phantom Unit Award to Mr. Brock

CNXC Phantom Units . In 2016, the CNXC GP Board granted long-term incentive awards, consisting of phantom units, under the CNXC LTIP to certain of its executives and key employees. For 2016, the only named executive

 

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who received a long-term incentive award under the CNXC LTIP was Mr. Brock. Mr. Brock was awarded 56,963 CNXC phantom units in 2016, which vest one-third per year and are settled upon vesting in common units of CNXC (on a one-for-one basis) or, at the discretion of the CNXC GP Board, in cash.

Other Compensation Policies and Information in Effect During 2016

Retirement Benefit Plans . ParentCo maintains retirement benefit plans, including supplemental retirement plans, which are intended to attract and retain key talent. ParentCo also continues to move toward a defined contribution strategy to deliver retirement benefits to its employees. In 2014, ParentCo froze the retirement plan for its employees and eliminated retiree medical for all active employees, including our named executives.

Change in Control Agreements . Our named executives have entered into change in control severance agreements with ParentCo and/or its affiliates, which we refer to as the CIC Agreements. The CIC Agreements provide for a “double trigger” requirement before severance benefits may be paid, in that a named executive will only receive severance benefits if his or her employment is terminated or constructively terminated after, or in connection with, a change in control (as defined in the applicable CIC Agreements) and such named executive enters into a general release of claims as provided in the CIC Agreement. Under these circumstances, the named executives would be entitled to receive a lump-sum cash severance payment equal to a multiple of base pay, plus a multiple of incentive pay (as defined in the applicable CIC Agreement), as follows:

 

CoalCo Named Executive

   Multiple of Base Salary and Incentive Pay

Chief Executive Officer

   2.0

Chief Financial Officer

   2.5

President

   1.5

SVP - Coal Marketing

   2.0

Chief Administrative Officer

   2.0

Additionally, in connection with a change in control only, equity grants would accelerate and vest. To protect the business interests of CNXC and ParentCo, the CIC Agreements and applicable equity award agreements also contain confidentiality obligations, a one-year non-competition covenant and a two-year non-solicitation covenant. In connection with the separation and distribution, CoalCo will determine whether to enter into new change in control severance agreements with our named executives, which would supersede the CIC Agreements discussed here and elsewhere in this information statement. Certain of the CIC Agreements discussed herein have since been superseded by new agreements. See “Subsequent Events” below for additional detail.

McCaffrey Retention Agreement . On March 31, 2016, ParentCo entered into a retention agreement with Mr. McCaffrey which provided as follows:

 

   

If the Coal Tonnage Goal was achieved and he remained employed with ParentCo or its subsidiaries through December 31, 2016, any equity incentive awards granted to him under the ParentCo LTIP, to the extent unvested, would vest on December 31, 2016 and, in the case of (i) option awards, remain exercisable until the expiration date of the option term and (ii) PSU awards, continue to be subject to the attainment of the applicable performance goals as determined by the ParentCo Compensation Committee after the end of the applicable performance period.

 

   

If Mr. McCaffrey remains employed with ParentCo or its subsidiaries through December 31, 2017, any equity incentive awards granted to him under the ParentCo LTIP in 2017 will vest on December 31, 2017 and, in the case of (i) option awards, remain exercisable until the expiration date of the option term and (ii) PSU awards, continue to be subject to the attainment of the applicable performance goals as determined by the ParentCo Compensation Committee after the end of the applicable performance period.

 

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Notwithstanding the forgoing, if ParentCo or its subsidiary terminated his employment for cause, the retention agreement would be immediately null and void.

Clawback Policy . ParentCo has in place a compensation clawback policy, which provides that ParentCo may seek to recover performance-based cash and equity incentive compensation paid to an executive officer in the three years prior to a restatement as a result of ParentCo’s material non-compliance with the financial reporting requirements of the securities laws if (i) such officer is responsible for such restatement and (ii) the amount paid to the officer would have been lower had it been calculated based on such restated financial statements. CoalCo will determine the type of clawback policy that is appropriate for it following the separation.

Stock Ownership Guidelines for Certain Named Executives . ParentCo has stock ownership guidelines applicable to its named executives, which requires that they own a minimum number of shares of ParentCo stock, based upon a multiple of base salary. The guidelines provide each officer with a five-year period from their appointment as an officer to achieve the applicable ownership level. The ownership requirements applicable to the named executives with respect to ParentCo stock are as follows:

 

Named Executive

   Ownership Requirement
(As Multiple of Base Salary)
 

Chief Executive Officer

     2.5  

Chief Financial Officer

     3.5  

President

     1.0  

SVP - Coal Marketing

     1.5  

Chief Administrative Officer

     1.5  

ParentCo’s stock ownership guidelines were implemented to further align officers’ interests with those of ParentCo’s stockholders and to comply with what it believes are best practices. ParentCo reviews compliance with the stock ownership guidelines annually. CoalCo expects to make a determination regarding adoption of a stock ownership policy applicable to the named executives and their ownership of CoalCo shares following the separation.

No Hedging/Pledging Policy . ParentCo’s insider trading policy prohibits directors, officers and employees from engaging in any of the following activities with respect to securities of ParentCo and its subsidiaries (except as otherwise may be approved in writing by ParentCo’s General Counsel): (i) purchases on margin; (ii) short sales; (iii) buying or selling options (other than the grant and exercise of compensatory stock options by ParentCo to directors, officers and employees), including buying or selling puts or calls or other hedging transactions; or (iv) pledging ParentCo or subsidiary securities (provided, however, that brokerage account agreements may grant security interests in securities held at the broker to secure payment and performance obligations of the brokerage account holder in the ordinary course). CNXC has also adopted an insider hedging policy with similar prohibitions against hedging and pledging CNXC units. CoalCo expects to adopt a no hedging/pledging policy following the separation.

Perquisites . ParentCo provides limited perquisites that it believes are reasonable, competitive and consistent with its compensation program. ParentCo’s principal perquisite programs are more fully described in the footnotes to the Summary Compensation Table. ParentCo does not provide tax gross-ups on ParentCo-provided perquisite programs to its named executive officers. It is anticipated that a similar approach will be adopted by CoalCo after the separation.

Tax, Accounting, and Regulatory Considerations . ParentCo considers the effects of tax, accounting and other regulatory requirements in designing and implementing its compensation programs, and while these factors may impact plan designs, ultimately decisions reflect the pay strategy of ParentCo and program intent. With some exceptions, Section 162(m) of the Code limits ParentCo’s deduction for compensation in excess of $1 million paid to certain covered employees (generally ParentCo’s chief executive officer and the three next highest-paid

 

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executive officers, other than the chief financial officer). Compensation paid to covered employees is not subject to the deduction limitation if it is considered “qualified performance-based compensation” within the meaning of Section 162(m) of the Code. In order to serve the interests of ParentCo’s stockholders, performance-based awards are structured to comply with Section 162(m) of the Code to maximize ParentCo’s tax deductions.

Although ParentCo strives to provide the named executives with compensation packages that will preserve deductibility of significant components of those packages to the extent reasonably practicable or consistent with ParentCo’s compensation objectives, the ParentCo Compensation Committee believes that ParentCo stockholder interests are best served by not restricting flexibility in structuring, determining and ultimately approving payment with respect to these compensation programs (even if the programs or such decisions may result in certain nondeductible compensation).

In the case of CoalCo, Section 162(m) includes a special transition period for certain spin-offs of subsidiaries of publicly held companies that become separately held public companies. During this transition period, any compensation paid to covered employees under our equity and annual cash incentive plans will be exempt from the deduction limits under Section 162(m) for a limited period of time even without stockholder approval, so long as the other applicable requirements of Section 162(m) are met (i.e., requirements relating to the composition of the compensation committee, the performance goals and the certification of the performance goals). This transition period is applicable for compensation paid in connection with annual incentive bonuses, stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock or restricted stock units prior to the first regularly scheduled meeting of our stockholders that occurs beginning 12 months after the date of the separation.

Compensation Policies and Practices as They Relate to ParentCo’s Risk Management . ParentCo’s 2016 compensation program was designed to motivate and reward ParentCo’s employees for their performance during the fiscal year and over the long term, and for taking appropriate business risks.

In January 2016, the ParentCo Compensation Committee reviewed an assessment of the risks, if any, to ParentCo associated with ParentCo’s compensation policies and practices. The ParentCo Compensation Committee, with management, reviewed and discussed the design features, characteristics, performance metrics and approval mechanisms for all of its various compensation components, to determine whether any of the compensation policies or programs could create risks that would be reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on ParentCo. The assessment was also reviewed by ParentCo’s Internal Auditors and Human Resources Department. Based on this review, management, the ParentCo Compensation Committee and the ParentCo Board of Directors identified the following risk mitigating components, which they believed would likely reduce excessive risk-taking and mitigate incentives to maximize short-term results at the expense of long-term value:

 

   

Balanced Pay Mix: The target compensation mix of executive officers, including our named executives, is heavily weighted toward long-term incentive compensation.

   

Mix of Performance Metrics: ParentCo does not rely on a single performance metric to determine payouts for performance-based awards. Instead, performance targets are tied to a variety of metrics. Performance-based awards are also based, in part, on the achievement of strategic and operational objectives in addition to the foregoing metrics.

   

Calculation and Verification of Performance: Controls are in place to ensure accuracy of calculations as to actual performance against metrics. In cases where management determines performance scores, the ParentCo Compensation Committee and Board generally review and make judgments regarding these determinations.

   

Cap on Incentive Payouts: ParentCo’s incentive programs use financial measures with sliding scales, with amounts, if potentially earned, interpolated between threshold, target and maximum. Payouts are capped at a percentage of the target award to protect against excessive payouts.

 

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Performance Period and Vesting Schedules: The performance period and vesting schedules for long-term incentives overlap and, therefore, reduce the motivation to maximize performance in any one period.

   

Stock Ownership and Retention Guidelines: These policies require named executives to own equity in ParentCo and retain shares of ParentCo acquired through equity grants for the long-term.

Based on the review of ParentCo’s internal controls and the risk mitigating components of ParentCo’s compensation programs identified in the management team’s risk assessment, together with the assistance of its outside compensation consultant, it was determined that ParentCo’s compensation policies and practices do not encourage executives or other non-executive employees to take excessive risks that are reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on ParentCo. In the future, this risk assessment will be performed by the CoalCo Board of Directors or its compensation committee post separation.

Subsequent Events

Messrs. Brock and Salvatori each entered into an Amended and Restated Change in Control Severance Agreement with ParentCo, CNXC, the CNXC GP and CPCC on February 7, 2017. Notwithstanding the additional affiliates of ParentCo made party to the amended and restated agreements, the terms of these agreements are generally similar to the CIC Agreements that were in effect for each of Messrs. Brock and Salvatori as of December 31, 2016 discussed below. However, the amended and restated agreements differ in the following respects as to what each executive is entitled to receive upon an involuntary termination (including constructive termination) associated with a change in control:

 

   

in Mr. Salvatori’s case, a lump sum payment equal to 1.5 times his base pay plus 1.5 times his incentive pay (reduced from a multiple of 2.0 under Mr. Salvatori’s prior CIC Agreement);

   

continued medical and dental benefits for a period of 18 months following the date of termination, or monthly reimbursements in lieu thereof (reduced from a 24 month period under the prior CIC Agreements);

   

a lump-sum cash payment equal to the total amount that the executive would have received under ParentCo’s, CPCC’s or the CNXC GP’s 401(k) plan as a company match if such executive was eligible to participate in such 401(k) plan for the 18 month period after the date of termination, assuming such executive had contributed the maximum amount to the 401(k) plan for the match (reduced from a 24 month period under the prior CIC Agreements); and

   

a lump-sum cash payment equal to the difference between the present value of the executive’s accrued pension benefits at date of termination under ParentCo’s, CPCC’s or the CNXC GP’s qualified defined benefit pension plans and (if eligible) any plan or plans providing nonqualified retirement benefits and the present value of the accrued pension benefits to which such executive would have been entitled under the pension plans if he had continued participation in those plans for a period of 18 months after the date of termination (reduced from a 24 month period under Mr. Brock’s prior CIC Agreement, and increased from a 12 month period under Mr. Salvatori’s prior CIC Agreement).

In addition, the definition of change of control was revised to include the occurrence of any of the following events: (i) a transfer of ownership of assets or interests comprising more than seventy-five percent (75%) of the book value of the PAMC segment on ParentCo’s books as of September 30, 2016 (other than to CNXC or its subsidiaries, or to ParentCo subsidiaries); (ii) ParentCo fails to control, directly or indirectly, the CNXC GP; or (iii) other than a time when ParentCo or its subsidiaries do not control the CNXC GP, a change in control of ParentCo. As a result of this change of control definition, Messrs. Brock’s and Salvatori’s equity awards, as well as the equity awards held by one other employee of CoalCo, to the extent unvested, will vest at the time of the separation and, in the case of PSU award payout, if any, continue to be contingent upon the achievement of the applicable performance goals.

 

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EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

As discussed above, in 2016, Messrs. Brock and Khani were named executive officers of ParentCo, and Mr. Brock has also served, and will continue after the separation to serve, as an executive officer of the CNXC GP. Ms. Fredriksen served as an officer of ParentCo. Prior to the separation, Messrs. McCaffrey and Salvatori served, and will continue after the separation to serve, as officers of CPCC.

ParentCo and CNXC currently have in place an omnibus agreement under which CNXC agreed to reimburse ParentCo on a monthly basis for compensation-related expenses (including salary, bonus, incentive compensation and other amounts) attributable to the portion of a named executive’s compensation that is allocable to the CNXC GP, including the compensation of Mr. Brock. During 2015 and 2016, Mr. Brock devoted approximately 100% of his overall professional working time to the business and affairs of the PAMC. Messrs. McCaffrey and Salvatori devoted such time as was necessary based on their respective allocations of responsibilities. Net to CNXC’s 25% undivided interest in the PAMC, CNXC reimburses ParentCo for approximately 25% of the total compensation related expenses (including salary, bonus, incentive compensation and other amounts) incurred by ParentCo and attributable to the compensation of Mr. Brock. Bonus and long-term incentive compensation were not included in the amounts for the period from July 7, 2015 to December 31, 2015 as they were not a direct reimbursement to ParentCo. Please see “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions” for additional information regarding the omnibus agreement.

Summary Compensation Table – 2016, 2015 and 2014

The following table discloses the historical compensation earned by, or paid to, our named executives during the years indicated, including all compensation-related expenses disclosed above, which were paid by ParentCo (other than awards granted during 2016 under the CNXC LTIP, which were paid by CNXC). Titles refer to each named executive’s accepted position at CoalCo following the separation.

 

Name and

Principal
Position(1)

(a)

  Year
(b)
    Salary
(c)
    Stock
Awards(2)

(e)
    Option
Awards(2)

(f)
    Non-Equity
Incentive
Compensation(3)

(g)
    Changes in
Pension Value
and
Nonqualified
Deferred
Compensation
Earnings(4)

(h)
    All Other
Compensation

(i)
    Total
(j)
 

James A. Brock,

    2016     $ 409,654     $ 2,368,779           $ 533,000     $ 301,970     $ 45,606 (5)    $ 3,659,009  

Chief Executive Officer

    2015     $ 399,032     $ 766,181           $ 212,000     $ 7,422     $ 21,873     $ 1,406,508  

David M. Khani,

    2016     $ 517,188     $ 3,837,558     $ 1,855,103     $ 725,000     $ 87,749     $ 51,297 (6)    $ 7,073,895  

Chief Financial Officer

    2015     $ 504,539     $ 1,770,399           $ 288,000     $ 30,412     $ 48,885     $ 2,642,235  
    2014     $ 489,000     $ 1,797,637           $ 686,000     $ 89,804     $ 44,339     $ 3,106,780  

Katharine Fredriksen,

    2016     $ 247,619     $ 71,667     $ 44,496     $ 175,082     $ 25,120     $ 42,829 (7)    $ 606,813  

President

               

James McCaffrey,

Senior Vice President- Coal Marketing

    2016     $ 379,710     $ 362,657 (8)    $ 187,533 (8)    $ 379,710     $ 321,741     $ 66,534 (9)    $ 1,697,885  

Kurt Salvatori,

Chief Administrative Officer

    2016     $ 218,264     $ 56,584     $ 35,129     $ 132,501     $ 82,253     $ 39,294 (10)    $ 564,025  

 

(1)

We have excluded compensation for prior years to the extent permitted by applicable SEC rules. Mr. Khani was a “named executive officer” for purposes of ParentCo’s SEC disclosures in 2016, 2015 and 2014. Mr. Brock was a “named executive officer” for purposes of ParentCo’s SEC disclosure in 2016 and a “named executive officer” for purposes of CNXC’s SEC disclosure in 2016 and 2015. None of Ms. Fredriksen, Mr. McCaffrey or Mr. Salvatori were “named executive officers” for purposes of either ParentCo or CNXC SEC disclosure in 2016, 2015 or 2014.

 

(2)

ParentCo Equity Awards: The values set forth in the columns reflect ParentCo awards of (i) PSUs granted to all named executives in 2016, (ii) options granted to Messrs. Khani, McCaffrey, Salvatori and Ms. Fredriksen in 2016, (iii) PSUs and RSUs

 

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granted to Messrs. Brock and Khani in 2015, and (iv) PSUs and RSUs granted to Mr. Khani in 2014. These values are based on the aggregate grant date fair value of such awards computed in accordance with SEC rules and FASB ASC Topic 718. The amounts reported in these columns reflect the accounting cost for these awards, and do not correspond to the actual economic value that may be received by the named executives.

 

    

Additionally, please note the following regarding the ParentCo 2016 PSU and option awards:

 

   

2016 PSUs . For the 2016 PSUs for Messrs. Brock and Khani, the grant date fair value is computed based upon a Monte Carlo simulation for both the TSR component and the Absolute Stock Price (ASP) component, which results in a valuation of 182% of the ParentCo stock price on May 11, 2016 of $15.23 per share. The TSR fair value component was determined using four primary input assumptions for an asset projection: the risk- free rate (.80%), the dividend yield for ParentCo (0%), the volatility of returns (68.30%), and the assumed correlation in stock returns among the comparator group, the S&P 500. The grant date fair value of the TSR portion was $26.81. The ASP fair value component requires three primary input assumptions for an asset projection: the risk-free rate (1.14%), the dividend yield (0%) for ParentCo, and the volatility of returns (52.80%). The grant date fair value of the ASP portion was $28.57. The value of the 2016 PSU awards in the Stock Awards column for FASB ASC Topic 718 purposes assumes that the highest level of the conditions will be achieved (resulting in no additional expense in the future).

   

2016 PSUs . For the 2016 PSUs for Ms. Fredriksen and Messrs. McCaffrey and Salvatori, the grant date fair value is computed based upon a Monte Carlo simulation for both the TSR component and the ASP component, which results in a valuation of 137% of the ParentCo stock price on January 29, 2016 of $7.94 per share. The TSR fair value component was determined using four primary input assumptions for an asset projection: the risk-free rate (.92%), the dividend yield for ParentCo (.50%), the volatility of returns (57.85%), and the assumed correlation in stock returns among the comparator group, the S&P 500. The grant date fair value of the TSR portion was $11.25. The ASP fair value component requires three primary input assumptions for an asset projection: the risk-free rate (1.31%), the dividend yield (.50%) for ParentCo, and the volatility of returns (48.86%). The grant date fair value of the ASP portion was $10.52. The value of the awards in the Stock Awards column on the January 29, 2016 grant date for FASB ASC Topic 718 purposes assumes that the highest level of the conditions will be achieved (resulting in no additional expense in the future).

   

2016 Options . For the 2016 options for Mr. Khani, the grant date fair value is computed based upon a Black-Scholes Model. The fair value of the options was determined using various assumptions: expected volatility (61.11%), dividend yield (0%), and the risk-free rate (1.12%). The grant date fair value of the options was $8.08.

   

2016 Options . For the 2016 options for Ms. Fredriksen and Messrs. McCaffrey and Salvatori, the grant date fair value is computed based upon a Black-Scholes Model. The fair value of the options was determined using various assumptions: expected volatility (61.42%), dividend yield (.50%), and the risk-free rate (1.21%). The grant date fair value of the options was $4.08.

 

    

A discussion of the relevant assumptions made in the valuation of these PSU and option awards is provided in Note 17 of ParentCo’s 2016 Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016.

 

    

For the 2015 and 2014 RSUs, the grant date fair value is computed based upon the closing price per share of ParentCo’s stock on the actual grant date, which was $28.95 and $37.35, respectively. The 2015 and 2014 PSUs are made up of a performance component (ROCE*) and a TSR component. The performance component is computed based upon the closing price per share of ParentCo’s stock on the grant date, which was $28.95 and $37.35 in 2014 and 2015, respectively. The TSR component is computed using a Monte Carlo simulation with the same basic assumptions as described above: the risk-free rate (.74% in 2015 and .66% in 2014), the dividend yield for ParentCo (.86% in 2015 and .67% in 2014), the volatility of returns (32.30% in 2015 and 40.60% in 2014), and the assumed correlation in stock returns among the comparator group, the S&P 500. The fair value of the TSR component was $31.22 in 2015 and $48.50 in 2014.

 

    

CNXC Equity Awards: For Mr. Brock, the 2016 value reflects an award of CNXC phantom units granted under the CNXC LTIP, and is based on the aggregate grant date fair value of the award computed in accordance with SEC rules and FASB ASC Topic 718 based upon the closing price of CNXC units on the date of grant. A discussion of the relevant assumptions made in the valuation of the grant is provided in Note 20 of the 2016 Annual Report of CNXC for the year ended December 31, 2016.

 

(3)

Includes cash incentives earned in the applicable year under the ParentCo STIC program. The relevant performance measures underlying the cash awards were satisfied in the applicable annual performance period.

 

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(4)

Amounts reflect the actuarial increase in the present value of the named executives’ benefits under ParentCo’s Employee Retirement Plan (qualified plan), ParentCo’s Retirement Restoration Plan, ParentCo’s Supplemental Retirement Plan (SERP) and ParentCo’s Defined Contribution Restoration Plan. These amounts were determined using the interest rate and mortality assumptions set forth in the financial statements of ParentCo’s applicable Annual Reports on Form 10-K (Notes 14, 16 and 16 in the ParentCo Annual Reports on Form 10-K for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2016, December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, respectively). Pension values may fluctuate significantly from year to year depending on a number of factors, including age, years of service, average annual earnings and the assumptions used to determine the present value, such as the discount rate. It should be noted that the pension values are calculated pursuant to SEC requirements that are based on assumptions used in preparing ParentCo’s audited financial statements for the applicable fiscal years and do not present actual value delivered to the named executives for those years.

 

(5)

For 2016, Mr. Brock’s personal benefits include spousal travel and a company vehicle. The amount shown also includes $15,900 in matching contributions and $15,900 in discretionary contributions made by ParentCo under its 401(k) plan.

 

(6)

For 2016, Mr. Khani’s personal benefits include an annual vehicle allowance, annual physical exam, and luncheon and city club dues. The amount shown also includes $15,900 in matching contributions and $15,900 in discretionary contributions made by ParentCo under its 401(k) plan.

 

(7)

For 2016, Ms. Fredriksen’s personal benefits include an annual vehicle allowance. The amount shown also includes $14,914 in matching contributions and $14,914 in discretionary contributions made by ParentCo under its 401(k) plan.

 

(8)

Amount includes $174,064 in column (e) and $70,441 in column (f) associated with the modification and acceleration of vesting of Mr. McCaffrey’s equity awards, as described under “ Understanding Our Change in Control and Employment Termination Tables and Information-Retention Agreement ” below, valued in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718.

 

(9)

For 2016, Mr. McCaffrey’s personal benefits include an annual vehicle allowance, annual physical exam, and country club dues and associated tax gross up. The amount shown also includes $15,900 in matching contributions and $15,900 in discretionary contributions made by ParentCo under its 401(k) plan.

 

(10)

For 2016, Mr. Salvatori’s personal benefits include an annual vehicle allowance. The amount shown also includes $13,147 in matching contributions and $13,147 in discretionary contributions made by ParentCo under its 401(k) plan.

Grants of Plan-Based Awards – 2016

The following table sets forth each grant made to our named executives in the 2016 fiscal year under plans established by ParentCo or under the CNXC LTIP.

 

Name

  Grant
Date
    Estimated Possible Payouts
Under Non-Equity
Incentive

Plan Awards
(ParentCo STIC Awards)(1)
    Estimated Future Payouts
Under Equity Incentive

Plan Awards
(ParentCo PSUs)(2)
    All
Other
Stock
Awards:
Number
of
Shares
of Stock
or Units
(#)
    All
Other
Option
Awards:
Number of
Securities
Underlying
Options
(#)
    Exercise
or Base
Price of
Option
Awards
($/Sh)
    Grant
Date
Fair
Value of
Stock
and
Option
Awards
(Target)(4)
($)
 
    Threshold
($)
    Target
($)
    Maximum
($)
    Threshold
(#)
    Target
(#)
    Maximum
(#)
         

James A. Brock

          106,600       266,500       533,000                                            
    1/29/16 (3)                        34,635       69,270       138,540                       $ 1,918,779  
    1/29/16 (5)                                          56,963                 $ 450,000  

David M. Khani

          144,935       362,338       724,676                                            
    1/29/16 (3)                        69,270       138,540       277,080                       $ 3,837,558  
    1/29/16 (3)                                                229,592     $ 7.94     $ 1,855,103  

Katharine Fredriksen

          43,771       87,541       175,082                                            
    1/29/16 (3)                        3,291       6,581       13,162                       $ 71,667  
    1/29/16 (3)                                                10,906     $ 7.94     $ 44,496  

James McCaffrey

          94,927       189,855       379,710                                            
    1/29/16 (3)                        8,659       17,318       34,636                       $ 362,657 (6) 
    1/29/16 (3)                                                28,699     $ 7.94     $ 187,533 (6) 

Kurt Salvatori

          33,125       66,250       132,501                                            
    1/29/16 (3)                        2,598       5,196       10,392                       $ 56,584  
    1/29/16 (3)                                                8,610     $ 7.94     $ 35,129  

 

(1)

Awards were made pursuant to the ParentCo STIC program under the ParentCo Executive Annual Incentive Plan. Actual incentive plan payments based on fiscal 2016 performance are set forth in column (g) of the Summary Compensation Table.

 

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(2)

These columns report the number of ParentCo PSUs that may be earned pursuant to awards granted under the ParentCo LTIP. The amounts reflect threshold (50%), target (100%), and maximum (200%) performance levels.

 

(3)

Grants were made under the ParentCo LTIP.

 

(4)

The values set forth in this column reflect awards of 2016-2020 ParentCo PSUs (at target), ParentCo options, and CNXC phantom units and are based on the aggregate grant date fair value of the awards computed in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718. The values set forth in this table may not correspond to the actual values that will be realized by the named executives.

 

(5)

Grant was made under the CNXC LTIP.

 

(6)

Amount includes $174,064 and $70,441 associated with the modification and acceleration of vesting of Mr. McCaffrey’s PSU award and 2016 option award, respectively, as described under “ Understanding Our Change in Control and Employment Termination Tables and Information-Retention Agreement ” below, valued in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718.

Understanding Our Summary Compensation and Grants of Plan-Based Awards Tables

Historically, as further described in the CD&A, pursuant to various plans adopted by ParentCo and CNXC, our named executives were eligible to receive annual cash incentive awards based on the achievement of certain performance targets, and long-term equity awards generally in the form of options, RSUs, and PSUs under the ParentCo LTIP and/or phantom units under the CNXC LTIP. Each of these elements of compensation and the plans under which they are awarded are discussed below in greater detail.

ParentCo STIC Program . The ParentCo STIC program provides participants with an opportunity to earn performance based annual cash bonus awards. Target annual bonus levels are established at the beginning of each year and are based on a percentage of the executive’s base salary. To be eligible to receive an annual award under the ParentCo STIC program, a named executive must generally be an active, full-time employee on December 31 of the year in which the award was granted. For more information on the ParentCo STIC program, see “ Compensation and Discussion Analysis ” above.

ParentCo PSUs . The PSU awards represent a contingent right to receive shares of ParentCo common stock, to the extent such units are earned, and become payable pursuant to the terms of the ParentCo LTIP and related award documents.

ParentCo Options . Option grants to employees generally vest ratably over a three-year period from the grant date with each option, once vested, representing the right to receive a share of stock upon exercise of the option. The ParentCo Compensation Committee (or its designee) determines the number of options to be granted to each participant, the term of the option (generally ten years), and the other terms and conditions of their option awards.

ParentCo RSUs . RSUs were granted under the ParentCo LTIP. The ParentCo Compensation Committee determined the number of RSUs to be granted to each participant, the duration of such awards, the conditions under which the RSUs may be forfeited to ParentCo, and the other terms and conditions of such awards.

CNXC LTIP . In 2016, CNXC issued long-term incentive awards consisting of phantom units, which vest one-third per year under the CNXC LTIP to its executives and key employees. In 2016, CNXC issued phantom units to Mr. Brock as discussed above.

 

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Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End for ParentCo – 2016

The following table sets forth all unexercised options and unvested RSU and PSU awards that have been awarded to our named executives under the ParentCo LTIP and were outstanding as of December 31, 2016.

 

          Option
Awards
                                  Stock
Awards
       

Name (a)

  Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options (#)
Exercisable
(b)
    Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options (#)
Unexercisable
(c)
    Equity
Incentive
Plan
Awards:
Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Unearned
Options
(#) (d)
    Option
Exercise
Price
($) (e)
    Option
Expiration
Date
(f)
    Number
of Shares
or Units
of Stock
That
Have Not
Vested
(#) (g)
    Market
Value of
Shares or
Units of
Stock That
Have Not
Vested(1)
($) (h)
    Equity
Incentive
Plan
Awards:
Number of
Unearned
Shares,
Units or
Other
Rights That
Have Not
Vested(2)
(#) (i)
    Equity
Incentive
Plan
Awards:
Market or
Payout
Value of
Unearned
Shares,
Units or
Other
Rights That
Have Not
Vested(1)
($) (j)
 

James A. Brock

    6,432 (3)                  34.850       2/20/2017                          
    3,111 (4)                  78.650       2/19/2018                          
    6,347 (5)                  27.900       2/17/2019                          
    4,115 (6)                  50.500       2/16/2020                          
    6,329 (7)                  48.610       2/23/2021                          
    12,420 (8)                  36.14       1/26/2022                          
                                  10,983 (9)      200,220              
                                  10,896 (10)      198,634              
                                  27,708 (11)      505,117              
                                              125,179       2,282,013  

David M. Khani

    7,487 (8)                  35.820       3/01/2022                          
          229,592 (12)            7.940       1/29/2026                          
                                  22,510 (9)      410,357              
                                  19,885 (13)      362,504              
                                  13,561 (14)      247,217              
                                  55,416 (11)      1,010,234              
                                              254,821       4,645,387  

Katharine Fredriksen

    2,911 (7)                  48.610       2/23/2021                          
    3,371 (8)                  36.140       3/01/2022                          
          10,906 (12)            7.940       1/29/2026                          
                                  1,406 (9)      25,631              
                                  2,632 (11)      47,981              
                                              12,177       221,987  

James McCaffrey

    3,458 (15)                  39.470       4/02/2017                          
    3,566 (3)                  34.850       2/20/2017                          
    3,457 (4)                  78.650       2/19/2018                          
    8,815 (5)                  27.900       2/17/2019                          
    5,716 (6)                  50.500       2/16/2020                          
    6,329 (7)                  48.610       2/23/2021                          
    8,872 (8)                  36.140       1/26/2022                          
    28,699 (12)(17)              7.940       1/29/2026          
                                                     
                                  6,924 (11)      126,225              
                                              31,187       568,539  

Kurt Salvatori

    1,505 (5)                  27.900       2/17/2019                          
    1,372 (6)                  50.500       2/16/2020                          
    570 (16)                  53.130       4/01/2021                          
    1,506 (7)                  48.610       2/23/2021                          
    2,661 (8)                  36.14       1/26/2022                          
    8,610 (12)          7.940       1/29/2026          
                                  1,893 (9)      34,509              
                                  2,076 (11)      37,845              
                                              10,050       183,212  

 

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(1)

The market value for ParentCo RSUs and PSUs was determined by multiplying the closing market price for ParentCo common stock on December 30, 2016 ($18.23) by the number of shares relating to the RSU and PSU awards.

(2)

This column shows the aggregate number of unvested ParentCo PSUs for which the performance period has not lapsed. The performance period for the ParentCo PSU awards granted in 2016 is January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2020, vesting 20% per year (with only the 2017 through 2020 tranches remaining outstanding). The performance period for the PSU awards granted in 2015 is January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2017. The ParentCo PSU amounts presented for the 2016 PSU awards are based on achieving performance goals at the maximum level and for the 2015 PSU awards are based on achieving performance goals at the target level.

(3)

ParentCo options granted on February 20, 2007 that vested and became exercisable in three equal annual installments (subject to rounding) beginning on the first anniversary of the grant date.

(4)

ParentCo options granted February 19, 2008 that vested and became exercisable in three equal annual installments (subject to rounding) beginning on the first anniversary of the grant date.

(5)

ParentCo options granted February 17, 2009 that vested and became exercisable in three equal annual installments (subject to rounding) beginning on the first anniversary of the grant date.

(6)

ParentCo options granted February 16, 2010 that vested and became exercisable in three equal annual installments (subject to rounding) beginning on the first anniversary of the grant date.

(7)

ParentCo options granted February 23, 2011 that vested and became exercisable in three equal annual installments (subject to rounding) beginning on the first anniversary of the grant date.

(8)

ParentCo options granted February 29, 2012 that vested and became exercisable in three equal annual installments (subject to rounding) beginning on the first anniversary of the grant date

(9)

ParentCo RSUs granted on January 31, 2014 and January 30, 2015 vest in three equal annual installments (subject to rounding) beginning on the first anniversary of the grant date.

(10)

ParentCo RSUs granted on September 24, 2014 which, subject to continued employment, vest in one lump sum on the fifth anniversary of the grant date.

(11)

The performance period for the 2016 tranche of the 2016 ParentCo PSU awards was January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016. The amounts are based on actual performance results for the period.

(12)

ParentCo options granted on January 29, 2016 that vest and become exercisable in three equal annual installments (subject to rounding) beginning on the first anniversary of the grant date.

(13)

ParentCo RSUs granted on January 31, 2014, which, subject to continued employment, vest in one lump sum on the fifth anniversary of the grant date.

(14)

The performance period for the ParentCo PSU awards was January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2016. The amounts are based on actual performance results for the period.

(15)

ParentCo options granted on April 2, 2007 that vested and became exercisable in three equal annual installments (subject to rounding) beginning on the first anniversary of the grant date.

(16)

ParentCo options granted on April 1, 2011 that vested and became exercisable in three equal annual installments (subject to rounding) beginning on the first anniversary of the grant date.

(17)

Vesting of ParentCo options accelerated pursuant to terms of the Retention Agreement discussed in “ Understanding Our Change in Control and Employment Termination Tables and Information .”

 

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Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End for CNXC– 2016

The following table sets forth the outstanding equity award that was granted to Mr. Brock under the CNXC LTIP and that was outstanding as of December 31, 2016.

 

    Option Awards     Stock Awards  

Name
(a)

  Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options (#)
(Exercisable)
(b)
    Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options (#)
(Unexercisable)
(c)
    Equity
Incentive
Plan
Awards:
Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Unearned
Options(#)
Options
(d)
    Option
Exercise
Price

($)
(e)
    Option
Expiration
Date
(f)
    Number
of Shares
or Units
of Stock
That
Have Not
Vested(1)

(#)
(g)
    Market
Value of
Shares or
Units of
Stock That
Have Not
Vested(2)

($)
(h)
    Equity
Incentive
Plan
Awards:
Number
of
Unearned
Shares,
Units or
Other
Rights
That
Have Not
Vested

(#)
(i)
    Equity
Incentive
Plan
Awards:
Market
or Payout
Value of
Unearned
Shares,
Units or
Other
Rights
That
Have Not
Vested

($)
(j)
 

James A. Brock

                                  56,963     $ 1,039,575              

David M. Khani

                                                     

Katharine Fredriksen

                                                     

James McCaffrey

                                                     

Kurt Salvatori

                                                     

 

(1)

These phantom units were granted on January 29, 2016 and vest in three equal installments (subject to rounding) beginning on the first anniversary of the grant date.

 

(2)

The market value for CNXC phantom units was determined by multiplying the closing market price for CNXC common units on December 30, 2016 ($18.25) by the number of units underlying the award. These phantom units were granted on January 29, 2016 and vest in three equal annual installments (subject to rounding) beginning on the first anniversary of the grant date.

Option Exercises and Stock Vested Table – 2016

The following table sets forth information concerning each exercise of ParentCo stock options and the vesting of RSUs and PSUs of ParentCo during the 2016 fiscal year.

 

     Option Awards      Stock Awards (1)  

Name

   Number of
Shares Acquired
on Exercise(#)
     Value
Realized
on Exercise($)
     Number of
Shares Acquired
on Vesting(#)
     Value
Realized on
Vesting($)
 

James A. Brock

                   7,072           59,334  

David M. Khani

                   13,462           112,946  

Katharine Fredriksen

                   1,409        11,821  

James McCaffrey

                   7,990        105,945  

Kurt Salvatori

                   1,897        16,031  

 

(1)

Values include vesting of RSU awards granted in each of 2014 and 2015.

Pension Benefits Table – 2016

The following table provides information with respect to each plan offered by ParentCo that provides for specified retirement payments or benefits, or payments or benefits that will be provided primarily following

 

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retirement, including tax-qualified defined benefit plans and non-qualified defined benefit plans (which we refer to as the Supplemental Retirement Plan and the New Restoration Plan), but excluding nonqualified defined contribution plans.

 

Name

   ParentCo Plan Name    Number of
Years
Credited
Service

(#)
     Present Value
of Accumulated
Benefit(1)

($)
     Payments
During
Last
Fiscal
Year

($)
 

James A. Brock

   Employee Retirement Plan      34      $ 1,249,683         
   Retirement Restoration Plan      25      $ 167,902         
   Supplemental Retirement Plan      20      $ 1,493,346         
   New Restoration Plan      5      $ 187,503         

David M. Khani

   Employee Retirement Plan      3      $ 33,841         
   Supplemental Retirement Plan      0.25      $ 17,014         
   New Restoration Plan      5      $ 265,359         

Katharine Fredriksen

   Employee Retirement Plan      4      $ 8,492         
   Supplemental Retirement Plan      1      $ 38,912         
   New Restoration Plan      5      $ 67,245         

James McCaffrey

   Employee Retirement Plan      38      $     1,409,681         
   Retirement Restoration Plan      29      $ 522,747         
   Supplemental Retirement Plan      20      $ 1,416,965         
   New Restoration Plan      5      $ 154,763         

Kurt Salvatori

   Employee Retirement Plan      23      $ 340,977         
   Supplemental Retirement Plan      20      $ 267,514         
   New Restoration Plan      5      $ 53,555         

 

(1)

The accumulated benefits included in this column were computed through December 31, 2016 using the assumptions stated in the financial statements included in ParentCo’s 2016 Annual Report on Form 10-K (Note 14).

Understanding Our Pension Benefits Table

This section provides information regarding ParentCo’s retirement programs, which include the following:

 

   

Employee Retirement Plan;

   

Retirement Restoration Plan;

   

Supplemental Retirement Plan; and

   

New Restoration Plan.

Employee Retirement Plan (the Pension Plan)

The Pension Plan is a defined benefit plan that pays retirement benefits based on years of service and compensation. It is a qualified plan, meaning that it is subject to a variety of IRS rules. These rules contain various requirements on coverage, funding, vesting and the amount of compensation that can be taken into account in calculating benefits. The Pension Plan has a fairly broad application across ParentCo’s employee population and formed a part of the general retirement benefit program available to employees through December 31, 2015. Effective January 1, 2016, the Pension Plan was frozen.

Eligibility. The Pension Plan covers employees of ParentCo and affiliated participating companies that are classified as regular, full-time employees or that complete 1,000 hours of service during a specified twelve-month period. The Pension Plan does not include other categories of individuals, such as leased employees,

 

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independent contractors and employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement that does not provide for participation in the Pension Plan. On September 30, 2014, the Pension Plan was amended to reduce future accruals of pension benefits as of December 31, 2014. The plan amendment called for a hard freeze of the Pension Plan on December 31, 2014 for employees who were under age 40 or had less than 10 years of service as of September 30, 2014. In addition, employees hired or rehired on or after October 1, 2014 are not eligible to participate in the Pension Plan. Beginning January 1, 2015, ParentCo contributed an additional 3% Qualified Non-Elective Contribution (QNEC) of eligible compensation into the ParentCo’s qualified 401(k) plan (401(k) Plan) accounts for these affected employees. Employees who were age 40 or over and had at least 10 years of service as of September 30, 2014 continued in the Pension Plan unchanged and were not eligible for the QNEC. As a result of this amendment, Mr. Khani and Ms. Fredriksen received the additional 3% QNEC into their 401(k) plan accounts effective January 1, 2015 and did not accrue any additional benefits under the Pension Plan after December 31, 2014. Messrs. Brock, McCaffrey and Salvatori were not impacted by these changes and continued in the Pension Plan unchanged, with no eligibility for the QNEC, during 2015. On September 9, 2015, the Pension Plan was amended to cease future accruals of pension benefits as of December 31, 2015. The plan amendment implemented a hard freeze of the Pension Plan on December 31, 2015 for all remaining participants in the plan. In addition, the 401(k) plan was amended to end the additional 3% QNEC as of December 31, 2015. As a result of these amendments, Messrs. Brock, McCaffrey and Salvatori have not accrued any additional benefits under the Pension Plan after December 31, 2015 and Mr. Khani and Ms. Fredriksen have ceased to receive any further QNEC under the 401(k) plan after December 31, 2015.

Incapacity Retirement. Employees who have attained age 40 with at least ten years of service who are deemed disabled and consequently receive a Social Security disability award (proving the disability occurred while employed by ParentCo or a participating affiliated company) are eligible for an incapacity retirement resulting in an unreduced benefit under the Pension Plan, payable in the form of an annuity, commencing the month following termination. Messrs. Brock, McCaffrey and Salvatori have satisfied the age and service conditions necessary to be eligible for incapacity retirement under the Pension Plan as of December 31, 2016, if they had incurred a qualifying disability on that date.

Separation Retirement. Employees who terminate employment with five or more years of service prior to attaining age 50, or who have attained age 50 but have fewer than ten years of service upon termination, qualify for separation retirement. Payment of the accrued vested benefit is payable at an amount reduced for payments commencing prior to age 65, or the full benefit may be paid at age 65. As of December 31, 2016, Messrs. Khani, Salvatori and Ms. Fredriksen are eligible for separation retirement under the Pension Plan.

Early Retirement. Employees who have completed ten or more years of service and are age 50 or older upon termination are eligible for early retirement. Under early retirement, an employee may elect to defer payment to age 65 or elect to begin receiving payment the first of any month up to age 65, subject to a reduction for age. Payments commencing prior to age 65 are reduced based on various early reduction schedules depending upon age at the payment commencement date and years of service at the time of termination. As of December 31, 2016, Messrs. Brock and McCaffrey are eligible for early retirement under the Pension Plan.

Normal Retirement. Employees who terminate employment and have attained age 65 qualify for normal retirement. Payment of the full benefit commences the month following termination. None of the named executives qualify for normal retirement under the Pension Plan as of December 31, 2016.

Form of Payment. The portion of accrued pension benefits earned under the Pension Plan as of December 31, 2005 may be, upon the election of the participant, paid in the form of a lump-sum payment except in the case of an incapacity retirement as discussed above. Pension benefits earned after January 1, 2006 are payable in the form of a single life annuity, 50% joint and survivor annuity, 75% joint and survivor annuity or 100% joint and survivor annuity.

Calculation of Benefits. Pension benefits, which are now frozen, are based on an employee’s years of service and average monthly pay during the employee’s five highest-paid years while eligible for service under the Pension

 

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Plan. Average monthly pay for this purpose excludes compensation in excess of limits imposed by the Code. Due to the Plan being frozen, average monthly pay is based on pay as of December 31, 2014 for Mr. Khani and Ms. Fredriksen and as of December 31, 2015 for Messrs. Brock, McCaffrey and Salvatori. Prior to January 1, 2006, pension benefits were calculated based on the average monthly pay during the employee’s three highest-paid years and included annual amounts payable under ParentCo’s STIC program, again excluding compensation in excess of limits imposed by the Code.

Retirement Restoration Plan (the Restoration Plan)

The Restoration Plan is an unfunded deferred compensation plan maintained by ParentCo for the benefit of employees whose eligible compensation under the Pension Plan exceeded limits imposed by the federal income tax laws. ParentCo established this plan in order to attract and retain persons that ParentCo considered to be important to its success by providing retirement benefits that are not restricted by the statutory limitations imposed by the Code.

In December 2006, ParentCo’s Board authorized amendments to the Restoration Plan which froze the plan effective December 31, 2006 for ParentCo employees. After the applicable date, no existing participant accrues benefits and no compensation or service is counted for purposes of the Restoration Plan. A participant’s benefit is calculated as of the applicable date with reference to the participant’s benefits under the Pension Plan as of that date.

To comply with Section 409A of the federal income tax laws, the Restoration Plan was further amended to provide that all distributions of benefits accrued and vested under the plan as of December 31, 2006 will be paid in a lump sum. Any such lump-sum distribution of benefits will be paid no later than 30 days following the later to occur of the end of the month following the month in which the participant turns age 50 or the end of the month following the month in which the participant incurs a separation of service. The benefits will be calculated and actuarially reduced, as necessary (using assumptions specified in the Pension Plan), based on a participant’s benefits being initially expressed as a single life annuity payable commencing on such participant’s normal retirement date.

Payment under the plan may not commence prior to age 50, except in the event of an incapacity retirement or under a termination due to a change in control. Payments commencing prior to age 65 are reduced based on various early reduction schedules depending upon age at the payment commencement date and years of service at the time of termination. Benefits under the Restoration Plan are paid in the form of a lump sum. As of December 31, 2016, Messrs. Brock and McCaffrey were eligible for early retirement under the Restoration Plan.

Supplemental Retirement Plan

On December 5, 2006, ParentCo’s Board approved and adopted the Supplemental Retirement Plan, effective January 1, 2007. Certain modifications were made to the Supplemental Retirement Plan which became effective December 4, 2007. ParentCo’s Supplemental Retirement Plan is designed primarily for the purpose of providing benefits for a select group of management and highly compensated employees of ParentCo and its subsidiaries and is intended to qualify as a top hat plan under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended. ParentCo’s Supplemental Retirement Plan is an unfunded, unsecured obligation of ParentCo, the benefits of which will be paid from its general assets.

All of the named executives are participants in the Supplemental Retirement Plan. In September 2011, ParentCo’s Board of Directors authorized amendments to the Supplemental Retirement Plan, which froze the plan effective December 31, 2011 for current and future ParentCo employees, except for certain officers referred to hereafter as the excepted employees. After the applicable date, no existing participant or future ParentCo employee, other than the excepted employees, accrues benefits and no compensation or service is counted for

 

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purposes of calculating benefits under the Supplemental Retirement Plan. Frozen participant’s years of service will continue to accrue solely for vesting purposes. All of the named executives are frozen participants under the Supplemental Retirement Plan. ParentCo established the Supplemental Retirement Plan in order to attract and maintain persons that we considered to be important to our success by providing benefits that are not restricted by the statutory limitations imposed by the federal income tax laws.

The ParentCo Compensation Committee has reserved the right to terminate a participant’s participation in the Supplemental Retirement Plan at any time. Additionally, if a participant’s employment is terminated or if a participant no longer meets the Supplemental Retirement Plan’s basic eligibility standards, the participant’s participation in the Supplemental Retirement Plan (and such person’s right to accrue any benefits thereunder) will terminate automatically with no further action required. Final average compensation and years of service will be determined at such time.

The amount of each participant’s benefits under the plan as of age 65 (expressed as an annual amount) will be equal to 50% of final average compensation multiplied by the service fraction as calculated on the participant’s date of employment termination with ParentCo. Final average compensation means the average of a participant’s five highest consecutive annual compensation amounts (annual base salary plus amounts received under the STIC program) while employed by ParentCo or its subsidiaries. The service fraction means a fraction with a numerator equal to a participant’s number of years of service and with a denominator of 20. The service fraction can never exceed one.

The benefits described above will be reduced by a participant’s age 65 vested benefits (including benefits which have been paid or are payable in the future (converted to an annual amount)) under: (i) the Pension Plan; (ii) the Restoration Plan; and (iii) any other plan or arrangement providing retirement-type benefits, including arrangements with prior employers, to the extent service with such other employer or under such arrangement is credited under the Supplemental Retirement Plan. No benefit will be vested under the Supplemental Retirement Plan until a participant has five years of service with ParentCo or its participating subsidiaries while the participant meets the eligibility standards in the plan.

Benefits under the Supplemental Retirement Plan will be paid in the form of a life annuity with a guaranteed term of 20 years (which will be the actuarial equivalent of a single life annuity) commencing in the month following the later to occur of: (a) the end of the month following the month in which the participant turns age 50, or (b) the end of the month following the month in which the employment termination of a participant occurs. In the event the benefits commence prior to the participant’s normal retirement age, the benefit will be actuarially reduced as necessary (using assumptions specified in the Pension Plan).

New Restoration Plan

In September 2011, ParentCo’s Board approved and adopted the New Restoration Plan, effective January 1, 2012. The New Restoration Plan is designed primarily for the purpose of providing benefits for a select group of management and highly compensated employees of ParentCo and its subsidiaries and is intended to qualify as a “top hat” plan under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended. The New Restoration Plan is an unfunded, unsecured obligation of ParentCo, the benefits of which will be paid from its general assets. ParentCo employees who are eligible to participate and accrue benefits in the Supplemental Retirement Plan are ineligible to participate in the New Restoration Plan.

ParentCo’s Board established the New Restoration Plan upon the freezing of the Supplemental Retirement Plan as to certain employees in order to attract and retain persons that we considered to be important to our success by providing benefits that are not restricted by the statutory limitations imposed by the federal income tax laws. All of the named executives are participants in the New Restoration Plan.

The ParentCo Compensation Committee has reserved the right to terminate a participant’s participation in the New Restoration Plan at any time. Additionally, if a participant’s employment is terminated or if a participant no

 

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longer meets the New Restoration Plan’s basic eligibility standards, the participant’s participation in the New Restoration Plan (and such person’s right to accrue any benefits thereunder) will terminate automatically with no further action required.

Eligibility for benefits under the New Restoration Plan is determined each calendar year (the Award Period). Participants whose sum of annual base pay as of December 31 and amounts received under the ParentCo STIC program or other annual incentive program earned for services rendered by the participant during the Award Period exceed the compensation limits imposed by section 401(a)(17) of the Code (up to $265,000 for 2016) are eligible for benefits under the New Restoration Plan for the Award Period. The amount of each eligible participant’s benefit under the plan is equal to 9% times annual base salary as of December 31 and amounts received under the ParentCo STIC program or other annual incentive program earned for services rendered by the participant during the Award Period less 6% times the lesser of annual base salary as of December 31 or the compensation limit imposed by the Code for the Award Period ($265,000 for 2016).

Benefits under the New Restoration Plan will be paid in the form of two hundred forty (240) equal monthly installments, with each installment equal to the value of the participant’s account at commencement divided by two hundred forty (240). Benefits shall commence in the month immediately following the later to occur of (i) the month in which the participant turns age 60, or (ii) the month containing the six-month anniversary date of the participant’s separation from service.

Potential Payments upon Termination or Change in Control Tables

Except as otherwise provided, the following narrative and tables set forth the potential payments and the value of other benefits that would vest or otherwise accelerate vesting at, following, or in connection with any termination, including without limitation resignation, incapacity retirement or a constructive termination of a named executive, or a change in control of ParentCo, or, if applicable to the named executive, a change in control of CNXC, or a change in the named executive’s responsibilities, as such scenarios are contemplated in the contracts, agreements, plans or arrangements described below.

The payments and benefits detailed in the table below are in addition to any payments and benefits under the plans and arrangements that are offered or provided generally to all salaried employees on a nondiscriminatory basis and any accumulated vested benefits for each named executive, including those set forth in the Pension Benefits Table – 2016, and any stock options vested as of December 31, 2016 (which are set forth in the Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End Table for ParentCo – 2016). The table assumes that employment termination and/or the change in control occurred on December 31, 2016 and a valuation of ParentCo’s common stock based on its closing market price per share on December 30, 2016 of $18.23 per share, and a valuation of CNXC’s common units based on its closing market price per unit on December 30, 2016 of $18.25 per unit. The table also assumes that the named executive will take all action necessary or appropriate for such person to receive the maximum available benefit, such as execution of a release of claims and compliance with restrictive covenants described below.

 

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JAMES A. BROCK*

 

Executive Benefits and Payments Upon
Termination Compensation:

  Incapacity
Retirement
(with a social
security
disability)
    Termination
for Good
Reason or
Not for Cause
(reduction
in force)
    Termination
For Cause
    Death     Disability
(without a
social
security
disability)
    Change in
Control
Termination(1)
 

Compensation:

           

Base Salary

                                $ 820,000  

Short-Term Incentive(2)

                    $ 266,500           $ 610,002  

Severance Pay Plan(3)

        $ 197,115                          
Long-Term Incentive Compensation:(4)            

Options: Unvested

                                   

RSUs: Unvested

  $ 341,193     $ 341,193           $ 341,193           $ 341,193  

PSUs: Unvested

  $ 174,364     $ 261,545           $ 766,663     $ 174,364     $ 766,663  
CNXC Phantom Units: Unvested   $ 1,039,575                 $ 1,039,575           $ 1,039,575  

Benefits and Perquisites:

           

Outplacement service

                                $ 25,000  
Continuation of medical/ drug/ dental benefits(5)                                 $ 24,019  

401(k) payment

                                $ 31,800  

Restoration Plan

                                $ 9,189  
Supplemental Retirement Plan(6)                                 $ 1,166,120  

New Restoration Plan

                                $ 66,678  

280G Tax Reduction(7)

                                $ (1,086,351
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

TOTAL

  $   1,555,132     $   799,853           $   2,413,931     $   174,364     $   3,813,888  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

*

Applicable footnotes follow the last table in this section of the information statement.

 

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DAVID M. KHANI*

 

Executive Benefits and Payments Upon
Termination Compensation:

  Incapacity
Retirement
(with a social
security
disability)
    Termination
for Good
Reason or
Not for Cause
(reduction
in force)
    Termination
For Cause
    Death     Disability
(without a
social
security
disability)
    Change in
Control
Termination(1)
 

Compensation:

           

Base Salary

                                $ 1,294,063  

Short-Term Incentive(2)

                    $ 362,338           $ 1,165,833  

Severance Pay Plan(3)

        $ 79,635                          
Long-Term Incentive
Compensation:(4)
           

Options: Unvested

  $ 2,362,502                 $ 2,362,502           $ 2,362,502  

RSUs: Unvested

  $ 772,861     $ 772,861           $ 772,861           $ 772,861  

PSUs: Unvested

  $ 402,968     $ 604,452           $ 1,614,686     $ 402,968     $ 1,614,686  
CNX Phantom Units: Unvested                                    

Benefits and Perquisites:

           

Outplacement service

                                $ 25,000  
Continuation of medical/drug/dental benefits(5)                                 $ 24,506  
Supplemental Retirement Plan(6)                                 $ 17,617  

401(k) payment

                                $ 39,750  

New Restoration Plan

                                $ 148,323  

280G Tax Reduction(7)

                                $ (1,846,594
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

TOTAL

  $   3,538,331     $   1,456,948           $   5,112,387     $   402,968     $   5,618,547  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

*

Applicable footnotes follow the last table in this section of the information statement.

 

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KATHARINE FREDRIKSEN*

 

Executive Benefits and Payments Upon
Termination Compensation:

  Incapacity
Retirement
(with a social
security
disability)
    Termination
for Good
Reason or
Not for Cause
(reduction
in force)
    Termination
For Cause
    Death     Disability
(without a
social
security
disability)
    Change in
Control
Termination(1)
 

Compensation:

           

Base Salary

                                $ 375,177  

Short-Term Incentive(2)

                    $ 87,541           $ 161,483  

Severance Pay Plan(3)

        $ 38,480                          
Long-Term Incentive Compensation:(4)            

Options: Unvested

  $ 112,223                 $ 112,223           $ 112,223  

RSUs: Unvested

  $ 25,631     $ 25,631           $ 25,631           $ 25,631  

PSUs: Unvested

  $ 20,016     $ 30,025           $ 78,013     $ 20,016     $ 78,013  
CNXC Phantom Units:
Unvested
                                   

Benefits and Perquisites:

           

Outplacement service

                                $ 25,000  
Continuation of medical/drug/dental benefits(5)                                 $ 8,015  

401(k) payment

                                $ 22,511  
Supplemental Retirement Plan(6)                                 $ 46,097  

New Restoration Plan

                                $ 23,430  

280G Tax Reduction(7)

                                   
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

TOTAL

  $     157,870     $     94,136           $     303,408     $     20,016     $     877,580  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

*

Applicable footnotes follow the last table in this section of the information statement.

 

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JAMES MCCAFFREY*

 

Executive Benefits and Payments Upon
Termination Compensation:

  Incapacity
Retirement
(with a social
security
disability)
    Termination
for Good
Reason or
Not for Cause
(reduction
in force)
    Termination
For Cause
    Death     Disability
(without a
social
security
disability)
    Change in
Control
Termination(1)
 

Compensation:

           

Base Salary

                                $ 759,419  

Short-Term Incentive(2)

                    $ 189,855           $ 439,285  

Severance Pay Plan(3)

        $ 182,553                      
Long-Term Incentive Compensation:(4)(8)            

Options: Unvested

                                   

RSUs: Unvested

                                   

PSUs: Unvested

                                $ 189,632  
CNXC Phantom Units: Unvested                                    

Benefits and Perquisites:

           

Outplacement service

                                $ 25,000  
Continuation of medical/drug/dental benefits(5)                                 $ 25,516  

401(k) payment

                                $ 31,800  

Restoration Plan

                                $ 34,942  
Supplemental Retirement Plan(6)                                 $ 1,109,609  

New Restoration Plan

                                $ 52,265  

280G Tax Reduction(7)(8)

                                $ (52,889
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

TOTAL

        $   182,553           $   189,855           $   2,614,579  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

*

Applicable footnotes follow the last table in this section of the information statement.

 

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KURT SALVATORI*

 

Executive Benefits and Payments Upon
Termination Compensation:

  Incapacity
Retirement
(with a social
security
disability)
    Termination
for Good
Reason or
Not for Cause
(reduction
in force)
    Termination
For Cause
    Death     Disability
(without a
social
security
disability)
    Change in
Control
Termination(1)
 

Compensation:

           

Base Salary

                                $ 441,670  

Short-Term Incentive(2)

                    $ 66,250           $ 165,452  

Severance Pay Plan(3)

        $ 106,171                          
Long-Term Incentive Compensation:(4)            

Options: Unvested

  $ 88,597                 $ 88,597           $ 88,597  

RSUs: Unvested

  $ 34,509     $ 34,509           $ 34,509           $ 34,509  

PSUs: Unvested

  $ 21,074     $ 31,611           $ 69,500     $ 21,074     $ 69,500  
CNXC Phantom Units: Unvested                                    

Benefits and Perquisites:

           

Outplacement service

                                $ 25,000  
Continuation of medical/drug/dental benefits(5)                                 $ 28,814  

401(k) payment

                                $ 26,500  
Supplemental Retirement Plan(6)                                 $ 514,327  

New Restoration Plan

                                $ 19,009  

280G Tax Reduction(7)

                                $ (236,047
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

TOTAL

  $   144,180     $   172,291           $   258,856     $   21,074     $   1,177,331  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

*

Applicable footnotes follow the last table in this section of the information statement.

 

(1)

If a change in control as described in the applicable agreements occurred and the named executive’s employment did not terminate, the named executive would be entitled only to the payments and benefits shown under Long-Term Incentive Compensation. The narrative following these tables contains a description of events that constitute a “change in control.”

 

(2)

In the event of death, each named executive would earn the short-term incentive award. In the event of a qualifying termination in connection with a change in control, each named executive, pursuant to his change in control agreement, would be entitled to a prorated payment of his “short-term incentive” compensation based upon the length of service during the year in which the termination occurred. Assuming a target payout for 2016 and a change in control at year-end, each individual would receive, in addition to the amount shown in the table, the amounts set forth in the Grants of Plan-Based Awards tables under the target amounts for non-equity incentive plan awards.

 

(3)

The Severance Pay Plan for Salaried Employees provides one week of severance for every year of service with a minimum of eight weeks and a maximum of 25 weeks in the event that employment is involuntarily terminated because of a reduction in workforce. As of December 31, 2016, Messrs. Brock, McCaffrey and Salvatori were entitled to 25 weeks of severance, and Mr. Khani and Ms. Fredriksen were entitled to eight weeks of severance.

 

(4)

If a currently employed named executive is eligible for Early Retirement, each as defined by the applicable equity award agreements, that named executive would be entitled to the following amounts for unvested RSUs under any termination scenario except termination for cause (in which case, the equity is forfeited): Mr. Brock – $57,662 and Mr. McCaffrey – $0 (as amounts have already vested). Messrs. Khani, Salvatori

 

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and Ms. Fredriksen are not eligible for Early Retirement and, as such, would not receive the value of such equity awards in the event of an Early Retirement. The values for long-term incentive compensation represent the value of the unvested ParentCo options, RSUs and PSUs, which would accelerate and vest or would continue to vest according to the vesting schedule, depending on the termination event. The value of the ParentCo unvested options, RSUs and PSUs was calculated using a closing market price per share of $18.23 for ParentCo (noting that no value is listed for the options when the strike price exceeds $18.23 and assumes target payout for the PSUs granted in 2015 and threshold payout for the PSUs granted in 2016 as to the 2017 through 2020 tranches). The value of the CNXC phantom units included in Mr. Brock’s table was calculated using a closing market price per unit of $18.25 for CNXC units. For the PSUs granted in 2014, which had a performance period ending December 31, 2016, and for the PSUs granted in 2016 with a 2016 tranche performance period ending December 31, 2016, we have not included these amounts since the performance periods, in each case, ended on December 31, 2016.

 

(5)

In the event of a qualifying termination in connection with a change in control, as of December 31, 2016, Messrs. Brock and Khani, Ms. Fredriksen, and Messrs. McCaffrey and Salvatori pursuant to their change in control agreements, would be entitled to the continuation of medical, drug, and dental coverage for a period of 24 months, 30 months, 18 months, 24 months and 24 months, respectively.

 

(6)

In the event of a termination for cause, no benefit is payable. Benefits vest immediately in the event of termination due to disability, death or change in control. Further, the SERP pays an unreduced benefit in the event of Incapacity Retirement or Disability, and accordingly, Messrs. Brock and Khani, Ms. Fredriksen, and Messrs. McCaffrey and Salvatori would receive $575,709, $20,365, $54,707, $642,282 and $522,914, respectively, in such cases.

 

(7)

This calculation is an estimate only. Note that actual payments for Messrs. Brock, Khani, McCaffrey and Salvatori would be reduced pursuant to the terms of their change in control agreement by the amounts shown in the above tables under “280G Tax Reduction.” Payments on an actual change of control may differ based on factors such as transaction price, timing of employment termination and payments, methodology for valuing stock options, changes in compensation, reasonable compensation analyses and the value of the covenant not to compete. Assumptions used include:

 

   

Marginal federal, Pennsylvania state and FICA tax rates of 39.6%, 3.07% and 2.35%, respectively;

   

Any payments with respect to the 2015 bonus were not contingent on the change in control (and thus, not required to be included in the calculation);

   

Stock options are assumed to become fully vested and/or exercisable and are valued in accordance with Rev. Proc. 98-34 and Q&A 24(c) of Code Section 280G based on expected life of the option; and

   

No value was attributed to non-competition covenants nor was the position taken that any part of the value of the performance-based equity and long-term incentive plans provided to the applicable named executive was reasonable compensation for services prior to the change of control, which would have reduced the estimated excise tax gross-up payment, if any.

 

(8)

Various award amounts received due to accelerated vesting pursuant to the terms of the Retention Agreement, which is discussed below.

Understanding Our Change in Control and Employment Termination Tables and Information

This section provides information regarding the following ParentCo agreements and/or plans that provide for benefits to be paid to our named executives in connection with employment termination and/or a change in control with respect to ParentCo and CNXC.

 

   

Change in Control Agreements;

   

Retention Agreement;

   

ParentCo Stock Option Agreements;

   

ParentCo RSU Agreements;

 

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ParentCo PSU Award Agreements;

   

CNXC Phantom Unit Award Agreements;

   

Supplemental Retirement Plan;

   

New Restoration Plan; and

   

Severance Pay Plan for Salaried Employees.

Change in Control Agreements . As of December 31, 2016, each of our named executives had change in control severance agreements in place with ParentCo and/or its affiliates, which we refer to as the CIC Agreements.

The CIC Agreements provide severance benefits to the named executives if they are terminated (i) after, or in connection with, a ParentCo change in control for any reason, other than cause, death or disability (as defined below), not more than three months prior to or within two years after such change in control, or at the request of a third party initiating the change in control, or (ii) within the two-year period after a change in control, if the executive is constructively terminated (as defined below). Under the circumstances described above, our named executives would be entitled to receive:

 

   

a lump sum cash payment equal to a multiple of base pay plus a multiple of incentive pay (the applicable multiples are 2.5 for Mr. Khani, 1.5 for each of Ms. Fredriksen, and 2.0 for each of Messrs. Brock, McCaffrey and Salvatori);

 

   

a pro-rated payment of his incentive pay for the year in which termination occurs;

 

   

for a specified period (24 months, 30 months, 18 months, 24 months and 24 months for Messrs. Brock and Khani, Ms. Fredriksen, and Messrs. McCaffrey and Salvatori, respectively), the continuation of medical and dental coverage (or monthly reimbursements in lieu of continuation);

 

   

if the executive would have been eligible for post-retirement medical benefits had the executive retired from employment during the applicable period, but is not so eligible due to termination, then at the conclusion of the benefit period, the executive is entitled to receive additional continued group medical coverage comparable to that which would have been available under the post-retirement program for so long as such coverage would have been available under such program, or the executive will receive monthly reimbursements in lieu of such coverage;

 

   

a lump sum cash payment equal to the total amount that the executive would have received under ParentCo’s 401(k) plan as a match if the executive was eligible to participate in the 401(k) plan for a specified period after the executive’s termination date (24 months, 30 months, 18 months, 24 months and 24 months for Messrs. Brock and Khani, Ms. Fredriksen, and Messrs. McCaffrey and Salvatori, respectively) and the executive contributed the maximum amount to the 401(k) plan for the match;

 

   

a lump-sum cash payment equal to the difference between the present value of the executive’s accrued pension benefits at the executive’s termination date under ParentCo’s qualified defined benefit pension plan and (if eligible) any plan or plans providing nonqualified retirement benefits and the present value of the accrued pension benefits to which the executive would have been entitled under the pension plans if the executive had continued participation in those plans for a specified period after the executive’s termination date (24 months, 30 months, 18 months, 24 months and 12 months for Messrs. Brock and Khani, Ms. Fredriksen, and Messrs. McCaffrey and Salvatori, respectively);

 

   

a lump-sum cash payment of $25,000 in order to cover the cost of outplacement assistance services and other expenses associated with seeking other employment; and

 

   

any amounts earned, accrued or owing but not yet paid as of the executive’s termination date, payable in a lump sum, and any benefits accrued or earned in accordance with the terms of any applicable benefit plans or programs.

In addition, upon a change in control, all equity awards granted to the named executives will become fully vested and/or exercisable on the date the change in control occurs, and all stock options will remain exercisable for the

 

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period set forth in the applicable award agreement. The CIC Agreements contain confidentiality, noncompetition and nonsolicitation obligations pursuant to which the named executives have agreed not to compete with the business for one year, or to solicit employees for two years, following a termination of employment, when such executive is receiving severance benefits under the CIC Agreement.

No payments or benefits are provided under the CIC Agreements unless the executive executes, and does not revoke, a written release of any and all claims (other than for entitlements under the terms of the CIC Agreement or which may not be released under the law). For purposes of the CIC Agreements, cause is a determination by the ParentCo Board of Directors that the executive has (a) been convicted of, or has pleaded guilty or nolo contendere to, any felony or any misdemeanor involving fraud, embezzlement or theft; or (b) wrongfully disclosed material confidential information, intentionally violated any material express provision of ParentCo’s code of conduct for executives and management employees (as then in effect) or intentionally failed or refused to perform any of the executive’s material assigned duties, and any such failure or refusal has been demonstrably and materially harmful to ParentCo. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the executive will not be deemed to have been terminated for cause under clause (b) above unless the majority of the members of the ParentCo Board of Directors, plus one additional member of such board, find that, in its good-faith opinion, the executive has committed an act constituting cause, and such resolution is delivered in writing to the executive.

For purposes of the CIC Agreements, a change in control generally means:

 

(i)

the acquisition by any individual, entity or group of beneficial ownership of more than 25% of the combined voting power of the then outstanding voting stock of ParentCo; provided, however, that the following acquisitions will not constitute a change in control: (A) any issuance of voting stock of ParentCo directly from ParentCo that is approved by the then incumbent Board, (B) any acquisition by ParentCo (or any subsidiaries) of voting stock of ParentCo, (C) any acquisition of voting stock of ParentCo by any employee benefit plan (or related trust) sponsored or maintained by ParentCo or any subsidiary of ParentCo, (D) any acquisition of voting stock of ParentCo by an underwriter holding securities of ParentCo in connection with a public offering thereof, or (E) any acquisition of voting stock of ParentCo by any person pursuant to a transaction that complies with clauses (A), (B) and (C) of (iii) below;

 

(ii)

individuals who constitute the Board as of the agreement date cease for any reason to constitute at least a majority of the Board; provided, however, that any individual becoming a director subsequent to such date whose election, or nomination for election by ParentCo’s shareholders was approved by a vote of at least two-thirds of the directors then comprising the incumbent Board are deemed to have then been a member of the incumbent Board, but excluding any individual whose initial assumption of office occurs as a result of an actual or threatened election contest with respect to the election or removal of directors or other actual or threatened solicitation of proxies or consents by or on behalf of a person other than the Board;

 

(iii)

consummation of a reorganization, merger or consolidation of ParentCo or a direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiary of ParentCo, a sale or other disposition of all or substantially all of the assets of ParentCo, or other transaction involving ParentCo, unless, in each case, immediately following such transaction, (A) all or substantially all of the individuals and entities who were the beneficial owners of voting stock of ParentCo immediately prior to such transaction beneficially own, directly or indirectly, more than 50% of the combined voting power or securities of the then outstanding shares of voting stock or securities of the entity resulting from such transaction or any direct or indirect parent corporation thereof, (B) no person other than ParentCo beneficially owns 25% or more of the combined voting power of the then outstanding shares of voting stock of the entity resulting from such transaction or any direct or indirect parent corporation thereof and (C) at least a majority of the members of the Board of the entity resulting from such transaction or any direct or indirect parent corporation thereof were members of the incumbent Board at the time of the execution of the initial agreement or of the action of the Board providing for such transaction; or

 

(iv)

approval by the shareholders of ParentCo of a complete liquidation or dissolution of ParentCo, except pursuant to a transaction that complies with clauses (A), (B) and (C) of (iii) above.

 

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In addition, Mr. Brock’s CIC Agreement included within the change in control definition a third party acquisition of greater than 75% of the book value of assets comprising the coal division.

For purposes of the CIC Agreements, a constructive termination means: (a) a material adverse change in position; (b) a material reduction in annual base salary or target bonus or a material reduction in employee benefits; (c) a material adverse change in circumstances as determined in good faith by the executive, including a material change in the scope of business or other activities for which the executive was responsible prior to the change in control, which has rendered the executive unable to carry out, has materially hindered the executive’s performance of, or has caused the executive to suffer a material reduction in, any of the authorities, powers, functions, responsibilities or duties attached to the position the executive held immediately prior to the change in control; (d) the liquidation, dissolution, merger, consolidation or reorganization of ParentCo or transfer of substantially all its business or assets, unless the successor assumes all duties and obligations of ParentCo under the applicable CIC Agreement; or (e) the relocation of the executive’s principal work location to a location that increases the executive’s normal commute by 50 miles or more or that requires travel increases by a material amount.

Retention Agreement . As further described in “ Compensation Discussion and Analysis ,” ParentCo entered into a retention agreement with Mr. McCaffrey on March 31, 2016 which provided for the vesting of (i) his outstanding equity incentive awards under the ParentCo LTIP if the Coal Tonnage Goal was attained and he remained employed with ParentCo or its subsidiaries through December 31, 2016 and (ii) any 2017 equity incentive awards granted to him under the ParentCo LTIP in 2017 if he remained employed with ParentCo or its subsidiaries through December 31, 2017.

ParentCo Stock Options . In the event that a named executive’s employment with ParentCo (including any affiliate of ParentCo) is terminated for cause (as defined in the ParentCo LTIP) or the named executive breaches noncompetition or proprietary information covenants (see description below), then any stock option (whether vested or unvested) that is granted to the named executive will be canceled and forfeited in its entirety on the date of termination of employment or breach of covenant, as applicable. In addition, any stock option exercised during the six-month period prior to such termination of employment or breach of covenant, as applicable, will be rescinded, and the named executive will be required to pay to ParentCo within 10 days an amount in cash equal to the gain realized by the exercise of the stock option.

In the event that the named executive’s employment terminates voluntarily, due to disability (as defined in the ParentCo LTIP) or by ParentCo without cause (as defined in the ParentCo LTIP), the nonvested portion of any stock option will be deemed cancelled on the termination date and the vested portion, if any, of the stock option as of the date of such termination will remain exercisable for the lesser of a period of 90 days following termination or until the expiration date of the stock option. Notwithstanding the previous sentence, if such termination occurs by reason of an incapacity retirement as defined in the Pension Plan (or any successor plan) and as provided in the award agreement, then in that event the non-vested portion of the stock option will continue to vest and become exercisable in the ordinary course and will remain exercisable until the stock option’s expiration date.

In the event that employment with ParentCo (including any affiliate) is terminated without cause and after a decision that such termination qualifies for special vesting treatment, the nonvested portion of a stock option will continue to vest and become exercisable in accordance with the vesting schedule set forth in the award agreement and will remain exercisable until the expiration date. In the event that the named executive’s employment is terminated by reason of death, the non-vested portion of the stock option will vest in its entirety immediately upon the date of death and will remain exercisable for the lesser of a period of three years following death or the expiration date.

ParentCo RSUs . All shares subject to RSU awards that are issued under the ParentCo LTIP will vest (i.e., will not be subject to forfeiture as the result of employment termination) upon the occurrence of certain specified

 

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termination of employment events, such as incapacity retirement under the Pension Plan, as in effect at that time, or termination of employment by reason of death or as part of a reduction in force as specified and implemented by ParentCo.

In no event will any shares vest in the event that employment with ParentCo is terminated for cause as defined in the ParentCo LTIP (see below) or if a named executive leaves ParentCo’s employment for any reason other than in connection with a special vesting event.

In addition, if employment is terminated for cause or the named executive breaches the noncompetition or proprietary information covenant (see below), then, in addition to awards being cancelled with respect to any unvested shares, the named executive will also forfeit all of his or her right, title and interest in and to any shares which have vested under existing awards and which are held by him at that time or are otherwise subject to deferred issuance. In addition, to the extent a named executive has sold any of his or her vested shares within the six-month period ending with the date of the named executive’s termination for cause or breach of the noncompetition or proprietary information covenant or at any time thereafter, then the named executive will be required to repay to ParentCo, within 10 days after receipt of written demand from ParentCo, the cash proceeds received upon each such sale, provided the demand is made by ParentCo within one year after the date of that sale.

In the event that employment is terminated because of a reduction in force, the named executive will not be subject to the noncompetition and certain non-solicitation provisions contained in the award agreement.

ParentCo PSUs . PSUs also include special vesting provisions in connection with certain employment termination circumstances.

With respect to PSUs granted during 2016, in the event the named executive’s employment with ParentCo (or an affiliate) is terminated (i) on or after the date the named executive has reached the age of 62, (ii) on account of death or disability, or (iii) by action taken by ParentCo (including any affiliate) without cause and after a decision by the ParentCo Compensation Committee that such termination without cause qualifies for special vesting treatment (a Qualifying Separation), the named executive will be entitled to retain the PSUs and receive payment therefor, to the extent earned and payable; provided, however, that in the case of a termination on or after the named executive has reached the age of 62 or on account of disability, the named executive will only be entitled to retain a prorated portion of the PSUs determined at the end of the performance period, based on the ratio of the number of complete months that the named executive worked in the performance period.

If the named executive’s employment with ParentCo or any affiliate generally is terminated for any other reason, including by the named executive voluntarily, or by ParentCo (including any affiliate) with or without cause (other than in connection with a Qualifying Separation), the PSUs awarded to the named executive will be cancelled and forfeited.

With respect to outstanding PSUs granted prior to 2016, the termination provisions generally are the same, except that (i) there will be no Qualifying Separation, and (ii) if a named executive’s employment terminates by reason of a reduction in force as specified and implemented by ParentCo prior to any payment date, the named executive will be entitled to retain the PSUs and receive payment therefore, to the extent earned and payable.

CNXC Phantom Units

Upon the termination of a named executive’s services for any reason, including upon any change in control of CNXC or the CNXC GP, all unvested CNXC phantom units are automatically forfeited without further action and for no consideration; provided, however, that the plan administrator of the CNXC LTIP will have discretion to (i) accelerate the time of exercisability or vesting or payment of an award, (ii) require awards to be surrendered in exchange for a cash payment or substitute other rights or property for the award, (iii) provide for the award to

 

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assumed by a successor or one of its affiliates, with appropriate adjustments thereto, (iv) cancel unvested awards without payment, or (v) make other adjustments to awards as the plan administrator deems appropriate to reflect the applicable transaction or event.

Equity Incentive Plan Definitions . The following definitions and provisions are set forth in the ParentCo LTIP:

Cause is defined, unless otherwise defined in the applicable award agreement, as a determination by the ParentCo Compensation Committee that a person has committed an act of embezzlement, fraud, dishonesty or breach of fiduciary duty to ParentCo, deliberately and repeatedly violated the rules of ParentCo or the valid instructions of ParentCo’s Board of Directors or an authorized officer of ParentCo, made any unauthorized disclosure of any of the material secrets or confidential information of ParentCo, or engaged in any conduct that could reasonably be expected to result in material loss, damage or injury to ParentCo.

Disability is defined, unless otherwise defined in the applicable award agreement, as an award recipient’s inability, because of physical or mental incapacity or injury (that has continued for a period of at least 12 consecutive calendar months) to perform for ParentCo or an affiliate of ParentCo substantially the same services as he or she performed prior to incurring the incapacity or injury.

Change in Control and Restrictive Covenant Provisions

ParentCo Options, RSUs and PSUs. All ParentCo Options, RSU and PSU awards and any other awards granted by ParentCo, whether or not vested, vest upon a change in control, which is defined under the ParentCo LTIP as (unless otherwise defined in the applicable award agreement) the earliest to occur of:

 

   

any one person (other than ParentCo, any trustee or other fiduciary holding securities under an employee benefit plan of ParentCo, and any corporation owned, directly or indirectly, by the stockholders of ParentCo in substantially the same proportions as their ownership of ParentCo stock), or more than one person acting as a group, is or becomes the beneficial owner of shares that, together with the shares held by that person or group, possess more than 50% of the total fair market value or total voting power of ParentCo’s shares;

   

a majority of members of ParentCo’s Board of Directors is replaced during any 12-month period by directors whose appointment or election is not endorsed by a majority of the members of ParentCo’s Board of Directors prior to the date of the appointment or election; or

   

the sale of all or substantially all of ParentCo’s assets.

However, in the event the accelerated vesting of the awards, either alone or together with any other payments or benefits to which the named executive may otherwise become entitled from ParentCo in connection with the change in control would, in ParentCo’s good-faith opinion, be deemed to be a parachute payment under Section 280G of the Code (or any successor provision), then, unless any agreement between the named executive and ParentCo provides otherwise, the number of awards that vest on this accelerated basis will be reduced to the extent necessary to ensure, in ParentCo’s good-faith opinion, that no portion of the accelerated award will be considered such a parachute payment.

All stock option and unit awards contain a covenant regarding confidential information and trade secrets, pursuant to which the recipient must agree, at any time during or after his or her employment with ParentCo, not to disclose or use for his (or her) or any other person’s or entity’s own benefit or purposes, other than ParentCo and its affiliates, any proprietary confidential information or trade secrets, which are unique to ParentCo and not generally known to the industry or the public. In addition, upon termination with ParentCo for any reason, the award recipient must immediately return all materials relating to the business of ParentCo and its affiliates, excluding personal notes, notebooks and diaries, and may not retain or use for such person’s own account at any time any trade names, trademarks or other proprietary business designation used or owned in connection with the business of ParentCo or its affiliates.

 

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With respect to outstanding PSUs, upon a change in control, the applicable performance goals will be deemed to have been achieved on such date and the PSUs will be paid based on performance relative to such goals as of such date, with the value of such PSUs to be settled on the closing date of the change in control transaction; provided, however, that in the event of a change in control, PSUs may be settled in cash and/or securities or other property.

CNXC Phantom Units. As noted above, upon the termination of a named executive’s service for any reason (including in connection with a change in control), all CNXC phantom units that have not vested prior to or in connection with such termination of service are automatically forfeited without further action and for no consideration. Notwithstanding, all unvested CNXC phantom unit awards, may, at the discretion of the CNXC plan administrator, which is the CNXC GP Board, vest upon a change in control, which is defined under the CNXC LTIP as (unless otherwise defined in the applicable award agreement) the occurrence of one or more of the following events:

 

   

any person or group within the meaning of Sections 13(d) and 14(d)(2) of the Exchange Act, other than the CNXC GP, CONE Gathering LLC (CONE) or ParentCo or an affiliate thereof (as determined immediately prior to such event), shall become the beneficial owner, by way of merger, acquisition, consolidation, recapitalization, reorganization or otherwise, of 50% or more of the combined voting power of the equity interests in the CNXC GP, CNXC or CONE;

   

the limited partners of CNXC approve, in one or a series of transactions, a plan of complete liquidation of CNXC;

   

the sale or other disposition by either the CNXC GP or CNXC of all or substantially all of the CNXC GP’s or CNXC’s assets, respectively, in one or more transactions to any person other than the CNXC GP, CNXC, CONE or ParentCo or an affiliate thereof;

   

a transaction resulting in a person other than the CNXC GP, CONE or ParentCo or an affiliate thereof (as determined immediately prior to such event) being the sole general partner of CNXC; or

   

a Change in Control as defined in the ParentCo LTIP.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a Change in Control as defined above constitutes a payment event with respect to any CNXC award which provides for the deferral of compensation subject to Section 409A of the Code or such compensation otherwise would be subject to Section 409A, the transaction or event described in the first four bullets above with respect to such award must also constitute a change in control event, as defined in Treasury Regulation §1.409A-3(i)(5), and as relates to the holder of such Award, to the extent required to comply with Section 409A.

Phantom unit awards contain a covenant regarding confidential information and trade secrets, pursuant to which the recipient must agree, at any time during or after his or her employment with CNXC, the CNXC GP, or any of their affiliates, not to disclose or use for his (or her) or any other person’s or entity’s own benefit or purposes, other than CNXC, the CNXC GP and their affiliates, any proprietary confidential information or trade secrets, which are unique to CNXC, the CNXC GP and their affiliates and not generally known to the industry or the public. In addition, upon termination with CNXC, the CNXC GP and their affiliates for any reason, the award recipient must immediately return all materials relating to the business of CNXC, the CNXC GP and their affiliates, excluding personal notes, notebooks and diaries, and may not retain or use for such person’s own account at any time any trade names, trademarks or other proprietary business designation used or owned in connection with the business of CNXC, the CNXC GP and their affiliates.

Supplemental Retirement Plan. If a participant’s employment with ParentCo or any subsidiary terminates for cause (which is defined in ParentCo’s Supplemental Retirement Plan to include a violation of any nonsolicitation, noncompetition or nondisclosure provision contained in any agreement entered into by and between a participant and ParentCo or any subsidiary), no benefits will be payable under the Supplemental Retirement Plan. Additionally, each participant agrees by participating in the Supplemental Retirement Plan that within ten (10) days after the date we provide the participant with a notice that there has occurred a termination

 

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on account of cause, the participant will pay to us in cash an amount equal to any and all distributions paid to or on behalf of such participant under the plan within the six (6) months prior to the date of the earliest breach. A forfeiture of Supplemental Retirement Plan benefits will also occur for certain cause events even if the event does not occur or is not discovered until after any termination of employment. Benefits under the Supplemental Retirement Plan will immediately vest upon death or disability of a participant or upon a change in control (as described below).

Further, the participant will be entitled to receive the vested benefits in a lump sum payment if the participant’s employment is terminated after, or in connection with, a change of control (as defined in the Supplemental Retirement Plan) on account of:

 

   

an involuntary termination associated with a change in control within the two year period after the change in control, or

   

a termination by ParentCo other than for cause or due to the participant’s death or disability that (A) occurs not more than three months prior to the date on which a change in control occurs, or (B) is required by a third party who initiates a change in control.

The benefit will be calculated as if the participant terminated on the date of the change in control, but the participant will be considered only for purposes of applying the appropriate actuarial reduction to have a minimum age of 55 and a minimum of 20 years of credited service. Additional service credit will also be provided for the term of any payments under a participant’s CIC Agreement, if any, with ParentCo.

New Restoration Plan. In the event a participant in the New Restoration Plan terminates employment with ParentCo and its subsidiaries in connection with a change in control (as defined in the New Restoration Plan), the participant is entitled to a contribution to the New Restoration Plan for the year in which the termination occurs. If such termination occurs prior to September 30 of a calendar year, then such contribution will be based upon the participant’s base salary and target bonus for the year and, if such termination occurs on or after September 30 of a calendar year, such contribution will be based upon the participant’s base salary and actual bonus for the year. Notably, the same contribution treatment applies for participants who incur an involuntary termination of employment due to death, disability, incapacity retirement or reduction in force, and the same compensation treatment for terminations that occur on or after September 30 applies to participants who voluntarily resign from employment. If a participant’s employment terminates on account of cause (as defined in the New Restoration Plan), no benefits will be payable under the plan. Additionally, each participant agrees by participating in the New Restoration Plan that within ten (10) days after the date we provide the participant with a notice that there has occurred a termination on account of cause, the participant will pay to us in cash an amount equal to any and all distributions paid to or on behalf of such participant under the plan within the six (6) months prior to the date of the earliest breach. A forfeiture of New Restoration Plan benefits will also occur for certain cause events even if the event does not occur or is not discovered until after any termination of employment.

Severance Pay Plan for Salaried Employees. Eligible employees of ParentCo are entitled to receive benefits under the Severance Pay Plan immediately upon completion of one year of continuous service with ParentCo. Pursuant to the terms of the Severance Pay Plan, upon an involuntary termination that is part of a workforce reduction, the employee is entitled to one week’s compensation for each completed full year of continuous service, with a minimum of eight weeks and up to a maximum of 25 weeks’ compensation, subject to the Severance Pay Plan’s reemployment provisions described below. Benefits under the Severance Pay Plan do not apply where the employee is terminated for cause (as defined in the Severance Pay Plan) or resigns, or where such employee’s employment ends in connection with the sale of stock or all or part of ParentCo’s assets and the employee is offered employment by the purchaser (or its affiliate) of the stock or all or part of ParentCo’s assets.

Calculation of the one week’s compensation is made on the basis of straight time pay (excluding any bonus or overtime compensation) for such employee’s permanently assigned position. In addition to severance benefits,

 

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employees are granted any vacation pay to which they are entitled. Employees with less than one year of service are paid only up to and including the date of termination.

In the event that the terminated employee is re-employed as a full-time employee before the severance pay period has expired, the employee shall reimburse ParentCo for the amount of severance benefits which relate to the unexpired period. If the employee was granted vacation pay, the employee may, at his or her option, remit the vacation pay to ParentCo and schedule a later vacation at a time mutually agreed upon with ParentCo.

Employees will not be entitled to severance under the plan unless and until such employee executes, and does not revoke, a release, deemed satisfactory by ParentCo, waiving any and all claims against ParentCo, its affiliates and subsidiaries and all related parties.

 

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COALCO INCENTIVE ARRANGEMENTS AND PLANS

CoalCo Omnibus Performance Incentive Plan

CoalCo plans to adopt the CONSOL Mining Corporation Omnibus Performance Incentive Plan (the CoalCo Plan) in connection with the separation. The following is a summary of the principal terms of the CoalCo Plan, which is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the CoalCo Plan, the form of which is filed as Exhibit 10.10 hereto. The CoalCo equity-based awards into which the outstanding ParentCo equity-based awards will be converted upon separation (see “The Separation and Distribution—Treatment of Equity-Based Compensation”) will be issued pursuant to the CoalCo Plan and, therefore, will reduce the shares authorized for issuance under the CoalCo Plan.

Purpose of the CoalCo Plan

The purposes of the CoalCo Plan are to promote the interests of CoalCo and our stockholders by (i) attracting and retaining eligible non-employee directors, executive officers and other key employees of CoalCo and its affiliates; (ii) motivating such individuals by means of cash and equity performance-related incentives to achieve annual and long-range performance goals; (iii) enabling such individuals to acquire shares of CoalCo; (iv) assuming and governing awards originally granted under the ParentCo LTIP; and (v) enabling such individuals to participate in the long-term growth and financial success of CoalCo.

Administration and Overview of the CoalCo Plan 

Under the CoalCo Plan, our Board of Directors will have the authority to grant awards to employees and directors of CoalCo and its affiliates. Subject to the terms of the CoalCo Plan and applicable law, our Board of Directors generally may delegate authority to the CoalCo compensation committee, once formed, and matters to CoalCo’s officers. Under the terms of the CoalCo Plan, our Board of Directors will have the authority, among other matters, to (i) designate participants in the CoalCo Plan, (ii) determine the types of awards that may be granted thereunder, including the number of shares relating to such awards, (iii) determine the terms and conditions of such awards, including vesting, exercisability, and forfeiture provisions, and (iv) cancel, suspend or modify outstanding awards. Our Board of Directors also will have the authority to interpret the CoalCo Plan, establish, amend and rescind rules applicable to the CoalCo Plan or awards thereunder, approve the terms and provisions of any award agreements, determine whether any corporate transaction, such as a spin-off or joint venture, will result in a participant’s termination of service, and make all determinations relating to awards under the CoalCo Plan.

Authorized Shares

Subject to the adjustment provisions of the CoalCo Plan, the total number of shares authorized and available for issuance under the CoalCo Plan is 2,600,000. Shares of CoalCo common stock issuable under the CoalCo Plan may be made available from authorized and unissued shares or treasury shares. Shares tendered in payment of the exercise price of a stock option or a stock appreciation right (SAR), not issued upon the settlement of SARs, repurchased by CoalCo using proceeds from a stock option exercise or delivered to or withheld by CoalCo to pay federal, state or local withholding taxes may not be added back to the available pool of shares authorized under the CoalCo Plan. If awards granted under the CoalCo Plan are otherwise forfeited, cancelled or expired, the shares underlying such awards will become available for issuance under the CoalCo Plan.

Types of Awards

The following types of awards may be granted under the CoalCo Plan:

 

   

Incentive and non-qualified stock options;

 

   

SARs;

 

   

Restricted shares;

 

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RSUs;

 

   

Performance awards (cash and equity);

 

   

Deferred share units (DSUs);

 

   

ParentCo awards converted in connection with the separation; and

 

   

Other forms of awards authorized by the CoalCo Plan, whether equity or cash based.

These forms of awards may have a performance feature under which the award is not earned unless performance goals are achieved.

Limitations on Awards

Generally, participants in the CoalCo Plan may not be granted, in any one calendar year of CoalCo, (i) stock options or SARs for more than 500,000 shares, (ii) share-based performance awards intended to be performance-based compensation under Section 162(m) of the Code for more than 500,000 shares (based on a maximum award level on the grant date), or (iii) cash-payable performance awards intended to be performance-based compensation under Section 162(m) of the Code for more than $4,000,000 (based on a maximum award level on the grant date). Additionally, CoalCo Nonemployee Directors may not be granted, in any one fiscal year of CoalCo, awards specifically awarded under the CoalCo Plan that have an aggregate maximum value, calculated as of the respective grant dates, of more than $400,000. The foregoing limitations do not apply to awards converted or substituted in connection with certain corporate transactions or events involving CoalCo, as described in the CoalCo Plan.

Stock Options

Except as otherwise set forth under CoalCo Nonemployee Directors , the CoalCo Plan permits the granting of both incentive stock options and non-qualified stock options to purchase shares of CoalCo common stock, provided that incentive stock options may only be granted to employees of CoalCo or a parent or subsidiary of CoalCo. Our Board of Directors will establish the exercise price at the time each option is granted. The CoalCo Plan provides that (i) the option exercise price for each share covered by an option may not be less than the fair market value of a share of common stock on the date the option is granted (or 110% of the fair market value in the case of an incentive stock option granted to an employee who is a 10% Stockholder (as defined in the CoalCo Plan)), except in the case of substitute awards granted in assumption of, or in substitution for, outstanding awards previously granted by a company acquired by CoalCo, or with respect to converted awards granted in connection with the separation, and (ii) the term of the option may not exceed 10 years from the grant date (or five years in the case of an incentive stock option granted to a 10% Stockholder).

The exercise price of options granted under the CoalCo Plan may be paid for in cash or its equivalent, by exchanging shares of CoalCo common stock (subject to the terms of the CoalCo Plan), by another means approved by our Board of Directors, or by a combination of the foregoing, provided that the combined value of all cash and cash equivalents and the fair market value of any such shares so tendered to CoalCo as of the date of such tender is at least equal to the option price. A participant may also elect to pay all or any portion of the aggregate exercise price by having CoalCo shares with a fair market value on the exercise date equal to the aggregate exercise price withheld by the company or sold by a broker-dealer.

Stock Appreciation Rights

SARs entitle the participant to receive an amount equal to the excess of the fair market value of a share of common stock on the exercise date of the SAR over the grant price. SARs may be granted in tandem with another award, in addition to another award, or freestanding and unrelated to another award. SARs granted in tandem with or in addition to an award may be granted either at the same time as the award or, except in the case of incentive stock options, at a later time. The CoalCo Plan provides that SARs will have (i) grant prices no less

 

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than the fair market value of a share of CoalCo common stock on the grant date and (ii) terms no longer than 10 years. Our Board of Directors will determine whether a SAR may be settled in cash, CoalCo shares, or a combination of both, and will determine at or after the time of each SAR grant the methods of exercise, methods and form of settlement, and any other applicable terms and conditions.

Restricted Stock and RSUs

Restricted stock and RSUs may also be granted under the CoalCo Plan. Our Board of Directors will determine the number of shares of restricted stock and/or the number of RSUs to be granted to each participant, as well as the duration of such awards, the conditions under which the restricted stock and RSUs may be forfeited and other terms and conditions.

Shares of restricted stock and RSUs may not be sold, assigned, transferred, pledged or otherwise encumbered, except, in the case of restricted stock, as provided in the CoalCo Plan or the applicable award agreements. Each RSU has a value equal to the fair market value of a share on the settlement or payment date of such award. RSUs may be paid in cash, shares, other securities, or other property, as determined in the sole discretion of our Board of Directors, upon the lapse of restrictions applicable to the award or pursuant to the terms of the applicable award agreement.

Performance Awards

Performance awards may be granted under the CoalCo Plan. A “performance award” consists of a right that is:

 

   

denominated and/or payable in cash, shares of CoalCo common stock or any other form of award issuable under the CoalCo Plan (or any combination thereof);

 

   

valued, as determined by our Board of Directors, in accordance with the achievement of performance goals during the applicable performance periods; and

 

   

payable at such time and in such form as our Board of Directors determines.

The applicable performance period may consist of one or more calendar years or other period for which performance is being measured. Performance awards may be paid in a lump sum or in installments following the close of the performance period, or on a deferred basis. For awards intended to be performance-based compensation under Section 162(m) of the Code, performance goals, the achievement of which will be necessary to receive the underlying performance award, will be pre-established by the Board of Directors and relate to one or more of the following performance measures (subject to such modifications as specified by our Board of Directors): cash flow; cash flow from operations; earnings (including earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization or some variation thereof); earnings per share, diluted or basic; earnings per share from continuing operations; internal rate of return; net asset turnover; inventory turnover; capital expenditures; debt; debt reduction; working capital; return on investment; return on sales; net or gross sales; market share; share price; equity ratios; economic value added; cost of capital; assets or change in assets; expenses; expense reduction levels; productivity; delivery performance; safety record and/or performance; environmental record and/or performance; mine closures; stock price; interest-sensitivity gap levels; return on equity or capital employed; total or relative increases to stockholder return; return on capital; return on assets or net assets; revenue; income or net income; operating income or net operating income; operating profit or net operating profit; gross margin, operating margin or profit margin; finding and development costs; volumes metrics (including volumes sold, volumes produced, volumes transported and similar measures); operating efficiency metrics; charge-offs; non-performing assets; asset sale targets; asset quality levels; value of assets; employee retention/attrition rates; investments; regulatory compliance; satisfactory internal or external audits; improvement of financial ratings; value creation; achievement of balance sheet or income statement objectives; and completion of acquisitions, business expansion, product diversification and other non-financial operating and management performance objectives.

To the extent consistent with Section 162(m) of the Code, the Board of Directors may determine that certain adjustments will apply, in whole or in part, in such manner as determined by the Board of Directors, to include or

 

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exclude the effect of any of the following events that occur during a performance period including the following: the impairment of tangible or intangible assets; asset write-downs; litigation or claim judgments or settlements; acquisitions or divestitures; gains/losses on the sale of assets; foreign exchange gains and/or losses; expenses related to stock offerings and stock repurchases; the effect of changes in tax law, accounting principles or other such laws or provisions affecting reported results; business combinations, reorganizations and/or restructuring programs, including, but not limited to, reductions in force and early retirement incentives; currency fluctuations; and any unusual, infrequent or non-recurring items, including, but not limited to, such items described in management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations or the financial statements and notes thereto appearing in CoalCo’s annual report to stockholders for the applicable year. Performance measures may be determined either individually, alternatively or in any combination, applied to either CoalCo as a whole or to a business unit or subsidiary entity thereof (except in the case of awards adjusted and converted due to the separation), either individually, alternatively or in any combination, and measured over a period of time including any portion of a year, annually or cumulatively over a period of years, on an absolute basis or relative to a pre-established target, to previous years’ results or to a designated comparison group, in each case as specified by the Board of Directors.

Our Board of Directors may, in its sole discretion, also establish such additional restrictions or conditions that must be satisfied as conditions precedent to the payment of all or a portion of any performance award. Our Board of Directors may also reduce the amount of any performance award if it concludes that such reduction is necessary or appropriate based on: (i) an evaluation of such participant’s performance; (ii) comparisons with compensation received by other similarly situated individuals working within our industry or peer group; (iii) our financial results and conditions; or (iv) such other factors or conditions that our Board of Directors deems relevant; provided that the Board of Directors will not have the discretion to increase any award that is intended to be performance-based compensation under Section 162(m) of the Code.

Other Stock-Based Awards and Cash Awards

Other stock-based awards may also be granted under the CoalCo Plan, which consist of any right that is not an award described above and is denominated or payable in, valued in whole or in part by reference to, or otherwise based on or related to, shares (including, without limitation, securities convertible into shares), as deemed by the Board of Directors to be consistent with the purposes of the CoalCo Plan. The Board of Directors will determine the terms and conditions of any such other stock-based awards, subject to the terms of the CoalCo Plan and any applicable award agreement. An award may also be in the form of a cash award, with such vesting or other restrictions, if any, as determined by the Board of Directors.

CoalCo Nonemployee Directors

CoalCo Nonemployee Directors may receive grants of equity-based and other awards, subject to the terms of the CoalCo Plan. Except as otherwise determined by the Board of Directors in its sole discretion, the Board of Directors may grant to CoalCo Nonemployee Directors (i) stock option awards that vest ratably over a period of three years from the date of grant, (ii) deferred stock units in lieu of all or any portion of the annual retainer or meeting fees otherwise payable to such directors, and (iii) any other types of awards described in the CoalCo Plan.

Dividends

As discussed under “Dividend Policy,” the payment of any dividends in the future, and the timing and amount thereof, is within the discretion of our Board of Directors. Under the CoalCo Plan, dividends and other distributions paid on or in respect of any shares of restricted stock or RSUs may be paid directly to the participant, or may be reinvested in additional shares of restricted stock or RSUs, as determined by the Board of Directors in its sole discretion; provided, however, that no such dividends or distributions may be paid with respect to unvested restricted stock or unvested RSUs, including any unvested awards that are subject to performance measures, until such awards vest.

 

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Change in Control

In the event that CoalCo engages in a transaction constituting a Change in Control (as defined in the CoalCo Plan), our Board of Directors will have complete authority and discretion, but not the obligation, to accelerate the vesting of outstanding awards and the termination of restrictions on shares granted under the CoalCo Plan. In addition, the Board of Directors may, if deemed appropriate, in its discretion and in connection with a Change in Control: (i) provide for an equivalent award or substitute award in respect of securities of the surviving entity of such transaction; (ii) upon advance notice to the affected participants, cancel any outstanding options or SARs and pay an amount equal to the excess of the fair market value of the shares covered by the award, or (iii) subject to limited exceptions, make provision for a cash payment or payment of other property in settlement of such award.

Amendment and Termination

Generally our Board of Directors may amend, suspend, discontinue or terminate the CoalCo Plan or any award agreement or any portion thereof at any time; provided that no such amendment, alteration, suspension, discontinuation or termination will be made without shareholder approval, if required by NYSE or as otherwise deemed necessary, or without the consent of the affected participant, if such action would adversely affect his or her material rights under any outstanding award. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Board of Directors may make modifications or amendments to the extent necessary to conform to Section 162(m), Section 409A or any other provision of the federal income tax laws.

Cancellation of Awards

Our Board of Directors may cause any award granted under the CoalCo Plan to be canceled in consideration of a cash payment or alternative award made to the holder of such canceled award equal in value to the fair market value of such canceled award, except to the extent that such payment would violate the requirements of Section 409A of the Code. Notwithstanding the foregoing or any other provision of the CoalCo Plan, except for adjustments pursuant to applicable provisions of the CoalCo Plan or in connection with certain corporate transactions or events involving CoalCo, the terms of outstanding options or SARs may not be amended to reduce the exercise price of such outstanding options or SARs or to cancel outstanding options or SARs in exchange for cash, other awards or options or SARs with an exercise price that is less than the exercise price of the original options or SARs without obtaining stockholder approval.

Clawback

Notwithstanding any other provisions in the CoalCo Plan, any award that is subject to recovery under any law, government regulation, stock exchange listing requirement or company policy shall be subject to such deductions, recoupment and clawback as may be required to be made pursuant to such law, government regulation, stock exchange listing requirement or company policy, as may be in effect from time to time, and which may operate to create additional rights for the company with respect to awards and recovery of amounts relating thereto. By accepting awards under the CoalCo Plan, participants agree and acknowledge that they are obligated to cooperate with, and provide any and all assistance necessary to, the company to recover or recoup any award or amounts paid under the CoalCo Plan subject to clawback pursuant to such law, government regulation, stock exchange listing requirement, or company policy. Such cooperation and assistance will include, but is not limited to, executing, completing and submitting any documentation necessary to recover or recoup any award or amounts paid under the CoalCo Plan from a participant’s accounts, or pending or future compensation or awards.

CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

Agreements with GasCo

Following the separation and distribution, CoalCo and GasCo will operate separately, each as an independent public company. In connection with the separation, CoalCo will enter into the separation agreement with

 

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ParentCo, and will also enter into various other agreements, or modify or amend existing agreements that are currently in place between ParentCo and CNXC, which are discussed below, to effect the separation and provide a framework for its relationship with GasCo after the separation, including a transition services agreement, a tax matters agreement, an employee matters agreement, an intellectual property matters agreement and other agreements related to operations of CoalCo post-separation. These agreements, together with the existing agreements discussed below between ParentCo and CNXC and the documents and agreements by which the internal reorganization will be effected, will provide for the allocation between CoalCo and GasCo of ParentCo’s assets, employees, liabilities and obligations (including investments, property and employee benefits, and tax-related assets and liabilities) attributable to periods prior to, at and after CoalCo’s separation from ParentCo and will govern certain relationships between CoalCo and GasCo after the separation.

Separation Agreement

Transfer of Assets and Assumption of Liabilities. The separation agreement will identify the assets to be transferred, the liabilities to be assumed and the contracts to be transferred to each of CoalCo and GasCo as part of the separation of ParentCo into two companies, and will provide for when and how these transfers and assumptions will occur. In particular, the separation agreement will provide that, among other things, subject to the terms and conditions contained therein:

 

   

certain assets related to ParentCo’s Coal Business, which we refer to as the “CoalCo Assets,” will be transferred to CoalCo or one of its subsidiaries, including:

 

   

equity interests in CNXC and certain ParentCo subsidiaries that hold assets relating to the Coal Business;

 

   

certain intellectual property, software, information and technology used in the Coal Business or related to the CoalCo Assets, the CoalCo Liabilities or CoalCo’s business;

 

   

facilities related to the Coal Business, including a portion of the current headquarters of ParentCo;

 

   

contracts (or portions thereof) that relate to the Coal Business;

 

   

rights and assets expressly allocated to CoalCo pursuant to the terms of the separation agreement or certain other agreements entered into in connection with the separation;

 

   

permits that primarily relate to the Coal Business; and

 

   

other assets that are included in CoalCo’s pro forma balance sheet, such as pension assets included in CoalCo’s Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Statements;

 

   

certain liabilities related to the Coal Business or the CoalCo Assets, which we refer to as the “CoalCo Liabilities,” will be retained by or transferred to CoalCo, including certain liabilities associated with legacy pension and other employee legacy liabilities. Subject to limited exceptions, liabilities that relate to the Coal Business, including liabilities of various legal entities that will be subsidiaries of CoalCo following the separation, will be CoalCo Liabilities;

 

   

the treatment of certain outstanding guarantees given by ParentCo will be addressed. The majority of guarantees given by ParentCo with respect to certain sales contracts, equipment leases, land leases, and royalties with third parties with respect to various CoalCo Assets or that are held by various CoalCo subsidiaries will be severed prior to the distribution; the treatment of those that must continue in place at the time of the distribution (the Guarantees) will be set forth in the separation agreement. In all events, when the Guarantees expire, they will be renegotiated in the name of CoalCo; and

 

   

all of the assets and liabilities (whether accrued, contingent or otherwise) other than the CoalCo Assets and CoalCo Liabilities (such assets and liabilities, other than the CoalCo Assets and the CoalCo Liabilities, we refer to as the GasCo Assets and GasCo Liabilities, respectively) of ParentCo will be retained by or transferred to GasCo.

 

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Except as expressly set forth in the separation agreement or any ancillary agreement, neither CoalCo nor ParentCo will make any representation or warranty as to the assets, business or liabilities transferred or assumed as part of the separation, as to any approvals or notifications required in connection with the transfers, as to the value of or the freedom from any security interests of any of the assets transferred, as to the absence or presence of any defenses or right of setoff or freedom from counterclaim with respect to any claim or other asset of either CoalCo or ParentCo, or as to the legal sufficiency of any document or instrument delivered to convey title to any asset or thing of value to be transferred in connection with the separation. All assets will be transferred on an “as is,” “where is” basis, and the respective transferees will bear the economic and legal risks that any conveyance will prove to be insufficient to vest in the transferee good and marketable title, free and clear of all security interests, that any necessary consents or governmental approvals are not obtained, or that any requirements of law, agreements, security interests or judgments are not complied with.

Information in this information statement with respect to the assets and liabilities of the parties following the distribution is presented based on the allocation of such assets and liabilities pursuant to the separation agreement, unless the context otherwise requires. The separation agreement will provide that in the event that the transfer of certain assets and liabilities to CoalCo or GasCo, as applicable, does not occur prior to the separation, then until such assets or liabilities are able to be transferred, CoalCo or GasCo, as applicable, will hold such assets on behalf and for the benefit of the other party and will pay, perform and discharge such liabilities, for which the other party will reimburse CoalCo or GasCo, as applicable, for all commercially reasonable payments made in connection with the performance and discharge of such liabilities.

The Distribution. The separation agreement will also govern the rights and obligations of the parties regarding the distribution following the completion of the separation. On the distribution date, ParentCo will distribute to its stockholders that hold ParentCo common stock as of the record date for the distribution, all of the issued and outstanding common stock of CoalCo, on a pro rata basis. Stockholders will receive cash in lieu of any fractional shares. Following the distribution, CoalCo will be a separate company from GasCo.

Conditions to the Distribution. The separation agreement will provide that the distribution is subject to satisfaction (or waiver by ParentCo) of certain conditions. These conditions are described under “The Separation and Distribution—Conditions to the Distribution.” ParentCo will have the sole and absolute discretion to determine (and change) the terms of, and to determine whether to proceed with, the distribution and, to the extent that it determines to so proceed, to determine the record date for the distribution, the distribution date and the distribution ratio.

Claims. In general, each party to the separation agreement will assume liability for all pending, threatened and unasserted legal matters related to its own business or its assumed or retained liabilities and will indemnify the other party for any liability to the extent arising out of or resulting from such assumed or retained legal matters.

Releases. The separation agreement will provide that CoalCo and its affiliates will release and discharge GasCo and its affiliates from all liabilities assumed by CoalCo as part of the separation, from all acts and events occurring or failing to occur, and all conditions existing, on or before the distribution date relating to CoalCo’s business, and from all liabilities existing or arising in connection with the implementation of the separation, except as expressly set forth in the separation agreement. GasCo and its affiliates will release and discharge CoalCo and its affiliates from all liabilities retained by GasCo and its affiliates as part of the separation, from all acts and events occurring or failing to occur, and all conditions existing, on or before the distribution date relating to GasCo’s business, and from all liabilities existing or arising in connection with the implementation of the separation, except as expressly set forth in the separation agreement.

These releases will not extend to obligations or liabilities under any agreements between the parties that remain in effect following the separation, which agreements include the separation agreement and the other agreements described under “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”

 

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Indemnification. In the separation agreement, CoalCo will agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless GasCo, each of GasCo’s affiliates and each of GasCo and its affiliates’ respective directors, officers and employees, from and against all liabilities relating to, arising out of or resulting from:

 

   

the CoalCo Liabilities;

 

   

CoalCo’s failure or the failure of any other person to pay, perform or otherwise promptly discharge any of the CoalCo Liabilities, in accordance with their respective terms, whether prior to, at or after the distribution;

 

   

except to the extent relating to a GasCo Liability, any Guarantees, indemnification or contribution obligation for the benefit of CoalCo by GasCo that survives the distribution;

 

   

any breach by CoalCo of the separation agreement or any of the ancillary agreements; and

 

   

any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission of material fact in the Form 10, this information statement (as amended or supplemented), or certain other registration statements, except for any such statements or omissions made explicitly in GasCo’s name.

GasCo will agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless CoalCo, each of CoalCo’s affiliates and each of CoalCo and CoalCo’s affiliates’ respective directors, officers and employees from and against all liabilities relating to, arising out of or resulting from:

 

   

the GasCo Liabilities;

 

   

the failure of GasCo or any other person to pay, perform or otherwise promptly discharge any of the GasCo Liabilities, in accordance with their respective terms whether prior to, at or after the distribution;

 

   

except to the extent relating to a CoalCo Liability, any guarantee, indemnification or contribution obligation for the benefit of GasCo by CoalCo that survives the distribution;

 

   

any breach by GasCo of the separation agreement or any of the ancillary agreements; and

 

   

any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission of a material fact made explicitly in GasCo’s name in the Form 10, this information statement (as amended or supplemented), or certain other registration statements.

The separation agreement will also establish procedures with respect to claims subject to indemnification and related matters.

Insurance. The separation agreement will provide for the allocation between the parties of rights and obligations under existing insurance policies with respect to occurrences prior to the distribution and will set forth procedures for the administration of insured claims and related matters.

Further Assurances. In addition to the actions specifically provided for in the separation agreement, except as otherwise set forth therein or in any ancillary agreement, both CoalCo and ParentCo will agree in the separation agreement to use reasonable best efforts, prior to, on and after the distribution date, to take, or cause to be taken, all actions, and to do, or cause to be done, all things necessary, proper or advisable under applicable laws, regulations and agreements to consummate and make effective the transactions contemplated by the separation agreement and the ancillary agreements.

Dispute Resolution. The separation agreement will contain provisions that govern, except as otherwise provided in any ancillary agreement, the resolution of disputes, controversies or claims that may arise between CoalCo and GasCo related to the separation or distribution and that are unable to be resolved through good faith discussions between CoalCo and GasCo. These provisions will contemplate that efforts will be made to resolve disputes, controversies and claims by escalation of the matter to executives of CoalCo and GasCo, and that, if such efforts

 

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are not successful, either CoalCo or GasCo may submit the dispute, controversy or claim to mandatory, nonbinding mediation or, if such nonbinding mediation is not successful, binding arbitration, subject to the provisions of the separation agreement.

Expenses. Except as expressly set forth in the separation agreement or in any ancillary agreement, or as otherwise agreed in writing by ParentCo and CoalCo, all costs and expenses incurred in connection with the separation prior to, as of or after the distribution date, will be paid by the party incurring such cost and expense; provided, that certain costs and expenses outlined in the schedules to the separation agreement relating to certain professional services, NYSE listing authorization, and dissemination of the Form 10 and this information statement will be allocated equally between ParentCo and CoalCo.

Other Matters. Other matters governed by the separation agreement will include access to financial and other information, confidentiality, non-competition and non-solicitation provisions, access to and provision of records and treatment of outstanding guarantees and similar credit support.

Termination. The separation agreement will provide that it may be terminated, and the separation and distribution may be modified or abandoned, at any time prior to the distribution date in the sole and absolute discretion of ParentCo without the approval of any person, including CoalCo or ParentCo stockholders. In the event of a termination of the separation agreement, no party, nor any of its directors, officers or employees, will have any liability of any kind to the other party or any other person. After the distribution date, the separation agreement may not be terminated, except by an agreement in writing signed by both GasCo and CoalCo.

Transition Services Agreement

CoalCo and ParentCo will enter into a transition services agreement in connection with the separation pursuant to which CoalCo and GasCo and their respective affiliates will provide each other, on an interim, transitional basis, various services, including, but not limited to, employee benefits administration, information technology services, regulatory services, general administrative services and other support services. The agreed-upon charges for such services are generally intended to allow the servicing party to charge a price comprised of the internal costs and expense incurred by the servicing party plus a modest predetermined profit in the form of a mark-up of such out-of-pocket expenses. Based on current assumptions, the cost of the services to be provided by each party is estimated to be approximately $1.4 million for services provided by GasCo to CoalCo and less than $200,000 for services provided by CoalCo to GasCo. The party receiving each transition service will be provided with reasonable information that supports the charges for such transition service by the party providing the service.

Subject to certain exceptions, the liabilities of each party providing services under the transition services agreement will generally be limited to the aggregate charges actually paid to such party by the other party pursuant to the transition services agreement. The transition services agreement also will provide that the provider of a service will not be liable to the recipient of such service for any special, indirect, incidental or consequential damages.

In addition to the transition services outlined in the transition services agreement, it is anticipated that David Khani will enter into a Consulting Agreement with CNX Gas Company LLC, a subsidiary of ParentCo and a party to the limited liability company agreement of CONE Gathering LLC. Mr. Khani currently serves as a director of CONE Gathering LLC and CONE Midstream GP LLC, which is the general partner of CONE Midstream Partners LP, a master limited partnership formed in 2014 by ParentCo and Noble Energy, Inc., primarily to own, operate, develop and acquire natural gas gathering and other midstream energy assets in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. As referenced in his biographical information, Mr. Khani also currently serves as Chief Financial Officer of the general partner of CONE. Pursuant to the terms of the Consulting Agreement, Mr. Khani will continue to serve as GasCo’s designee in these roles for a limited period following the separation, which is not currently expected to exceed six months, while an appropriate replacement is found. During the term of the Consulting Agreement, Mr. Khani will not be an employee of GasCo, will have the status of an independent contractor, and will not have the authority to act as agent of the GasCo.

 

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Tax Matters Agreement

In connection with the separation, CoalCo and ParentCo will enter into a tax matters agreement that governs the parties’ respective rights, responsibilities and obligations with respect to taxes (including taxes arising in the ordinary course of business and taxes, if any, incurred as a result of any failure of the distribution and certain related transactions to qualify as tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes), tax attributes, the preparation and filing of tax returns, the control of audits and other tax proceedings, and assistance and cooperation in respect of tax matters.

In addition, the tax matters agreement will impose certain restrictions on us and our subsidiaries (including restrictions on share issuances, business combinations, sales of assets and similar transactions) designed to preserve the tax-free status of the distribution and certain related transactions. The tax matters agreement will provide special rules that allocate tax liabilities in the event the distribution, together with certain related transactions, is not tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In general, under the tax matters agreement, each party will be expected to be responsible for any taxes imposed on ParentCo or CoalCo that arise from the failure of the distribution, together with certain related transactions, to qualify as a transaction that is generally tax-free, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, under Sections 355 and 368(a)(1)(D) and certain other relevant provisions of the Code, to the extent that the failure to so qualify is attributable to actions, events or transactions relating to such party’s respective stock, assets or business, or a breach of the relevant representations or covenants made by that party in the tax matters agreement.

As discussed elsewhere in this information statement, notwithstanding receipt by ParentCo of the IRS private letter ruling and the opinion(s) of tax advisors, the IRS could assert that the distribution does not qualify for tax-free treatment for U.S. federal income tax purposes. If the IRS were successful in taking this position, ParentCo, CoalCo and ParentCo stockholders could be subject to significant U.S. federal income tax liability. In addition, certain events that may or may not be within the control of ParentCo or CoalCo could cause the distribution and certain related transactions to not qualify for tax-free treatment for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Depending on the circumstances, CoalCo may be required to indemnify ParentCo for taxes (and certain related losses) resulting from the distribution and certain related transactions not qualifying as tax-free.

If the distribution fails to qualify as a tax-free transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes, in general, ParentCo would recognize taxable gain as if it had sold the CoalCo common stock in a taxable sale for its fair market value (unless ParentCo and CoalCo jointly make an election under Section 336(e) of the Code with respect to the distribution, in which case, in general, (i) the ParentCo group would recognize taxable gain as if CoalCo had sold all of its assets in a taxable sale in exchange for an amount equal to the fair market value of the CoalCo common stock and the assumption of all CoalCo’s liabilities and (ii) CoalCo would obtain a related step up in the basis of its assets) and ParentCo stockholders who receive CoalCo common stock in the distribution would be subject to tax as if they had received a taxable distribution equal to the fair market value of such CoalCo common stock.

Employee Matters Agreement

CoalCo and ParentCo will enter into an employee matters agreement in connection with the separation to allocate liabilities and responsibilities relating to employment matters, employee compensation and benefits plans and programs, and other related matters. The employee matters agreement will govern certain compensation and employee benefit obligations with respect to the current and former employees and non-employee directors of each company.

The employee matters agreement will provide that, unless otherwise specified, GasCo will be responsible for certain liabilities associated with current and former employees of GasCo and its subsidiaries and certain other former employees classified as former employees of GasCo for purposes of post-separation compensation and benefits matters, and CoalCo will be responsible for certain liabilities associated with current and former employees of CoalCo and its subsidiaries and certain other former employees classified as former employees of CoalCo for purposes of post-separation compensation and benefits matters.

 

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The employee matters agreement will also govern the treatment of equity-based awards granted by ParentCo prior to the separation. See “The Separation and Distribution—Treatment of Equity-Based Compensation.”

Master Cooperation and Safety Agreement

In connection with the separation, CoalCo and ParentCo will enter into two master cooperation and safety agreements, which will contain provisions related to the safe and economical operation of GasCo’s Gas Business and CoalCo’s Coal Business where the parties have overlapping interests. The first will be accomplished via two amendments to an existing master cooperation and safety agreement that will relate to operations at the PAMC, and is discussed below under the heading “Cooperation and Safety Agreement.” The second master cooperation and safety agreement will relate to the safe and economical operation of the CNX Marine Terminal and other non-PAMC operations of the Coal Business and ParentCo’s natural gas business where joint interests exist, including with respect to surface rights and use and subsidence issues. Further, GasCo will agree to sign and deliver any waiver or consent necessary to allow coal mining operations of CoalCo in the vicinity of certain properties or gas rights owned by GasCo, and CoalCo will agree that GasCo has the right to capture gas from any well associated with CoalCo’s properties, subject to CoalCo’s right to preclude GasCo from capturing gas with respect to any active mining area in order to promote safety for and productivity of its coal operations. For certain wells and related infrastructure, CoalCo may be required to reimburse certain plugging and abandonment costs and to compensate GasCo for certain broadly-defined reserves that it is not able to produce because of our coal mining activities.

Other Agreements

Agreements with CNXC

Following the separation and distribution, CoalCo will own those ownership interests of CNXC previously owned by ParentCo. CNXC and ParentCo (and certain of ParentCo’s affiliates, some of which will become subsidiaries of CoalCo pursuant to the internal restructuring prior to the separation) have previously entered into various agreements regarding the relationship between the two entities. The material terms of these agreements, which are anticipated to either be assumed by CoalCo, continue unmodified between the current parties, modified and amended in connection with the separation or subsumed within the related party agreements discussed above, are set forth below. These agreements, together with the documents discussed above and agreements by which the internal reorganization will be effected, will provide for the allocation between CoalCo and CNXC of certain assets, employees, liabilities and obligations relating to the management and operation of PAMC.

Operating Agreement

Under the current operating agreement, CNX Thermal Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNXC, has agreed to serve as the operator and assumed management and control over the day-to-day operations of the PAMC for the life of the mines. As operator, CNX Thermal Holdings is responsible for managing and conducting all operations with respect to the PAMC, including: (i) mining the PAMC; (ii) handling coal production and delivery thereof to purchasers and/or facilities; (iii) operating the beltlines transporting raw coal into the PAMC’s preparation plant and loading facility; (iv) storing, preparing, treating, managing and loading coal at the preparation plant and, if applicable, blending coal; (v) disposing, stockpiling, handling, treating and/or storing all coal refuse; and (vi) planning and coordinating of anticipated mining operations.

CNX Thermal, as the operator under the operating agreement, also possesses the following responsibilities for managing and conducting the following additional operational services with respect to the PAMC: (i) health, environmental, safety and security services, including MSHA reporting; (ii) services related to the acquisition, divestiture, management and administration of the real property interests underlying the PAMC; (iii) acquiring, managing and administering all permits necessary for the operation of the PAMC in material compliance with such permits; (iv) services necessary to market the production from the PAMC and negotiate, manage and administer the contracts necessary for the operation of the PAMC; (v) logistics relating to operation of the

 

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PAMC; and (vi) preparing, or causing to be prepared, such daily reports typically prepared by an operator of a mining complex similar to the PAMC that are prepared in the ordinary course of business and monthly per ton reports and annual reserve reports.

Pursuant to the operating agreement, a two-member operating committee, meets quarterly to review the annual budget for the PAMC. While CNX Thermal Holdings has been delegated the authority and responsibility for managing and further developing the PAMC, certain material actions, including the approval of the annual plan and budget and any permanent or extended temporary decommissioning of any of the mines at the PAMC, will require the unanimous consent of the operating committee. CNX Thermal Holdings may be removed as operator only in the event of its bankruptcy or gross negligence or willful misconduct in connection with the operational services.

Any liabilities arising from the operation of the PAMC that are not the result of CNX Thermal Holdings’ gross negligence or willful misconduct will be borne by CNX Thermal Holdings, certain ParentCo subsidiaries pro rata in relation to such person’s ownership percentage of the PAMC. Under the operating agreement, CNX Thermal Holdings invoices ParentCo through its subsidiaries on a monthly basis for its pro rata share of the costs associated with the operation of the PAMC. The total amount of such amounts invoiced was approximately $414.5 million for 2016.

It is anticipated that the operating agreement will remain in effect following the separation with the current parties thereto, with amendment or modification as deemed necessary.

Employee Services Agreement

Pursuant to an employee services agreement ParentCo, through a wholly-owned subsidiary that will, as part of the separation, become a wholly-owned subsidiary of CoalCo, provides personnel to mine and process coal from the PAMC and perform the operational services that CNXC is charged with providing under the operating agreement described above. CNXC provides reimbursement for (i) all direct third-party costs and expenses actually incurred in providing operational services, including royalties required to be paid on the coal mined, certain taxes applicable to the coal and coal workers, per-ton reclamation fees or taxes and penalties imposed by any governmental authority for violation of any law or regulation arising out of performance of the operational services, except to the extent such penalties were as a result of gross negligence or willful misconduct, (ii) salary, benefits and other compensation costs of employees performing the operational services to the extent such employees are performing the operational services; and (iii) market rate rental fees for use of assets in performing the operational services, if any. CNXC paid approximately $45.0 million to ParentCo for such reimbursed expenses for the year ended December 31, 2016. It is currently anticipated that, since the wholly-owned subsidiary that is currently a party to the employee services agreement will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of CoalCo, the employee services agreement will not require assignment or amendment in connection with the separation, and will remain in effect following the separation.

Cooperation and Safety Agreements

CNX Thermal is party to a master cooperation and safety agreement with a wholly owned subsidiary of ParentCo pursuant to which CNX Thermal, in its capacity as operator of the PAMC, coordinates mining activities relating to the PAMC with the oil and natural gas drilling and development activities of ParentCo in and around the PAMC. The cooperation and safety agreement, which CoalCo anticipates will remain in place with GasCo following the separation and has been amended for certain necessary changes, contains provisions related to the safe and economical operation of the PAMC coal business and ParentCo’s natural gas business where joint interests exist, including with respect to surface rights and use and subsidence issues.

Contract Agency Agreement

CNX Thermal Holdings, is party to a contract agency agreement with CONSOL Energy Sales Company (CES), a current subsidiary of ParentCo that will, as part of the separation, become a wholly-owned subsidiary of CoalCo.

 

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Under the contract agency agreement, CES acts as agent to market and sell the coal produced from the PAMC and administers CNXC’s existing coal purchase and sale contracts, including any extensions or renewals thereof, and any new coal purchase and sale contracts for the sale of coal produced from the PAMC. The administration of these coal purchase and sale contracts includes CES’ making elections, enforcing rights, executing coal sale confirmations and invoicing, in each case at our direction and with respect to the coal reserves attributable to our interests and CES’ interest in the PAMC. Because it governs certain contracts which pertain to both coal and natural gas sales, the contract agency agreement will be amended in connection with the separation to remove those contracts and parties that pertain to GasCo operations. Otherwise, the amended contract agency agreement will remain in effect between CNX Thermal Holdings and CES following the separation.

Terminal Throughput Agreement

CNX Thermal Holdings is party to a terminal throughput agreement with CNX Marine Terminals, Inc. (CNX Marine), a current subsidiary of ParentCo that will, as part of the separation, become a wholly-owned subsidiary of CoalCo. Under the terminal and throughput agreement, CNXC has the option, but not the obligation, to transport or to cause to be transported through the CNX Marine Terminal up to 5 million tons of coal each calendar year for a terminal fee of $4 per ton of coal transported through the CNX Marine Terminal, plus certain standard fees for long-term or excess storage, re-handling services at the CNX Marine Terminal (if elected) and certain fees related to the docking and undocking of vessels at the CNX Marine Terminal. The per ton terminal fee and other fees may be reasonably escalated by the owner of the CNX Marine Terminal on a quarterly basis based on changes in the volume of coal shipped through the CNX Marine Terminal and increases in operating costs at the terminal. The terminal throughput agreement will not require assignment or amendment in connection with the separation, and will remain in effect following the separation.

Water Supply and Services Agreement

CNXC is party to a water supply and services agreement with a wholly owned subsidiary of ParentCo pursuant to which it has the option, but not the obligation, to (i) acquire water from ParentCo for a fee of $3.50 per thousand gallons of water (the supply fee), in an amount up to 600 gallons per minute and (ii) cause ParentCo to treat and dispose of water produced from the PAMC for a fee of $1.91 per thousand gallons of water (the treatment fee). The supply fee is subject to a renegotiation based on market conditions at the end of the initial term, and the treatment fee is subject to annual renegotiation based on market conditions and operating costs of the water treatment facility. The water supply and services agreement, which will remain in place with GasCo following the separation, is being amended to revise and remove certain services provided under the agreement, and otherwise has an initial term of five years and will automatically renew for additional one-year terms unless terminated by either party on not less than 30 days’ prior notice.

Omnibus Agreement

CNXC and the CNXC GP are parties to an omnibus agreement with ParentCo, and certain other subsidiaries of ParentCo that address the matters discussed below. In the event ParentCo ceases to control the CNXC GP, either party may terminate the omnibus agreement, provided that the indemnification obligations will survive any such termination in accordance with their terms. Under the omnibus agreement, as it has been amended and restated, CNXC pays ParentCo an administrative support fee for the provision of certain administrative support services and an executive support fee for the provision of certain executive support services for its benefit. The omnibus agreement also addresses reimbursement for certain administrative and support costs incurred. The administrative support fee may change each calendar year, as determined by ParentCo in good faith after consultation with the CNXC GP, to accurately reflect the degree and extent of the general and administrative services provided to CNXC and may be adjusted to reflect, among other things, the contribution, acquisition or disposition of assets to or by CNXC or to reflect any change in the cost of providing general and administrative services Under the omnibus agreement, until the date that ParentCo no longer controls the CNXC GP, if

 

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ParentCo determines to sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of all or part of its retained 75% undivided interest in the PAMC or CNX Marine Terminal, ParentCo must provide CNXC with an opportunity to make the first offer to acquire such interests and assets.

Under the omnibus agreement, ParentCo has indemnification obligations to CNXC for certain liabilities under the omnibus agreement, including those relating to (i) the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the contribution agreement; (ii) all pre-contribution tax liabilities attributable to the assets contributed to CNXC; (iii) certain operational and title matters, including the failure to have the ability to operate under any governmental license, permit or approval or valid title to the contributed assets, in each case, that is necessary to own or operate any contributed assets; (iv) except to the extent resulting from CNXC’s breach of the operating standard in the operating agreement, ParentCo’s ownership of its retained 75% interest in and to the PAMC; (v) certain liabilities retained by ParentCo; (vi) ParentCo’s gross negligence or willful misconduct in connection with the provision of general and administrative services or management services under the omnibus agreement; and (vii) a breach by ParentCo of the other agreements discussed herein.

CNXC also has the following indemnification obligations to ParentCo: (i) the use, ownership or operation of CNXC assets, including certain environmental liabilities; (ii) any liabilities incurred by ParentCo under the other agreements discussed herein, or by CNXC’s breach of the cooperation and safety agreement; and (iii) those relating to CNXC’s operation of the PAMC under permits and/or bonds, letters of credit, guarantees, deposits and other pre-payments held by ParentCo. Under the omnibus agreement, certain indemnification obligations by ParentCo are limited to pre-identified liabilities, and/or a deductible of $1.0 million per claim. For purposes of calculating the deductible, a “claim” will include all liabilities that arise from a discrete act or event. There is no limit on the amount for which ParentCo or CNXC will indemnify under the omnibus agreement once the deductible is met.

In connection with the separation, the omnibus agreement will be amended to (i) confirm that the omnibus agreement will remain in place and not be terminated, (ii) add CoalCo as a new party to the agreement and cause CoalCo to replace Parent under the terms of the omnibus agreement (except as described in (iii)), and (iii) acknowledge Parent’s agreement that it shall continue to have indemnification obligations relating to matters arising under the omnibus agreement that occurred prior to the time of separation, including as it relates to administrative support services and executive support obligations provided under the omnibus agreement prior to the separation. As it relates to the existing indemnification obligations that remain in place as between GasCo and CNXC under the omnibus agreement, as amended, following the separation, we will provide indemnification to GasCo as it relates to such ongoing indemnification obligations relating to the Coal Business, as part of the separation agreement.

Procedures for Approval of Related Person Transactions

CoalCo will adopt a written Related Person Policy and Procedures to set forth policies and procedures for the review and approval or ratification of related person transactions with directors, nominees for director, executive officers and certain family members (related persons). We expect that the policy will provide that, prior to entering into a potential related person transaction (which is generally a transaction in excess of $120,000 involving CoalCo and a related person), the related person must notify our chief financial officer and general counsel of the material facts regarding the transaction. If our chief financial officer and general counsel determine that the proposed transaction is in fact a related person transaction, the details of the transaction are presented to our Audit Committee (or if it is not practicable or desirable to wait until the next Audit Committee meeting, to the chairman of the Audit Committee) for approval. The Audit Committee or Chairman, as applicable, will consider all relevant facts and circumstances including the terms of the transaction and terms that would be available to unrelated parties, the benefits to us and, if the transaction involves an independent director, any impact the transaction would have on such director’s independence. The Audit Committee or Chairman, as applicable, will also inform our N&CG Committee of any related person transactions involving directors or nominees. Since the SEC’s related party regulation also applies to directors’ and executive officers’ family

 

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members, as well as entities in which they may be deemed to have an indirect material interest, it is possible that related person transactions could occur without a director or executive officer being aware of them and seeking approval in accordance with the policy. When we become aware of a related person transaction that has not been previously approved, the policy will require that the details of the transaction be presented to our Audit Committee or Chairman, as applicable, for ratification or other action.

The Board of Directors is expected to consider the following types of potential related person transactions and pre-approve them under the company’s Related Person Transaction Approval Policy as not presenting material conflicts of interest:

 

   

employment of executive officers (except employment of an executive officer that is an immediate family member of another executive officer, director, or nominee for director) as long as the Compensation Committee has approved the executive officers’ compensation;

 

   

director compensation that the Board of Directors has approved;

 

   

any transaction with another entity in which the aggregate amount involved does not exceed the greater of $1 million or 2% of the other entity’s total annual revenues, if a related person’s interest arises only from:

 

   

such person’s position as an employee or executive officer of the other entity; or

 

   

such person’s position as a director of the other entity; or

 

   

the ownership by such person, together with his or her immediate family members, of less than a 10% equity interest in the aggregate in the other entity (other than a partnership); or

 

   

both such position as a director and ownership as described in the foregoing two bullets; or

 

   

such person’s position as a limited partner in a partnership in which the person, together with his or her immediate family members, have an interest of less than 10%;

 

   

charitable contributions in which a related person’s only relationship is as an employee (other than an executive officer), or a director or trustee, if the aggregate amount involved does not exceed the greater of $250,000 or 2% of the charitable organization’s total annual receipts;

 

   

transactions, such as the receipt of dividends, in which all stockholders receive proportional benefits;

 

   

transactions involving competitive bids;

 

   

transactions involving the rendering of services as a common or contract carrier, or public utility, at rates or charges fixed in conformity with law or governmental authority; and

 

   

transactions with a related person involving services as a bank depositary of funds, transfer agent, registrar, trustee under a trust indenture, or similar services.

MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES

The following is a discussion of material U.S. federal income tax consequences of the distribution of CoalCo common stock to “U.S. holders” (as defined below) of ParentCo common stock. This summary is based on the Code, U.S. Treasury Regulations promulgated thereunder, rulings and other administrative pronouncements issued by the IRS, and judicial decisions, all as in effect on the date of this information statement, and all of which are subject to differing interpretations and change at any time, possibly with retroactive effect. No assurance can be given that the IRS would not assert, or that a court would not sustain, a position contrary to any of the tax consequences described below. This discussion applies only to U.S. holders of shares of ParentCo common stock who hold such shares as a capital asset within the meaning of Section 1221 of the Code (generally, property held for investment).

 

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The distribution is conditioned upon the receipt by ParentCo of a private letter ruling from the IRS, which was received on October 16, 2017, and one or more opinions of its tax advisors, in each case, satisfactory to the ParentCo Board of Directors, regarding certain U.S. federal income tax matters relating to the separation and the distribution, including, with respect to the opinion of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, to the effect that, subject to the accuracy of and compliance with certain representations, assumptions, and covenants, the distribution will be a transaction described in Section 355(a) of the Code.

This discussion is based upon the assumption that the distribution, together with certain related transactions, will be consummated in accordance with the separation agreement and the other separation-related agreements and as described in this information statement and that the IRS takes no position inconsistent with the opinion(s) described above. This summary is not intended to be, and it should not be construed to be, legal or tax advice to any particular stockholder. It does not discuss all aspects of U.S. federal income taxation that may be relevant to a particular holder in light of its particular circumstances or to holders subject to special rules under the Code (including, but not limited to, insurance companies, tax-exempt organizations, financial institutions, broker-dealers, partners in partnerships that hold ParentCo or CoalCo common stock, pass-through entities (or investors therein), traders in securities who elect to apply a mark-to-market method of accounting, holders who hold ParentCo or CoalCo common stock as part of a “hedge,” “straddle,” “conversion,” “synthetic security,” “integrated investment” or “constructive sale transaction,” individuals who receive CoalCo common stock upon the exercise of employee stock options or otherwise as compensation, holders who are liable for alternative minimum tax or any holders who actually or constructively own or owned more than 5% of ParentCo common stock). This discussion also does not address any tax consequences arising under the unearned Medicare contribution tax pursuant to the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, nor does it address any tax considerations under state, local or foreign laws or U.S. federal laws other than those pertaining to the U.S. federal income tax. The distribution may be taxable under such other tax laws and all holders should consult their own tax advisors with respect to the applicability and effect of any such tax laws.

If a partnership, including for this purpose any entity or arrangement that is treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes, holds ParentCo common stock, the tax treatment of a partner in the partnership will generally depend upon the status of the partner and the activities of the partnership. An investor that is a partnership and the partners in such partnership should consult their tax advisors about the U.S. federal income tax consequences of the distribution.

For purposes of this discussion, a “U.S. holder” is any beneficial owner of ParentCo common stock that is, for U.S. federal income tax purposes:

 

   

an individual who is a citizen or a resident of the United States;

 

   

a corporation, or other entity taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, created or organized under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia;

 

   

an estate, the income of which is subject to U.S. federal income taxation regardless of its source; or

 

   

a trust, if (i) a court within the United States is able to exercise primary supervision over its administration and one or more United States persons have the authority to control all of its substantial decisions or (ii) it has a valid election in place under applicable Treasury Regulations to be treated as a United States person.

THE FOLLOWING DISCUSSION IS A SUMMARY OF MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES OF THE DISTRIBUTION UNDER CURRENT LAW AND IT IS NOT INTENDED TO BE, AND IT SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED TO BE, LEGAL OR TAX ADVICE TO ANY PARTICULAR STOCKHOLDER. ALL HOLDERS SHOULD CONSULT THEIR OWN TAX ADVISORS AS TO THE PARTICULAR TAX CONSEQUENCES OF THE DISTRIBUTION TO THEM, INCLUDING THE APPLICATION AND EFFECT OF U.S. FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL AND FOREIGN TAX LAWS.

 

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The IRS private letter ruling and the opinion(s) of tax advisors will be based upon and rely on, among other things, various facts and assumptions, as well as certain representations, statements and undertakings of CoalCo and ParentCo (including those relating to the past and future conduct of CoalCo and ParentCo). If any of these representations, statements or undertakings is, or becomes, inaccurate or incomplete, or if CoalCo or ParentCo breach any of their respective representations or covenants contained in any of the separation-related agreements and documents or in any documents relating to the IRS private letter ruling and/or the opinion(s) of tax advisors, such IRS private letter ruling and/or the opinion(s) of tax advisors may be invalid and the conclusions reached therein could be jeopardized.

Notwithstanding receipt by ParentCo of the IRS private letter ruling and the opinion(s) of tax advisors, the IRS could determine that the distribution and/or certain related transactions should be treated as taxable transactions for U.S. federal income tax purposes if it determines that any of the representations, assumptions or undertakings upon which the IRS private letter ruling or the opinion(s) of tax advisors was based are false or have been violated. In addition, neither the IRS private letter ruling nor the opinion(s) of tax advisors will address all of the issues that are relevant to determining whether the distribution, together with certain related transactions, qualifies as a transaction that is generally tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and an opinion of a tax advisor represents the judgment of such tax advisor and is not binding on the IRS or any court and the IRS or a court may disagree with the conclusions in the opinion(s) of tax advisors. Accordingly, notwithstanding receipt by ParentCo of the IRS private letter ruling and the opinion(s) of tax advisors, there can be no assurance that the IRS will not assert that the distribution and/or certain related transactions do not qualify for tax-free treatment for U.S. federal income tax purposes or that a court would not sustain such a challenge. In the event the IRS were to prevail with such challenge, ParentCo, CoalCo and ParentCo stockholders could be subject to significant U.S. federal income tax liability. Please refer to “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences if the Distribution is Taxable” below.

It is expected that, for U.S. federal income tax purposes:

 

   

subject to the discussion below regarding Section 355(e) of the Code, no gain or loss will be recognized by, and no amount will be includible in the income of, ParentCo upon the distribution, other than gain or income arising in connection with certain internal restructurings undertaken in connection with the separation and distribution (including with respect to any portion of the borrowing proceeds transferred to ParentCo from CoalCo that is not used for qualifying purposes) and with respect to any “excess loss account” or “intercompany transaction” required to be taken into account by ParentCo under U.S. Treasury regulations relating to consolidated federal income tax returns;

 

   

no gain or loss will be recognized by (and no amount will be included in the income of) U.S. holders of ParentCo common stock upon the receipt of CoalCo common stock in the distribution, except with respect to any cash received in lieu of fractional shares of CoalCo common stock (as described below);

 

   

the aggregate tax basis of the ParentCo common stock and the CoalCo common stock received in the distribution (including any fractional share interest in CoalCo common stock for which cash is received) in the hands of each U.S. holder of ParentCo common stock immediately after the distribution will equal the aggregate tax basis of ParentCo common stock held by the U.S. holder immediately before the distribution, allocated between the ParentCo common stock and the CoalCo common stock (including any fractional share interest in CoalCo common stock for which cash is received) in proportion to the relative fair market value of each on the date of the distribution; and

 

   

the holding period of the CoalCo common stock received by each U.S. holder of ParentCo common stock in the distribution (including any fractional share interest in CoalCo common stock for which cash is received) will generally include the holding period at the time of the distribution for the ParentCo common stock with respect to which the distribution is made.

A U.S. holder who receives cash in lieu of a fractional share of CoalCo common stock in the distribution will be treated as having sold such fractional share for cash, and will recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to

 

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the difference between the amount of cash received and such U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in such fractional share. Such gain or loss will be long-term capital gain or loss if the U.S. holder’s holding period for its ParentCo common stock exceeds one year at the time of distribution.

If a U.S. holder of ParentCo common stock holds different blocks of ParentCo common stock (generally shares of ParentCo common stock purchased or acquired on different dates or at different prices), such holder should consult its tax advisor regarding the determination of the basis and holding period of shares of CoalCo common stock received in the distribution in respect of particular blocks of ParentCo common stock.

U.S. Treasury regulations require certain U.S. holders who receive shares of CoalCo common stock in the distribution to attach to such U.S. holder’s federal income tax return for the year in which the distribution occurs a detailed statement setting forth certain information relating to the tax-free nature of the distribution.

Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences if the Distribution is Taxable.

As discussed above, notwithstanding receipt by ParentCo of the IRS private letter ruling and the opinion(s) of tax advisors, the IRS could assert that the distribution does not qualify for tax-free treatment for U.S. federal income tax purposes. If the IRS were successful in taking this position, some or all of the consequences described above would not apply and ParentCo, CoalCo and ParentCo stockholders could be subject to significant U.S. federal income tax liability. In addition, certain events that may or may not be within the control of ParentCo or CoalCo could cause the distribution and certain related transactions to not qualify for tax-free treatment for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Depending on the circumstances, CoalCo may be required to indemnify ParentCo for taxes (and certain related losses) resulting from the distribution and certain related transactions not qualifying as tax-free.

If the distribution fails to qualify as a tax-free transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes, in general, ParentCo would recognize taxable gain as if it had sold the CoalCo common stock in a taxable sale for its fair market value (unless ParentCo and CoalCo jointly make an election under Section 336(e) of the Code with respect to the distribution, in which case, in general, (i) the ParentCo group would recognize taxable gain as if CoalCo had sold all of its assets in a taxable sale in exchange for an amount equal to the fair market value of the CoalCo common stock and the assumption of all CoalCo’s liabilities and (ii) CoalCo would obtain a related step up in the basis of its assets) and ParentCo stockholders who receive CoalCo common stock in the distribution would be subject to tax as if they had received a taxable distribution equal to the fair market value of such CoalCo common stock.

Even if the distribution were to otherwise qualify as tax-free under Sections 355 and 368(a)(1)(D) of the Code, it may result in taxable gain to ParentCo under Section 355(e) of the Code if the distribution were later deemed to be part of a plan (or series of related transactions) pursuant to which one or more persons acquire, directly or indirectly, shares representing a 50% or greater interest (by vote or value) in ParentCo or CoalCo. For this purpose, any acquisitions of ParentCo or CoalCo shares within the period beginning two years before the separation and ending two years after the separation are presumed to be part of such a plan, although CoalCo or ParentCo may be able to rebut that presumption.

In connection with the distribution, CoalCo and ParentCo will enter into a tax matters agreement pursuant to which CoalCo will be responsible for certain liabilities and obligations following the distribution. In general, under the terms of the tax matters agreement, if the distribution, together with certain related transactions, were to fail to qualify as a transaction that is generally tax-free, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, under Sections 355 and 368(a)(1)(D) of the Code (including as a result of Section 355(e) of the Code) and, in each case, such failure were the result of actions taken after the distribution by ParentCo or CoalCo, the party responsible for such failure will be responsible for all taxes imposed on ParentCo or CoalCo to the extent such taxes result from such actions. However, if such failure was the result of any acquisition of CoalCo shares or assets, or of any of CoalCo’s representations, statements or undertakings being incorrect, incomplete or breached, CoalCo generally will be responsible for all taxes imposed as a result of such acquisition or breach. For a discussion of the tax matters agreement, see “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions—Tax Matters Agreement.”

 

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CoalCo’s indemnification obligations to ParentCo under the tax matters agreement are not expected to be limited in amount or subject to any cap. If CoalCo is required to pay any taxes or indemnify ParentCo and its subsidiaries and their respective officers and directors under the circumstances set forth in the tax matters agreement, CoalCo may be subject to substantial liabilities.

Backup Withholding and Information Reporting.

Payments of cash to U.S. holders of ParentCo common stock in lieu of fractional shares of CoalCo common stock may be subject to information reporting and backup withholding (currently, at a rate of 28%), unless such U.S. holder delivers a properly completed IRS Form W-9 certifying such U.S. holder’s correct taxpayer identification number and certain other information, or otherwise establishing a basis for exemption from backup withholding. Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Any amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules may be refunded or credited against a U.S. holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability provided that the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.

THE FOREGOING DISCUSSION IS A SUMMARY OF MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES OF THE DISTRIBUTION UNDER CURRENT LAW AND IT IS NOT INTENDED TO BE, AND IT SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED TO BE, LEGAL OR TAX ADVICE TO ANY PARTICULAR STOCKHOLDER. THE FOREGOING DISCUSSION DOES NOT PURPORT TO ADDRESS ALL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES OF THE DISTRIBUTION OR TAX CONSEQUENCES THAT MAY ARISE UNDER THE TAX LAWS OF OTHER JURISDICTIONS OR THAT MAY APPLY TO PARTICULAR CATEGORIES OF SHAREHOLDERS. HOLDERS SHOULD CONSULT THEIR OWN TAX ADVISORS AS TO THE PARTICULAR TAX CONSEQUENCES OF THE DISTRIBUTION TO THEM, INCLUDING THE APPLICATION OF U.S. FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL AND FOREIGN TAX LAWS, AND THE EFFECT OF POSSIBLE CHANGES IN TAX LAWS THAT MAY AFFECT THE TAX CONSEQUENCES DESCRIBED ABOVE.

DESCRIPTION OF MATERIAL INDEBTEDNESS

CoalCo anticipates incurring certain indebtedness prior to, or substantially concurrently with, the separation. Subject to market conditions and other factors, it is anticipated that CoalCo will enter into various secured financing arrangements in connection with the separation. A portion of the proceeds of the funded debt will be transferred to ParentCo in connection with the separation, as discussed in further detail below. Further, CoalCo intends to retain those 5.75% MEDCO Revenue Bonds due September 2025, for which the principal amount as of September 30, 2017 was $103 million, and for which GasCo will remain as a guarantor with CoalCo providing indemnification with respect to such guarantee. As a result of these contemplated financing transactions, upon consummation of the separation CoalCo currently expects to have total indebtedness of approximately $903 million, excluding surety bonds, OPEB and certain other long-term liabilities.

Additional details regarding the anticipated terms of the revolving credit facility, term loan facilities and other facilities is set forth below. Each summary is based on current expectations and is subject to modification prior to the time that each facility is entered into, which is anticipated to occur prior to, or substantially concurrently with, the separation, and is in all cases qualified in its entirety to the full text of the applicable agreements, which, once finalized, will each be filed as an exhibit to a future amendment to the registration statement on Form 10 of which this information statement is a part, or a periodic filing on Form 8-K if such agreement is finalized following the effectiveness of the registration statement on Form 10.

CoalCo Credit Facilities

CoalCo anticipates entering into a revolving credit facility with commitments up to $300 million (the Revolving Credit Facility), a Term Loan A Facility of up to $100 million (the TLA Facility) and a Term Loan B Facility of up to $400 million (the TLB Facility, and together with the Revolving Credit Facility and the TLA Facility, the Senior Secured Credit Facilities) in connection with the separation, the proceeds of which, together with the proceeds of the notes, will be used, among other things, to (i) make a cash payment of $425 million to ParentCo, (ii) refinance as an intercompany loan the existing indebtedness of CNXC under the CNXC Revolver, (iii) to pay

 

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related fees and expenses and (iv) otherwise fund CoalCo’s working capital needs and general corporate purposes following the separation.

Borrowings under our Senior Secured Credit Facilities will bear interest at a floating rate which can be, at our option, either (i) LIBOR plus an applicable margin or (ii) an alternate base rate plus an applicable margin.

The Revolving Credit and TLA Facilities are expected to mature on the date that is four years following the closing date. The TLB Facility is expected to mature on the date that is five years following the closing date.

Starting with the quarter ending March 31, 2018, the TLA Facility is expected to amortize in equal quarterly installments of (i) 3.75% of the original principal amount thereof, for the first eight quarterly installments, (ii) 6.25% of the original principal amount thereof for the subsequent four quarterly installments and (iii) 11.25% of the original principal amount thereof for the quarterly installments thereafter, with the remaining balance due at final maturity.

Starting with the quarter ending March 31, 2018, the TLB Facility is expected to amortize in equal quarterly installments in an amount equal to 0.25% per annum of the original principal amount thereof, with the remaining balance due at final maturity.

Obligations under the Senior Secured Credit Facilities are expected to be guaranteed by (i) all owners of the 75% undivided economic interest in the PAMC held by CoalCo, (ii) any other members of the CoalCo group that own any portion of the collateral securing the Revolving Credit Facility, and (iii) subject to certain customary exceptions and agreed materiality thresholds, all other existing or future direct or indirect wholly owned restricted subsidiaries of CoalCo (excluding CNXC and its wholly-owned subsidiaries). As currently contemplated, all obligations are expected to be secured by, subject to certain exceptions (including a limitation of pledges of equity interests in certain subsidiaries and certain thresholds with respect to real property), a first-priority lien on (i) the 75% undivided economic interest in the PAMC held by CoalCo, (ii) the limited partner units of CNXC held by CoalCo, (iii) the CNX Marine Terminal and (iv) the 1.6 billion tons of Greenfield Reserves.

The Senior Secured Credit Facilities are expected to contain a number of customary affirmative covenants. In addition, the Senior Secured Credit Facilities are expected to contain a number of negative covenants, that, subject to certain exceptions, will include limitations on (among other things): indebtedness, liens, investments, restricted payments, and prepayments of junior indebtedness.

The Revolving Credit Facility and TLA Facility are also expected to include financial covenants, including (i) a maximum first lien gross leverage ratio, (ii) a maximum total net leverage ratio, and (iii) a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio. It is anticipated that the Senior Secured Credit Facilities will contain customary events of default, including with respect to a failure to make payments when due, cross-default and cross-judgment default and certain bankruptcy and insolvency events.

New CNXC Facility

The CNXC Revolver is expected to be replaced with a new affiliated company revolving credit facility (the New CNXC Facility) with aggregate commitments not exceeding $275 million. As currently contemplated, CoalCo, or one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries that is a guarantor under the Senior Secured Credit Facilities, will serve as lender under the New CNXC Facility, the proceeds of which will be utilized to refinance the existing CNXC Revolver, to provide working capital for CNXC following the separation and for other general corporate purposes. The New CNXC Facility is expected to mature no earlier than 91 days after the maturity of the TLB Facility.

The collateral obligations under the New CNXC Facility are expected to generally mirror the current CNXC Revolver, as is the list of entities that will act as guarantors thereunder. The New CNXC Facility is expected to be subject to financial covenants relating to a maximum first lien gross leverage ratio and a maximum total net leverage ratio, which will be calculated on a consolidated basis for CNXC and its restricted subsidiaries at the end of each fiscal quarter. The New CNXC Facility is also expected to contain a number of customary affirmative covenants and negative covenants, including limitations on the ability of CNXC to incur additional indebtedness (subject to certain limited exceptions).

 

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Second Lien Notes

Prior to the separation, CoalCo anticipates, subject to market conditions, completing an offering of up to $300 million aggregate principal amount of senior secured second lien debt instruments (the Second Lien Financing). It is currently anticipated that a substantial portion of the net proceeds of the issuance of the Second Lien Financing will be used to make a cash payment to ParentCo in connection with the separation, with any remaining proceeds used for general corporate purposes of CoalCo. Additional information with respect to the Second Lien Financing will be included in an amendment to this information statement.

Other Debt

CoalCo expects to retain those 5.75% MEDCO Revenue Bonds due September 2025, for which the principal amount as of September 30, 2017 was $103 million, and for which GasCo is expected to remain as a guarantor with CoalCo providing indemnification with respect to such guarantee. ParentCo’s existing unsecured senior notes and senior revolving credit facility are expected to remain an obligation of GasCo after the separation. In addition, in connection with the separation, CoalCo expects to enter into a $100 million accounts receivable securitization facility (AR Securitization Facilitiy).

SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT

Before the separation and distribution, all of the outstanding shares of CoalCo common stock will be owned beneficially and of record by ParentCo. Following the separation and distribution, CoalCo expects to have outstanding an aggregate of approximately 28.0 million shares of common stock based upon approximately 224.4 million shares of ParentCo common stock issued and outstanding on October 31, 2017, excluding treasury shares, assuming no exercise of ParentCo options and applying the distribution ratio.

Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners

The following table reports the number of shares of CoalCo common stock that CoalCo expects will be beneficially owned, immediately following the completion of the distribution by each person who is expected to beneficially own more than 5% of CoalCo common stock at such time. The table is based upon information available as of October 31, 2017 as to those persons who beneficially own more than 5% of ParentCo common stock and assumes a distribution of one share of CoalCo common stock for every eight shares of ParentCo common stock held by such persons. A person has beneficial ownership of shares if the person has the power to vote or dispose of such shares. This power can be exclusive or shared, direct or indirect. In addition, a person is considered by SEC rules to beneficially own shares underlying options and convertible securities that are presently exercisable or convertible or will become exercisable or convertible within 60 days of the date that beneficial ownership is calculated.

 

     Amount and
Nature of
Beneficial
Ownership
     Percent
of
Class (1)
 

Southeastern Asset Management, Inc. (2)

     

6410 Poplar Ave., Suite 900

Memphis, TN 38119

     5,964,562        21.27

BlackRock, Inc. (3)

     

55 East 52nd Street

New York, NY 10055

     1,929,538        6.88

Greenlight Capital, Inc. (4)

     

140 East 45th Street, 24th Floor

New York, NY 10017

     1,925,396        6.87

Franklin Mutual Advisors, LLC (5)

     

101 John F. Kennedy Parkway

Short Hills, NJ 07078-2789

     1,691,223        6.03

The Vanguard Group, Inc. (6)

     

100 Vanguard Boulevard

Malvern, PA 19355

     1,638,105        5.84

 

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(1)

As of October 31, 2017, there were 224,369,758 shares of ParentCo common stock outstanding, which based on the distribution ratio of one share of CoalCo common stock for every eight shares of ParentCo common stock on the Record Date, would result in 28,046,219 shares of CoalCo common stock outstanding upon the effectiveness of the Distribution.

(2)  

Based on a Schedule 13D/A filed with respect to ParentCo common stock by Southeastern Asset Management, Inc., an investment adviser registered under Section 203 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, on October 13, 2017. Southeastern Asset Management, Inc. is deemed to be the beneficial owner of and has sole voting power with respect to 20,493,590 ParentCo shares, shared or no voting power with respect to 24,068,475 (shared) and 3,154,436 (no voting) ParentCo shares, sole dispositive power with respect to 22,848,026 ParentCo shares and shared voting and dispositive power with respect to 24,868,475 ParentCo shares. The Schedule 13D/A indicates that Longleaf Partners Fund, an investment company registered under Section 8 of the Investment Company Act, shares voting and dispositive power with Southeastern Asset Management, Inc. with respect to 11,536,742 ParentCo shares, and that Longleaf Partners Small-Cap Fund, an investment company registered under Section 8 of the Investment Company Act, shares voting and dispositive power with Southeastern Asset Management, Inc. with respect to 12,285,409 ParentCo shares.

(3)  

Based on a Schedule 13G/A filed with respect to ParentCo common stock by BlackRock, Inc. on January 23, 2017, BlackRock, Inc., as a parent holding company for a number of investment management subsidiaries, is deemed to have sole voting power with respect to 14,729,789 ParentCo shares and be the beneficial owner of and have sole dispositive power with respect to 15,436,305 ParentCo shares. The following subsidiaries of BlackRock, Inc. are investment advisors which hold shares of our common stock: BlackRock Advisors, LLC, BlackRock Advisors (UK) Limited, BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited, BlackRock Financial Management, Inc., BlackRock Fund Advisors, BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, N.A., BlackRock Investment Management, LLC, BlackRock Investment Management (Australia) Limited, BlackRock Life Limited, BlackRock (Luxembourg) S.A., BlackRock Asset Management Schweiz AG, BlackRock Fund Managers Ltd, BlackRock Asset Management Ireland Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited, BlackRock (Netherlands) B.V., BlackRock International Limited, and BlackRock Japan Co. Ltd.

(4)  

Based on a Schedule 13G/A filed with respect to ParentCo common stock on February 14, 2017 by Greenlight Capital, Inc. (“Greenlight Inc.”), DME Advisors, LP (“DME Advisors”), DME Capital Management, LP (“DME CM”), DME Advisors GP, LLC (“DME GP” and together with Greenlight Inc., DME Advisors and DME, CM, “Greenlight”), and David Einhorn, the principal of Greenlight, reporting ownership as of December 31, 2016. Greenlight Inc. is deemed to be the beneficial owner of an aggregate of 8,717,267 ParentCo shares, DME Advisors is deemed the beneficial owner of an aggregate of 2,214,900 ParentCo shares, DME CM is deemed the beneficial owner of an aggregate of 4,380,606 ParentCo shares, DME GP is deemed the beneficial owner of an aggregate of 6,595,506 ParentCo shares, and Mr. Einhorn is deemed the beneficial owner of an aggregate of 15,403,173 ParentCo shares.

(5)  

Based on a Schedule 13G filed with respect to ParentCo common stock by Franklin Mutual Advisors, LLC with the SEC on February 7, 2017, Franklin Mutual Advisors, LLC is deemed the beneficial owner of an aggregate of 13,529,788 ParentCo shares. The securities reported are beneficially owned by one or more open-end investment companies or other managed accounts that are investment management clients of Franklin Mutual Advisors, LLC, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc.

(6)  

Based on a Schedule 13G/A filed with respect to ParentCo common stock by the Vanguard Group, Inc. on February 10, 2017. The Vanguard Group, Inc. is deemed to be the beneficial holder of and has sole voting power with respect to 117,506 ParentCo shares, shared voting power with respect 22,778 ParentCo shares, sole dispositive power with respect to 12,973,806 ParentCo shares and shared dispositive power with respect to 131,037 ParentCo shares.

 

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Share Ownership of Executive Officers and Directors

The following table sets forth information, immediately following the completion of the distribution and calculated as of October 31, 2017, based upon the distribution of one share of CoalCo common stock for every eight shares of ParentCo common stock, regarding (i) each expected director and named executive officer of CoalCo and (ii) all of CoalCo’s expected directors and executive officers as a group. A person has beneficial ownership of shares if the person has the power to vote or dispose of such shares. This power can be exclusive or shared, direct or indirect. In addition, a person is considered by SEC rules to beneficially own shares underlying options and convertible securities that are presently exercisable or convertible or will become exercisable or convertible within 60 days of the date that beneficial ownership is calculated. The address of each director, director nominee and executive officer shown in the table below is c/o CONSOL Mining Corporation, 1000 CONSOL Energy Drive, Canonsburg, PA 15317-6506.

 

     Shares
Beneficially
Owned (2)
     Percent
of
Class (1)
 

James A. Brock

     8,723        *  

David M. Khani

     8,948        *  

Katharine Fredriksen

     734        *  

Kurt Salvatori

     1,237        *  

James McCaffrey

     1,942        *  

Alvin R. Carpenter

     11,700        *  

John T. Mills

     6,389        *  

Joseph P. Platt

     0        *  

William P. Powell

     4,876        *  

Edwin S. Roberson (3)

     760        *  

All directors and executive officers as a group (11 persons)

     46,009        *  

 

*

Indicates less than one percent (1%) ownership

(1)

As of October 31, 2017, there were 224,369,758 shares of ParentCo common stock outstanding, which based on the distribution ratio of one share of CoalCo common stock for every eight shares of ParentCo common stock on the Record Date, would result in 28,046,219 shares of CoalCo common stock outstanding upon the effectiveness of the Distribution.

(2)  

Beneficial ownership totals in this column do not include any shares issuable pursuant to ParentCo options that are currently exercisable (or may become exercisable on or before December 30, 2017), as all outstanding ParentCo options will upon the separation be exercisable for shares of GasCo common stock, and will not convert into options that entitle the holder to any shares of CoalCo common stock, as outlined in greater detail in the Employee Matters Agreement.

(3)  

Accounts for the conversion of 6,086 ParentCo deferred stock units held by Mr. Roberson based on the distribution ratio; however, this conversion will actually occur pursuant to the provisions outlined in Employee Matters Agreement based on the CoalCo Ratio (as defined therein), which will not be determinable until the conclusion of the first three trading days following the date of the Distribution.

 

 

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DESCRIPTION OF COALCO CAPITAL STOCK

CoalCo’s certificate of incorporation and by-laws will be amended and restated prior to the distribution. The following is a summary of the material terms of our capital stock that will be contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and by-laws. The summaries and descriptions below do not purport to be complete statements of the relevant provisions of our certificate of incorporation or by-laws that will be in effect at the time of the distribution, and are qualified in their entirety by reference to these documents, which you must read (along with the applicable provisions of Delaware law) for complete information on our capital stock as of the time of the distribution. The certificate of incorporation and by-laws, each in a form expected to be in effect at the time of the distribution, will be included as exhibits in a future amendment to CoalCo’s registration statement on Form 10, of which this information statement forms a part. We will include our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and by-laws, as in effect at the time of the distribution, in a Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC. The following also summarizes certain relevant provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law (which we refer to as the DGCL). Since the terms of the DGCL are more detailed than the general information provided below, you should read the actual provisions of the DGCL for complete information.

General

CoalCo will be authorized to issue 62,500,000 shares, of which:

 

   

shares will be designated as common stock, par value $0.01 per share; and

   

shares will be designated as preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share.

Immediately following the distribution, we expect that approximately 28.0 million shares of our common stock will be issued and outstanding, and that no shares of our preferred stock will be issued and outstanding.

Common Stock

Dividend Rights. Holders of our common stock will be entitled to receive dividends only if and when declared by the Board of Directors. However, no dividend will be declared or paid on our common stock until CoalCo has paid (or declared and set aside funds for payment of) all dividends that have accrued on all classes of CoalCo’s outstanding preferred stock.

Voting Rights. Holders of our common stock will be entitled to one (1) vote per share and they will not have any cumulative voting rights.

Liquidation Rights. Upon any liquidation, dissolution or winding up of CoalCo, whether voluntary or involuntary, after payments to holders of preferred stock of amounts determined by the Board of Directors, plus any accrued dividends, the company’s remaining assets will be divided among holders of our common stock pro rata.

Preemptive or Other Subscription Rights. Holders of our common stock will not have any preemptive right to subscribe for any securities of the company.

Conversion and Other Rights. No conversion, redemption or sinking fund provisions will apply to our common stock, and our common stock will be not liable to further call or assessment by the company. All issued and outstanding shares of our common stock will be fully paid and non-assessable.

Preferred Stock

Under the terms of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our Board of Directors will be authorized to issue up to shares of preferred stock in one or more series without further action by the holders of

 

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our common stock. Our Board of Directors will have the discretion, subject to limitations prescribed by Delaware law and by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, to determine the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions, including voting rights, dividend rights, conversion rights, terms of redemption and liquidation preferences, of each series of preferred stock.

Although our Board of Directors does not currently intend to do so, it could authorize us to issue a class or series of preferred stock that could, depending upon the terms of the particular class or series, delay, defer or prevent a transaction or a change of control of our company, even if such transaction or change of control involves a premium price for our stockholders or our stockholders believe that such transaction or change of control may be in their best interests. CoalCo’s Board of Directors may be able to issue preferred stock with voting rights or conversion rights that, if exercised, could adversely affect the voting power of the holders of common stock.

Limitation on Liability of Directors; Indemnification; Insurance

The DGCL authorizes corporations to limit or eliminate the personal liability of directors to corporations and their stockholders for monetary damages for breaches of directors’ fiduciary duties as directors, and our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will include such an exculpation provision. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and by-laws will include provisions that indemnify, to the fullest extent allowable under the DGCL, the personal liability of directors or officers for monetary damages for actions taken as a director or officer of CoalCo, or for serving at CoalCo’s request as a director or officer or another position at another corporation or enterprise, as the case may be. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and by-laws will also provide that we must indemnify and advance reasonable expenses to our directors and officers, subject to our receipt of an undertaking from the indemnified party as may be required under the DGCL. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will expressly authorize us to carry directors’ and officers’ insurance to protect CoalCo, its directors, officers and certain employees against certain liabilities.

The limitation of liability and indemnification provisions that will be in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and by-laws may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions may also have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our directors and officers, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit CoalCo and its stockholders. Your investment may be adversely affected to the extent that, in a class action or direct suit, CoalCo pays the costs of settlement and damage awards against directors and officers pursuant to these indemnification provisions. However, these provisions will not limit or eliminate our rights, or those of any stockholder, to seek non-monetary relief such as an injunction or rescission in the event of a breach of a director’s duty of care. The provisions will not alter the liability of directors under the federal securities laws.

Anti-Takeover Effects of Various Provisions of Delaware Law and our Certificate of Incorporation and By-laws

Provisions of the DGCL and our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and by-laws could make it more difficult to acquire CoalCo by means of a tender offer, a proxy contest or otherwise, or to remove incumbent officers and directors. These provisions are expected to discourage certain types of coercive takeover practices and takeover bids that our Board of Directors may consider inadequate and to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of the company to first negotiate with our Board of Directors. We believe that the benefits of increased protection of our ability to negotiate with the proponent of an unfriendly or unsolicited proposal to acquire or restructure it outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging takeover or acquisition proposals because, among other things, negotiation of these proposals could result in an improvement of their terms.

Delaware Anti-Takeover Provisions. CoalCo will be subject to Section 203 of the DGCL, an anti-takeover statute. In general, Section 203 of the DGCL prohibits a publicly-held Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with an “interested stockholder” for a period of three years following the time the person became an interested stockholder, unless the business combination or the acquisition of shares that resulted in a stockholder becoming an interested stockholder is approved in a prescribed manner. Generally, a “business

 

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combination” includes a merger, asset or stock sale, or other transaction resulting in a financial benefit to the interested stockholder. Generally, an “interested stockholder” is a person who, together with affiliates and associates, owns (or within three years prior to the determination of interested stockholder status did own) 15% or more of a corporation’s voting stock. The existence of this provision would be expected to have an anti-takeover effect with respect to transactions not approved in advance by our Board of Directors, including discouraging attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares of common stock held by our stockholders.

Classified Board. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws will provide that, following the separation, our Board will initially be divided into three classes, with each director serving for a term ending at the election of directors at the third annual meeting of stockholders following the annual meeting of stockholders at which the director was elected, subject to the provisions described below. For so long as there are three classes of directors, the number of directors in each class shall be as near as possible to one-third of the total number of directors. Each class will initially consist of two directors.

The two directors designated as Class I directors will have initial terms expiring at the first annual meeting of stockholders following the separation, expected to be held in 2018. Directors up for reelection at this annual meeting will be elected to a new three year term expiring in 2021. The two directors designated as Class II directors will have initial terms expiring at the second annual meeting of stockholders following the separation, expected to be held in 2019. Directors up for reelection at this annual meeting will be elected to a new three year term expiring in 2022. The two directors designated as Class III directors will have initial terms expiring at the third annual meeting of stockholders following the separation, expected to be held in 2020. Each director whose term expires at the 2020 annual meeting of stockholders or any annual meeting thereafter (and any other individual who is nominated for election at any such meeting) shall be elected for a term expiring at the next annual meeting of stockholders. As a result of these provisions, one-third of our total number of directors will be up for election at each of the first three annual meetings of stockholders following the separation, two-thirds of the total number will be up for election at the fourth annual meeting of stockholders following the separation, and beginning with the fifth annual meeting of stockholders following the separation (expected to be held in 2022), all of our directors will be subject to annual election. Prior to the annual meeting of stockholders held in 2021, it would take at least two elections for any individual or group to gain control of the Board of Directors. Accordingly, these provisions could discourage a third party from initiating a proxy contest, making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to control us. Any amendment to the classified Board provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or amended and restated bylaws shall require the affirmative vote of the holders of at least three quarters (75%) of the voting power of all outstanding shares of our capital stock entitled to vote thereon.

Size of Board; Vacancies; Removal. Our amended and restated by-laws will provide that the number of directors on our Board of Directors will be fixed exclusively by our Board of Directors. Any vacancies created in our Board of Directors resulting from any increase in the authorized number of directors or the death, resignation, retirement, disqualification, removal from office or other cause will be filled by a majority of the Board of Directors then in office, even if less than a quorum is present, or by a sole remaining director. Any director appointed to fill a vacancy on our Board of Directors will be appointed for a term expiring at the next election of directors and until his or her successor has been elected and qualified.

Our amended and restated by-laws will provide that at any time at which the Board of Directors is divided into classes, stockholders may only remove directors for cause, and only with the approval of at least 66 2/3% of the shares entitled to vote at an election of directors. Upon the Board of Directors no longer being divided into classes, stockholders may remove our directors with or without cause, with the approval of at least 66 2/3% of shares entitled to vote at an election of directors.

Stockholder Action by Written Consent. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that stockholders may not act by written consent unless such written consent is unanimous. Stockholder action must otherwise take place at the annual or a special meeting of our stockholders.

 

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Special Stockholder Meetings. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the chairman of our Board of Directors, our chief executive officer or our Board of Directors pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the entire Board of Directors may call special meetings of our stockholders.

Advance Notice for Stockholder Proposals and Nominations. Our amended and restated by-laws will establish advance notice procedures with respect to stockholder proposals and nomination of candidates for election as directors (other than nominations made by or at the direction of the Board of Directors).

Certain Effects of Authorized but Unissued Stock. We may issue additional shares of common stock or preferred stock without stockholder approval, subject to applicable rules of the NYSE and Delaware law, for a variety of corporate purposes, including future public or private offerings to raise additional capital, corporate acquisitions, and employee benefit plans and equity grants. The existence of unissued and unreserved common and preferred stock may enable us to issue shares to persons who are friendly to current management, which could discourage an attempt to obtain control of CoalCo by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise. We will not solicit approval of our stockholders for issuance of common or preferred stock unless our Board of Directors believes that approval is advisable or is required by applicable stock exchange rules or Delaware law.

No Cumulative Voting. The DGCL provides that stockholders are denied the right to cumulate votes in the election of directors unless the company’s certificate of incorporation provides otherwise. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will not provide for cumulative voting.

Exclusive Forum. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that unless the Board of Directors otherwise determines, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of CoalCo, any action asserting a claim for or based on a breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any current or former director or officer of CoalCo to CoalCo or to CoalCo stockholders, including a claim alleging the aiding and abetting of such a breach of fiduciary duty, any action asserting a claim against CoalCo or any current or former director or officer of CoalCo arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or by-laws, any action asserting a claim relating to or involving CoalCo governed by the internal affairs doctrine, or any action asserting an “internal corporate claim” as that term is defined in Section 115 of the DGCL. However, if the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware dismisses any such action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, the action may be brought in the federal court for the District of Delaware.

Listing

In connection with the separation, CoalCo will be renamed CONSOL Energy Inc., and we intend to apply to have our shares of common stock listed on the NYSE under the symbol “CEIX.”

Sale of Unregistered Securities

In connection with its incorporation on June 21, 2017, CoalCo issued 100 shares of its common stock to ParentCo pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act. We did not register the issuance of the issued shares under the Securities Act because such issuance did not constitute a public offering.

Other than as noted above, in the past three years, CoalCo has not sold any securities, including sales of reacquired securities, new issues, securities issued in exchange for property, services or other securities and new securities resulting from the modification of outstanding securities.

Transfer Agent and Registrar

After the distribution, the transfer agent and registrar for our common stock will be Computershare Trust Company, N.A.

 

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WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

We have filed a registration statement on Form 10 with the SEC with respect to the shares of our common stock being distributed as contemplated by this information statement. This information statement is a part of, and does not contain all of the information set forth in, the registration statement and the exhibits and schedules to the registration statement. For further information with respect to CoalCo and CoalCo common stock, please refer to the registration statement, including its exhibits and schedules. Statements made in this information statement relating to any contract or other document filed as an exhibit to the registration statement include the material terms of such contract or other document. However, such statements are not necessarily complete, and you should refer to the exhibits attached to the registration statement for copies of the actual contract or document. You may review a copy of the registration statement, including its exhibits and schedules, at the SEC’s public reference room, located at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20549, by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330, as well as on the Internet website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov . Information contained on or connected to any website referenced in this information statement is not incorporated into this information statement or the registration statement of which this information statement forms a part, or in any other filings with, or any information furnished or submitted to, the SEC .

As a result of the distribution, CoalCo will become subject to the information and reporting requirements of the Exchange Act and, in accordance with the Exchange Act, will file periodic reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC.

We intend to furnish holders of our common stock with annual reports containing combined financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles and audited and reported on, with an opinion expressed, by an independent registered public accounting firm.

You should rely only on the information contained in this information statement or to which this information statement has referred you. We have not authorized any person to provide you with different information or to make any representation not contained in this information statement.

 

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APPENDIX A

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures

162(m) Considerations

STIC 2016 . The 2016 STIC was designed to comply with Section 162(m) of the Code by including a funding pool of 2% of 2016 annual EBITDA. The 2016 EBITDA pool was $12,520,140. The 2016 STIC Plan payout was based upon a free cash flow metric. This metric for 2016 was $956,656,000. Both measures were calculated as described below under “ Calculation for the 2016 Performance Period of the STIC ” and the tables on the following pages.

PSUs (2014-2016) . The 2014-2016 PSU awards were designed to comply with Section 162(m) of the Code by containing objective, performance-based three-year cumulative conditions of TSR and ROCE. The TSR relative to the S&P 500 was not achieved. The actual TSR was at the 4.5 percentile which did not meet the goal of the 25 th percentile for a 50% payout. The ROCE metric was achieved at 12.25% which exceeded the 7.5% threshold for a 200% payout. The ROCE goal was calculated as provided below under “ Calculation for the 2014-2016 PSUs.

Calculations of EBITDA, Free Cash Flow, and ROCE . We define EBITDA as earnings before deducting net interest expense (interest expense less interest income), income taxes, and depreciation, depletion, and amortization. ROCE is defined as return on capital employed.

Calculations for the 2016 Performance Period of the STIC

 

 

EBITDA Pool. Adjusted per Program Document (2016): The EBITDA pool of $12,520,140 for the 2016 Executive STIC was calculated as 2% of $626,007,000. The EBITDA funding pool was calculated without regard to: (i) the effect of changes in accounting principles; (ii) expenses associated with reorganizations and/or restructuring programs, including, but not limited to, reductions in force (pursuant to ASC 420) and early retirement incentives; (iii) the impairment of tangible or intangible assets (pursuant to ASC 360); (iv) all gains or losses on sales of assets; and (v) any unusual or infrequent items reported in ParentCo’s earnings release.

 

Free Cash Flow Metric (2016). The free cash flow metric was calculated as Free Cash Flow = Operating Cash Flow - Capital Expenditures + Asset Sales.

Calculations for the 2014-2016 PSUs . ROCE will be calculated as a three-year average. On an annual basis, ROCE will be calculated using (A) net income plus after-tax cost of interest as the numerator (without regard to: (i) fluctuations in natural gas and coal prices from those prices used in the ParentCo Board-approved profit objective; (ii) the effect of changes in accounting principles; (iii) expenses associated with reorganizations and/or restructuring programs, including, but not limited to, reductions in force (pursuant to ASC 420) and early retirement incentives; (iv) the impairment of tangible or intangible assets (pursuant to ASC 360); (v) all gains or losses on sales of assets; and (vi) any extraordinary, unusual, or infrequent items reported in ParentCo’s earnings release) and (B) net assets (average of current and prior year-end balance: total assets minus total liabilities plus all interest-bearing debt) as the denominator.

 

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GAAP Reconciliations - EBITDA Pool and Free Cash Flow of 2016 STIC Program and ROCE Goal of the 2014-2016 PSUs

EBIT AND EBITDA TABLE DECEMBER 2014, 2015 and 2016 (000 OMITTED)

 

      2016

Net Income (Loss)

   $ (839,148

Add: Loss from Discontinued Operations

   $ 303,183  

Add: Interest Expense

   $ 191,476  

Less: Interest Income

   $ (1,507

Less: Income Taxes

   $ 10,010  

Earnings (Loss) Before Interest & Taxes from Continuing Operations

   $ (335,986

Loss from Discontinued Operations

   $ (303,183

Add: Income Taxes from Discontinued Operations

   $ (173,566

Loss Before Interest & Taxes from Discontinued Operations

   $ (476,749

EARNINGS (LOSS) BEFORE INTEREST & TAXES

   $ (812,735

Earnings (Loss) Before Interest & Taxes from Continuing Operations

   $ (335,986

Add: Depreciation, Depletion & Amortization (DD&A)

   $ 598,503  

Earnings Before Interest, Taxes and DD&A

   $ 262,517  

Loss Before Interest & Taxes from Discontinued Operations

   $ (476,749

Add: Depreciation, Depletion & Amortization from Discontinued Operations

   $ 14,443  

Earnings (Loss) Before Interest, Taxes and DD&A from Discontinued Operations

   $ (462,306

EARNINGS (LOSS) BEFORE INTEREST, TAXES AND DD&A

   $ (199,789

Less: Non-controlling Interest

   $ (8,954

EARNINGS (LOSS) BEFORE INTEREST, TAXES AND DD&A ATTRIBUTABLE TO CONSOL ENERGY INC. SHAREHOLDERS

   $ (208,743

Add Back: Unusual or Infrequent Items Reported in Earnings Release

   $ 406,784  

Add Back: Impairment of Tangible or Intangible Assets

   $ 355,681  

Add Back: Gains or Losses on Sales of Assets

   $ 72,285  

ADJUSTED EBITDA FUNDING POOL

   $ 626,007  

2% of EBITDA Pool

   $             12,520  

 

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Table of Contents

ROCE TABLE (000 OMITTED)

 

      2014   2015   2016

Total Assets

   $ 11,401,290     $ 11,292,273     $ 10,056,941  

Less: Total Current Liabilities

   $ (1,132,787   $ (1,416,943   $ (1,310,476

Add: Current Portion of Debt

   $ 5,655     $ 6,926     $ 9,325  

Less: Long-Term Liabilities

   $ (5,100,626   $ (4,782,707   $ (4,348,127

Add: Long-Term Portion of Debt

   $ 3,189,928     $ 2,995,791     $ 2,755,137  

AVERAGE CAPITAL EMPLOYED

   $ 8,363,460     $ 8,095,340     $ 7,162,800  

Net Income

   $ 163,090     $ (364,475   $ (839,148

Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

   $ 12,991     $ (134,425   $ (163,556

Effective Tax Rate

     7.38     26.94     16.31

Financing Costs:

      

Interest on Third-Party Debt

   $ 227,219     $ 194,091     $ 185,711  

All Other Financing Costs

   $ 23,280     $ 17,447     $ 17,825  

Total Financing Costs

   $ 250,499     $ 211,538     $ 203,536  

Total Financing Costs (After-Tax)

   $ 232,018     $ 154,541     $ 170,336  

Add: Adjustment for Flux in Gas Prices

   $ 32,748     $ 415,402     $ 732,738  

Add: Adjustment for Flux in Coal Prices

   $ 123,408     $ 322,507     $ 600,877  

Add: Adjustment for Reorganizations

   $     $ 7,760     $ 4,061  

Add: Adjustment for Unusual, Infrequent, or Non-Recurring Items

   $ 56,632     $ 306,075     $ 698,602  

EARNINGS EXCLUDING FINANCING COSTS

   $ 607,896     $ 841,810     $ 1,367,466  

Average Capital Employed

   $ 8,363,460     $ 8,095,340     $ 7,162,800  

YTD ROCE

     7.27     10.40     19.09

FREE CASH FLOW DECEMBER 2016 (000 OMITTED)

 

      Free Cash Flow

Net Cash Provided By Operating Activities

   $ 469,285  

Capital Expenditures

   $ (226,820

Proceeds From Sales of Assets

   $ 59,902  

Noble Exchange Agreement

   $ 213,295  

Net Investment in Equity Affiliates

   $ 73,743  

Capital Expenditures of Discontinued Operations

   $ (8,295

Proceeds From Sale of Buchanan Mine

   $ 403,817  

Payments on Sale of Miller Creek/Fola

   $ (28,271

FREE CASH FLOW

   $             956,656  

 

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INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

           Page        

Audited Combined Financial Statements

  

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

     F-2  

Combined Statements of Income for the years ended December  31, 2016, 2015 and 2014

     F-3  

Combined Statements of Comprehensive Income for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015, and 2014

     F-4  

Combined Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2016 and 2015

     F-5  

Combined Statements of Equity for the years ended December  31, 2016, 2015, and 2014

     F-7  

Statements of Combined Cash Flows for the years ended December  31, 2016, 2015 and 2014

     F-8  

Notes to Combined Financial Statements

     F-9  

Unaudited Combined Financial Statements

  

Combined Statements of Income for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016 (Unaudited)

     F-40  

Combined Statements of Comprehensive Income for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016 (Unaudited)

     F-41  

Combined Statements of Equity for the six months ended June 30, 2017 (Unaudited)

     F-41  

Combined Balance Sheets as of June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 (Unaudited)

     F-42  

Statements of Combined Cash Flows for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016 (Unaudited)

     F-44  

Notes to Unaudited Combined Financial Statements

     F-45  

 

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

The Board of Directors and Stockholders of CONSOL Energy Inc. and Subsidiaries

We have audited the accompanying combined balance sheets of CONSOL Mining Corporation as of December 31, 2016 and 2015, and the related combined statements of income, comprehensive income, equity, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2016. These financial statements are the responsibility of CONSOL Mining Corporation’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. We were not engaged to perform an audit of CONSOL Mining Corporation’s internal control over financial reporting. Our audits included consideration of internal control over financial reporting as a basis for designing audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of CONSOL Mining Corporation’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit also includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the combined financial position of CONSOL Mining Corporation at December 31, 2016 and 2015, and the combined results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2016, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

/s/ Ernst & Young LLP

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

July 10, 2017

 

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Table of Contents

CONSOL MINING CORPORATION

COMBINED STATEMENTS OF INCOME

(Dollars in Thousands)

 

     For the Years Ended
December 31,
 
     2016      2015      2014  

Revenue and Other Income:

        

Coal Sales

   $     1,065,582       $     1,289,036       $     1,616,874   

Other Outside Sales

     31,464         30,967         41,255   

Freight Revenue

     46,468         20,499         23,133   

Miscellaneous Other Income

     82,120         68,193         123,604   

Gain on Sale of Assets

     5,228         13,025         26,312   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Revenue and Other Income

     1,230,862         1,421,720         1,831,178   

Costs and Expenses:

        

Operating and Other Costs

     877,177         699,594         1,110,332   

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     178,122         195,337         206,684   

Freight Expense

     46,468         20,499         23,133   

Selling, General, and Administrative Costs

     50,027         55,720         78,724   

Interest Expense

     14,053         7,544         —   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Costs and Expenses

     1,165,847         978,694         1,418,873   

Earnings Before Income Tax

     65,015         443,026         412,305   

Income Tax

     14,565         125,605         121,353   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net Income

     50,450         317,421         290,952   

Less: Net Income Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest

     8,954         10,410         —   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Net Income Attributable to CONSOL Mining Corporation Shareholder

   $ 41,496       $ 307,011       $ 290,952   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these combined financial statements.

 

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Table of Contents

CONSOL MINING CORPORATION

COMBINED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

(Dollars in Thousands)

 

     For the Years Ended
December 31,
     2016   2015   2014

Net Income

   $ 50,450     $ 317,421     $ 290,952   

Other Comprehensive Income (Loss):

      

Actuarially Determined Long-Term Liability Adjustments (Net of tax: $18,101, $51,745,     ($56,754))

     (31,409     (89,442     97,553   
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other Comprehensive Income

     (31,409     (89,442     97,553   
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comprehensive Income

     19,041       227,979       388,505   

Less: Comprehensive Income Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest

     9,216       10,410       —   
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comprehensive Income Attributable to CONSOL Mining Corporation Shareholder

   $ 9,825     $ 217,569     $ 388,505   
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these combined financial statements.

 

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Table of Contents

CONSOL MINING CORPORATION

COMBINED BALANCE SHEETS

(Dollars in Thousands)

 

     December 31,  
     2016      2015  

ASSETS

     

Current Assets:

     

Cash and Cash Equivalents

   $ 13,311       $ 6,639   

Trade Accounts Receivables

     95,707         78,888   

Other Receivables

     23,320         19,689   

Other Receivables - Related Party

     34         —   

Inventories

     50,161         52,977   

Prepaid Expenses

     17,601         25,104   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Current Assets

     200,134         183,297   

Property, Plant and Equipment:

     

Property, Plant and Equipment

     4,593,395         4,562,540   

Less—Accumulated Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     2,413,125         2,237,359   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Property, Plant and Equipment—Net

     2,180,270         2,325,181   

Other Assets:

     

Other Assets

     122,451         99,652   

Deferred Tax Asset

     184,579         259,603   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Other Assets

     307,030         359,255   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

TOTAL ASSETS

   $     2,687,434       $     2,867,733   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these combined financial statements.

 

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Table of Contents

CONSOL MINING CORPORATION

COMBINED BALANCE SHEETS

(Dollars in Thousands)

 

     December 31,
     2016   2015

LIABILITIES AND EQUITY

    

  Current Liabilities:

    

  Accounts Payable

   $ 82,897     $ 75,663  

  Accounts Payable - Related Party

           13,741  

  Current Portion of Long-Term Debt

     4,076       1,032  

  Other Accrued Liabilities

     292,121       266,552  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Total Current Liabilities

     379,094       356,988  

Long-Term Debt:

    

  Long-Term Debt

     301,827       285,777  

  Capital Lease Obligations

     11,812       749  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Total Long-Term Debt

     313,639       286,526  

Deferred Credits and Other Liabilities:

    

  Postretirement Benefits Other Than Pensions

     659,474       630,892  

  Pneumoconiosis Benefits

     108,073       111,903  

  Asset Retirement Obligations

     246,279       256,032  

  Workers’ Compensation

     65,932       68,416  

  Salary Retirement

     99,872       79,832  

  Other

     14,947       15,305  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Total Deferred Credits and Other Liabilities

     1,194,577       1,162,380  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  TOTAL LIABILITIES

     1,887,310       1,805,894  

Equity:

    

  Parent Net Investment

     1,057,694       1,276,482  

  Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss

     (400,063     (368,392
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Total Parent Net Investment and Other Comprehensive Loss

     657,631       908,090  

Noncontrolling Interest

     142,493       153,749  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  TOTAL EQUITY

     800,124       1,061,839  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY

   $     2,687,434     $     2,867,733  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these combined financial statements.

 

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Table of Contents

CONSOL MINING CORPORATION

COMBINED STATEMENTS OF EQUITY

(Dollars in Thousands)

 

     Parent
Net
Investment
  Accumulated
Other
Comprehensive
Income
(Loss)
  Noncontrolling
Interest
  Total
Equity
December 31, 2013    $     1,756,546     $ (376,503   $     $ 1,380,043  
Net Income      290,952           290,952  
Actuarially Determined Long-Term Liability Adjustments (Net of ($56,754) Tax)               97,553             97,553  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comprehensive Income      290,952       97,553             388,505  
Net Parent Distributions      (522,356         (522,356
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 31, 2014      1,525,142       (278,950           1,246,192  
Net Income      307,011         10,410       317,421  
Actuarially Determined Long-Term Liability Adjustments (Net of ($51,745) Tax)        (89,442       (89,442
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comprehensive Income      307,011       (89,442     10,410       227,979  
Distributions to Noncontrolling Interest          (5,060     (5,060
Proceeds from Sale of MLP Interest          148,399       148,399  
Net Parent Distributions      (555,671         (555,671
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 31, 2015      1,276,482       (368,392     153,749       1,061,839  
Net Income      41,496         8,954       50,450  
Actuarially Determined Long-Term Liability Adjustments (Net of $18,101 Tax)        (31,671     262       (31,409
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comprehensive Income      41,496       (31,671     9,216       19,041  
Amortization of Unit-Based Compensation Awards          1,185       1,185  
Distributions to Noncontrolling Interest          (21,657     (21,657
Net Parent Distributions      (260,284         (260,284
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 31, 2016    $ 1,057,694     $ (400,063   $     142,493     $      800,124  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these combined financial statements.

 

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Table of Contents

CONSOL MINING CORPORATION

STATEMENTS OF COMBINED CASH FLOWS

(Dollars in Thousands)

 

         For the Years Ended December 31,    
     2016   2015   2014

Cash Flows from Operating Activities:

      

Net Income

   $ 50,450     $ 317,421     $ 290,952  

Adjustments to Reconcile Net Income to Net Cash Provided By Operating Activities:

      

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     178,122       195,337       206,684  

Stock-Based Compensation

     11,710       8,406       19,860  

Gain on Sale of Assets

     (5,228     (13,025     (26,312

Deferred Income Taxes

     91,525       72,616       40,664  

Unit Based Compensation

     1,185              

Changes in Operating Assets:

      

Accounts and Notes Receivable

     (17,608     63,764       (36,756

Inventories

     3,352       4,951       22,441  

Prepaid Expenses

     7,503       (485     (1,606

Changes in Other Assets

     (10,652     (60,346     (12,994

Changes in Operating Liabilities:

      

Accounts Payable

     (4,152     (575     48,187  

Other Operating Liabilities

     24,913       (57,973     7,186  

Changes in Other Liabilities

     (10,609     (266,700     (15,819

Other

     8,596       28,302       1,032  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities

     329,107       291,693       543,519  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash Flows from Investing Activities:

      

Capital Expenditures

     (53,600     (143,053     (348,846

Proceeds from Sales of Assets

     7,842       12,779       221,036  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net Cash Used in Investing Activities

     (45,758     (130,274     (127,810
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash Flows from Financing Activities:

      

Payments on Miscellaneous Borrowings

     431       (5,829     5,835  

Net Proceeds from CNXC Revolver

     16,000       185,000        

Net Proceeds from sale of MLP Interest

           148,359        

Distributions to Noncontrolling Interest

     (21,657     (5,060      

Debt Issuance and Financing Fees

     (482     (16,336      

Net Parent Distributions

     (270,969     (461,051     (421,674
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net Cash Used in Financing Activities

     (276,677     (154,917     (415,839

Net Increase (Decrease) in Cash and Cash Equivalents

     6,672       6,502       (130

Cash and Cash Equivalents at Beginning of Period

     6,639       137       267  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash and Cash Equivalents at End of Period

   $         13,311     $         6,639     $           137  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, CONSOL Mining Corporation paid interest expense, net of capitalized interest, of $14,053, $7,544 and $-, respectively. The following are non-cash transactions that impact the investing and financing activities of CONSOL Mining Corporation. As of December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, CONSOL Mining Corporation purchased goods and services related to capital projects in the amount of $2,355, $11,962 and $-, respectively, which are included in accounts payable. As of December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, there were capital equipment transfers of ($575), $105,074, and $112,480 and non-cash settlements of parent receivables of $1,600, ($2,088) and $8,062, respectively, between CONSOL Mining Corporation and CONSOL Energy that are included in Net Parent Distributions.

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these combined financial statements.

 

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Table of Contents

CONSOL MINING CORPORATION

NOTES TO COMBINED FINANCIAL STATMENTS

(Dollars in Thousands)

NOTE 1—THE PROPOSED SEPARATION AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION:

The Proposed Separation

In December 2016, CONSOL Energy announced its intent to separate into two independent, publicly-traded companies (the separation): CONSOL Mining Corporation (Predecessor), which will hold CONSOL Energy’s Pennsylvania Mining Operations (PAMC) and certain related coal assets, including CONSOL Energy’s ownership interest in CNX Coal Resources LP (CNXC), which owns a 25% stake in PAMC, the CNX Marine Terminal, and Greenfield Reserves (collectively, the Coal Business), and an oil and natural gas exploration and production (E&P) company focused on Appalachian area natural gas and liquids activities, including production, gathering, processing and acquisition of natural gas properties in the Appalachian Basin (the Gas Business) of CONSOL Energy.

The separation will occur by means of a pro rata distribution by CONSOL Energy of all of the common stock of the Predecessor. CONSOL Energy, the existing publicly traded company, will continue to own the Gas Business.

The separation transaction, which is expected to be completed in the second half of 2017, is subject to a number of conditions, including, but not limited to: final approval by CONSOL Energy’s Board of Directors; receipt of a private letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service, which was received October 16, 2017, and one or more opinions of its tax advisors, in each case, satisfactory to the ParentCo Board of Directors, regarding certain U.S. federal income tax matters relating to the transaction; and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) declaring effective the registration statement of which this information statement forms a part.

CONSOL Mining Corporation and CONSOL Energy will enter into an agreement (the Separation Agreement) that will identify the assets to be transferred, the liabilities to be assumed and the contracts to be transferred to each of CONSOL Mining Corporation and CONSOL Energy as part of the separation of CONSOL Energy into two companies, and will provide for when and how these transfers and assumptions will occur. CONSOL Energy may, at any time and for any reason until the proposed transaction is complete, abandon the separation plan or modify its terms.

Basis of Presentation

The Combined Financial Statements of CONSOL Mining Corporation are prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) and require management to make certain judgments, estimates, and assumptions. These may affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements. They also may affect the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results could differ from those estimates upon subsequent resolution of identified matters. The Combined Financial Statements of CONSOL Mining Corporation include the accounts of CONSOL Mining Corporation and companies in which CONSOL Mining Corporation has a controlling interest. Intercompany transactions have been eliminated. The equity method of accounting is used for investments in affiliates and other joint ventures over which CONSOL Mining Corporation has significant influence but does not have effective control. Investments in affiliates in which CONSOL Mining Corporation cannot exercise significant influence are accounted for on the cost method.

Principles of Combination

The Combined Financial Statements include certain assets and liabilities that have historically been held at CONSOL Energy’s corporate level but are specifically identifiable or otherwise attributable to the Predecessor.

 

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All significant transactions and accounts within the Predecessor have been eliminated. All significant intercompany transactions between CONSOL Energy and the Predecessor have been included within Parent Net Investment in these Combined Financial Statements.

Cost Allocations

Historically, CONSOL Energy has charged its operating subsidiaries for various corporate costs incurred in the operation of the business. Accordingly, no significant additional cost allocations were necessary for the preparation of these combined financial statements. The Combined Financial Statements of CONSOL Mining Corporation may not reflect the actual expenses that would have been incurred and may not reflect CONSOL Mining Corporation’s combined results of operations, financial position and cash flows had it been a standalone company during the periods presented. Actual costs that would have been incurred if CONSOL Mining Corporation had been a standalone company would depend on multiple factors, including organizational structure, capital structure, and strategic decisions made in various areas, including information technology and infrastructure. Transactions between CONSOL Mining Corporation and CONSOL Energy, have been included as related party transactions in these Combined Financial Statements and are considered to be effectively settled for cash at the time the transaction is recorded. The total net effect of the settlement of these transactions is reflected in the Statements of Combined Cash Flows as a financing activity and in the Combined Balance Sheet as Parent Net Investment.

Long-term employee obligations, comprised of pensions, OPEB, CWP, and worker’s compensation have been allocated to CONSOL Mining Corporation on the basis of the underlying employees comprising those plans.

All external debt not directly attributable to the Predecessor has been excluded from the Combined Balance Sheet of CONSOL Mining Corporation.

NOTE 2—SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES:

A summary of the significant accounting policies of CONSOL Mining Corporation is presented below. These, together with the other notes that follow, are an integral part of the Combined Financial Statements.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, as well as various disclosures. Actual results could differ from those estimates. The most significant estimates included in the preparation of the combined financial statements are related to other postretirement benefits, coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, workers’ compensation, salary retirement benefits, asset retirement obligations, contingencies, and the values of coal reserves.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Predecessor, excluding CNX Coal Resources LP, participates in CONSOL Energy’s centralized cash management system. The centralized cash management system entitles the Predecessor to issue checks against the central bank account for on-going operations. The presented checks against the central bank account are reflected as contributions of CONSOL Energy’s equity investment. Remaining cash includes CNX Coal Resources LP cash balance, petty cash on hand, and on deposit at banking institutions that is not included in the centralized cash management system.

Trade Accounts Receivable

Trade accounts receivable are recorded at the invoiced amount and do not bear interest. CONSOL Mining Corporation reserves for specific accounts receivable when it is probable that all or a part of an outstanding

 

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balance will not be collected. Collectability is determined based on terms of sale, credit status of customers and various other circumstances. CONSOL Mining Corporation regularly reviews collectability and establishes or adjusts the allowance as necessary using the specific identification method. Account balances are charged off against the allowance after all means of collection have been exhausted and the potential for recovery is considered remote. Reserves for uncollectable amounts were not material in the periods presented. In addition, there were no material financing receivables with a contractual maturity greater than one year at December 31, 2016 and 2015.

Inventories

Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or market. The cost of coal inventory is determined by the first-in, first-out (“FIFO”) method and includes labor, supplies, equipment costs, operating overhead, depreciation, depletion, amortization, and other related costs. The cost of supplies inventory is determined by the average cost method and includes operating and maintenance supplies to be used in the operation of the Predecessor’s coal mines.

The Predecessor’s inventories consisted of the following:

 

     December 31,  
     2016      2015  

Coal

   $ 7,800      $ 4,660  

Supplies

     42,361        48,317  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Inventories

   $         50,161      $         52,977  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Property, Plant and Equipment

Property, plant and equipment is recorded at cost upon acquisition. Costs of developing new underground mines and certain underground expansion projects are capitalized and typically include those costs incurred to make the mineral physically accessible. Such costs generally include those to create mine shafts and to drive main entries for ventilation, haulage costs, personnel costs, the construction of airshafts and roof protection.

Expenditures which extend the useful lives of existing plant and equipment are capitalized. Costs of additional mine facilities required to maintain production after a mine reaches the production stage, generally referred to as “receding face costs,” are expensed as incurred; however, the costs of additional airshafts and new portals are capitalized. Planned major maintenance costs which do not extend the useful lives of existing plant and equipment are expensed as incurred. Interest costs applicable to major asset additions are capitalized during the construction period.

Coal exploration costs are expensed as incurred and include costs incurred to ascertain existence, location, extent or quality of ore or minerals before beginning the development stage of the mine.

Airshafts and capitalized mine development associated with a coal reserve are amortized on a units-of-production basis as the coal is produced so that each ton of coal is assigned a portion of the unamortized costs. The Predecessor employs this method to match costs with the related revenues realized in a particular period. Rates are updated when revisions to coal reserve estimates are made. Coal reserve estimates are reviewed when information becomes available that indicates a reserve change is needed, or at a minimum once per year. Any material effect from changes in estimates is disclosed in the period the change occurs. Amortization of development cost begins when the development phase is complete and the production phase begins. At an underground mine, the end of the development phase and the beginning of the production phase takes place when construction of the mine for economic extraction is substantially complete. Coal extracted during the development phase is incidental to the mine’s production capacity and is not considered to shift the mine into the production phase.

 

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When properties are retired or otherwise disposed, the related cost and accumulated depreciation are removed from the respective accounts and any profit or loss on disposition is recognized in Gain on Sale of Assets in the Combined Statements of Income.

Depreciation of plant and equipment is calculated on the straight-line method over their estimated useful lives or lease terms, generally as follows:

 

     Years                    

Buildings and improvements

   10 to 45                    

Machinery and equipment

   3 to 25

Leasehold improvements

   Life of Lease

Coal reserves are controlled either through fee ownership or by lease. The duration of the leases vary; however, the lease terms are generally extended automatically through the exhaustion of economically recoverable reserves, as long as active mining continues. Coal interests held by lease provide the same rights as fee ownership for mineral extraction and are legally considered real property interests. The Predecessor also makes advance payments (advanced mining royalties) to lessors under certain lease agreements that are recoupable against future production, and it makes payments that are generally based upon a specified rate per ton or a percentage of gross realization from the sale of the coal.

Advance mining royalties are advance payments made to lessors under terms of mineral lease agreements that are recoupable against future production and are amortized using the units-of-production method. Depletion of leased coal interests is computed using the units-of-production method over proven and probable coal reserves. Advance mining royalties and leased coal interests are evaluated at least once per year for impairment. More frequent tests are required on an interim basis whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable. Any revisions are accounted for prospectively as changes in accounting estimates.

Costs to obtain coal lands are capitalized based on the cost at acquisition and are amortized using the units-of-production method over all estimated proven and probable reserve tons assigned and accessible to the mine. Proven and probable coal reserves exclude non-recoverable coal reserves and anticipated processing losses. Rates are updated when revisions to coal reserve estimates are made. Coal reserve estimates are reviewed when events and circumstances indicate a reserve change is needed, or at a minimum once a year. Amortization of coal interests begins when the coal reserve is produced. At an underground mine, a ton is considered produced once it reaches the surface area of the mine. Any material effect from changes in estimates is disclosed in the period the change occurs.

Costs for purchased and internally developed software are expensed until it has been determined that the software will result in probable future economic benefits and management has committed to funding the project. Thereafter, all direct costs of materials and services incurred in developing or obtaining software, including certain payroll and benefit costs of employees associated with the project, are capitalized and amortized using the straight-line method over the estimated useful life which does not exceed seven years.

Impairment of Long-lived Assets

The Predecessor impairs long-lived assets when indicators of impairment are present and the undiscounted cash flows estimated to be generated by those assets are less than the assets’ carrying value. The carrying value of the assets is then reduced to its estimated fair value which is usually measured based on an estimate of future discounted cash flows. The Predecessor did not record any impairments during the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014.

 

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Postretirement Benefits Other Than Pensions

Postretirement benefit obligations established by the Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefit Act of 1992 (the Coal Act) are treated as a multi-employer plan which requires expense to be recorded for the associated obligations as payments are made. Postretirement benefits other than pensions, except for those established pursuant to the Coal Act, are accounted for in accordance with the Retirement Benefits Compensation and Non-retirement Postemployment Benefits Compensation Topics of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification, which requires employers to accrue the cost of such retirement benefits for the employees’ active service periods. Such liabilities are determined on an actuarial basis and CONSOL Mining Corporation is primarily self-insured for these benefits. Differences between actual and expected results or changes in the value of obligations are recognized through Other Comprehensive Income.

Pneumoconiosis Benefits and Workers’ Compensation

The Predecessor is required by federal and state statutes to provide benefits to certain current and former totally disabled employees or their dependents for awards related to coal workers’ pneumoconiosis. The Predecessor is also required by various state statutes to provide workers’ compensation benefits for employees who sustain employment-related physical injuries or some types of occupational disease. Workers’ compensation benefits include compensation for their disability, medical costs, and on some occasions, the cost of rehabilitation. CONSOL Mining Corporation is primarily self-insured for these benefits. Provisions for estimated benefits are determined on an actuarial basis.

Asset Retirement Costs

Mine closing costs and costs associated with dismantling and removing de-gasification facilities are accrued using the accounting treatment prescribed by the Asset Retirement and Environmental Obligations Topic of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification. This topic requires the fair value of an asset retirement obligation be recognized in the period in which it is incurred if a reasonable estimate of fair value can be made. The present value of the estimated asset retirement costs is capitalized as part of the carrying amount of the long-lived asset. Generally, the capitalized asset retirement cost is depreciated on a units-of-production basis. Accretion of the asset retirement obligation is recognized over time and generally will escalate over the life of the producing asset, typically as production declines. Accretion is included in Operating and Other Costs on the Combined Statements of Income. Asset retirement obligations primarily relate to the closure of mines, which includes treatment of water and the reclamation of land upon exhaustion of coal reserves.

Accrued mine closing costs, perpetual care costs, reclamation and costs associated with dismantling and removing de-gasification facilities are regularly reviewed by management and are revised for changes in future estimated costs and regulatory requirements.

Subsidence

Subsidence occurs when there is sinking or shifting of the ground surface due to the removal of underlying coal. Areas affected may include, although are not limited to, streams, property, roads, pipelines and other land and surface structures. Total estimated subsidence claims are recognized in the period when the related coal has been extracted and are included in Operating and Other Costs on the Combined Statements of Income and Other Accrued Liabilities on the Combined Balance Sheets. On occasion, the Predecessor prepays the estimated damages prior to undermining the property, in return for a release of liability. Prepayments are included as assets and either recognized as Prepaid Expenses or in Other Assets on the Combined Balance Sheets if the payment is made less than or greater than one year, respectively, prior to undermining the property.

Retirement Plans

CONSOL Mining Corporation has non-contributory defined benefit retirement plans. Effective December 31, 2015, the Predecessor’s qualified defined benefit retirement plans have been frozen. The benefits for these plans

 

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are based primarily on years of service and employees’ pay. These plans are accounted for using the guidance outlined in the Compensation - Retirement Benefits Topic of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification. The cost of these retiree benefits are recognized over the employees’ service periods. CONSOL Mining Corporation uses actuarial methods and assumptions in the valuation of defined benefit obligations and the determination of expense. Differences between actual and expected results or changes in the value of obligations and plan assets are recognized through Other Comprehensive Income.

Stock-Based Compensation

Eligible CONSOL Mining Corporation employees have historically participated in CONSOL Energy’s equity-based compensation plans. CONSOL Energy recognizes compensation expense for all stock-based compensation awards based on the grant date fair value estimated in accordance with the provisions of the Stock Compensation Topic of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification. CONSOL Energy recognizes these compensation costs on a straight-line basis over the requisite services period of the award, which is generally the awards vesting term. The compensation expense recorded by CONSOL Mining Corporation, in all periods presented, includes the expense associated with employees historically attributable to CONSOL Mining Corporation operations.

Under the CNXC 2015 Long-Term Incentive Plan (the LTIP), the CNXC GP issued long-term equity based awards intended to compensate the recipients thereof based on the performance of CNXC’s common units and the recipients continued service during the vesting period, as well as to align CNXC’s long-term interests with those of the unitholders. The LTIP limits the number of units that may be delivered pursuant to vested awards to 2,300,000 common units, subject to proportionate adjustment in the event of unit splits and similar events. Common units subject to awards that are canceled, forfeited, withheld to satisfy exercise prices or tax withholding obligations or otherwise terminated without delivery of the common units will be available for delivery pursuant to other awards.

The CNXC GP has also granted equity-based phantom units that vest over a period of a director’s continued service. The phantom units will be paid in common units or an amount of cash equal to the fair market value of a unit based on the vesting date. The awards may accelerate upon a change in control of CNXC. Compensation expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period, which is generally the vesting term.

Income Taxes

The Predecessor’s operations have historically been included in the income tax filings of CONSOL Energy. The provision for income taxes in the Predecessor’s combined statement of income is based on a separate return methodology using the asset and liability approach of accounting for income taxes. Under this approach, the provision for income taxes represents income taxes paid or payable (or received or receivable) for the current year plus the change in deferred taxes during the year calculated as if the Predecessor was a standalone taxpayer filing hypothetical income tax returns where applicable. Any additional accrued tax liability or refund arising as a result of this approach is assumed to be immediately settled with CONSOL Energy as a component of Parent Net Investment. Deferred taxes represent the future tax consequences expected to occur when the reported amounts of assets and liabilities are recovered or paid, and result from differences between the financial and tax bases of CONSOL Mining Corporation’s assets and liabilities and are adjusted for changes in tax rates and tax laws when enacted. Deferred tax assets are reflected in the combined balance sheet for net operating losses, credits or other attributes to the extent that such attributes are expected to transfer to CONSOL Mining Corporation upon the separation. Any difference from attributes generated in a hypothetical return on a separate return basis is adjusted as a component of Parent Net investment.

Valuation allowances are recorded to reduce deferred tax assets when it is more likely than not (greater than 50%) that a tax benefit will not be realized. In evaluating the need for a valuation allowance, management considers all potential sources of taxable income, including income available in carry-back periods, future

 

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reversals of taxable temporary differences, projections of taxable income, and income from tax planning strategies, as well as all available positive and negative evidence. Positive evidence includes factors such as a history of profitable operations, projections of future profitability within the carry-forward period, including from tax planning strategies, and CONSOL Mining Corporation’s experience with similar operations. Existing favorable contracts and the ability to sell products into established markets are additional positive evidence. Negative evidence includes items such as cumulative losses, projections of future losses, or carry-forward periods that are not long enough to allow for the utilization of a deferred tax asset based on existing projections of income. Deferred tax assets for which no valuation allowance is recorded may not be realized upon changes in facts and circumstances, resulting in a future charge to establish a valuation allowance. Existing valuation allowances are re-examined under the same standards of positive and negative evidence. If it is determined that it is more likely than not that a deferred tax asset will be realized, the appropriate amount of the valuation allowance, if any, is released. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are also re-measured to reflect changes in underlying tax rates due to law changes and the granting and lapse of tax holidays.

Tax benefits related to uncertain tax positions taken or expected to be taken on a tax return are recorded when such benefits meet a more likely than not threshold. Otherwise, these tax benefits are recorded when a tax position has been effectively settled, which means that the statute of limitation has expired or the appropriate taxing authority has completed their examination even though the statute of limitations remains open. Interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions are recognized as part of the provision for income taxes and are accrued beginning in the period that such interest and penalties would be applicable under relevant tax law until such time that the related tax benefits are recognized.

Parent Net Investment

Parent Net Investment is primarily comprised of the Predecessor’s undivided interest in (i) CONSOL Energy’s initial investment in CONSOL Mining Corporation (and any subsequent adjustments thereto); (ii) the accumulated net earnings; (iii) net transfers to or from CONSOL Energy, including those related to cash management functions performed by CONSOL Energy; (iv) non-cash changes in financing arrangements, including the conversion of certain related party liabilities into Parent Net Investment and stock-based compensation; and (v) corporate cost allocations.

Revenue Recognition

Revenues are recognized when title passes to the customers and the price is fixed and determinable. For domestic coal sales, this generally occurs when coal is loaded at the mine or at offsite storage locations. For export coal sales, this generally occurs when coal is loaded onto marine vessels at terminal locations. Coal contract price per ton are fixed and determinable prior to the passage of coal title. Except for normal quality adjustments and positive electric power price related adjustments, none of the Company’s coal sales contracts allow for retroactive adjustments to pricing after title to the coal has passed. These adjustments were not material for any of the periods presented. Revenues for coal sold that relate to production under royalty contracts are recorded on a gross basis.

Freight Revenue and Expense

Shipping and handling costs invoiced to coal customers and paid to third-party carriers are recorded as Freight-Outside Coal revenue and Freight Expense, respectively.

Concentration of Credit Risk and Major Customers

The Predecessor markets its high-Btu bituminous thermal coal primarily to electric utilities in the eastern United States, its core market. The Predecessor derived a significant portion of its revenues from two customers who represented at least 10% of its total coal sales revenues for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014. As of December 31, 2016, the Predecessor had approximately nine sales agreements with these customers that expire at various times between 2017 and 2018.

 

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Concentration of credit risk is summarized below:

 

     December 31,  
     2016      2015  

Thermal coal utilities

   $ 62,525      $ 58,281  

Coal brokers and distributors

     28,955        14,435  

Other

     4,227        6,172  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Accounts Receivable Trade

   $         95,707      $         78,888  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Contingencies

From time to time, the Predecessor is subject to various lawsuits and claims with respect to such matters as personal injury, wrongful death, damage to property, exposure to hazardous substances, governmental regulations (including environmental remediation), employment and contract disputes, and other claims and actions, arising out of the normal course of business. Liabilities are recorded when it is probable that obligations have been incurred and the amounts can be reasonably estimated. Estimates are developed through consultation with legal counsel involved in the defense of these matters and are based upon an analysis of potential results, assuming a combination of litigation and settlement strategies. Legal fees associated with defending these various lawsuits and claims are expensed when incurred.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements:

In January 2017, the FASB issued Update 2017-01 - Business Combinations (Topic 805). This update clarifies the definition of a business with the objective of adding guidance to assist entities with evaluating whether transactions should be accounted for as acquisitions (or disposals) of assets or businesses. For public business entities, the amendments in this Update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The adoption of this new guidance is not expected to have a material impact on CONSOL Mining Corporation’s financial statements.

In December 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-19 - Technical Corrections and Improvements, which covers a wide range of Topics in the Accounting Standards Codification (ASC). The amendments in this Update represent changes to clarify, correct errors, or make minor improvements to the ASC, making it easier to understand and apply by eliminating inconsistencies and providing clarifications. The amendments generally fall into one of the following categories: amendments related to differences between original guidance and the ASC, guidance clarification and reference corrections, simplification, or minor improvements. Most of the amendments in this Update do not require transition guidance and are effective upon issuance of this Update.

In October 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-17 - Consolidation (Topic 810): Interests Held through Related Parties that are Under Common Control, which amends the consolidation guidance on how a reporting entity that is the single decision maker of a variable interest entity (VIE) should treat indirect interests in the entity held through related parties that are under common control with the reporting entity when determining whether it is the primary beneficiary of that VIE. The Update requires the reporting entity, in determining whether it satisfies the second characteristic of a primary beneficiary, to include its indirect economic interests in a VIE held through related parties that are under common control on a proportionate basis as opposed to in their entirety. The amendments in this Update will be applied retrospectively and are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The adoption of this new guidance is not expected to have a material impact on CONSOL Mining Corporation’s financial statements.

In August 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-15 - Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments, which addresses eight specific cash flow issues with the objective of reducing the existing diversity in practice. The amendments relate to debt prepayment or debt extinguishment

 

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costs, settlement of zero-coupon debt instruments or other debt instruments with coupon interest rates that are insignificant in relation to the effective interest rate of the borrowing, contingent consideration payments made after a business combination, proceeds from the settlement of insurance claims, proceeds from the settlement of corporate-owned life insurance policies, distributions received from equity method investees, and beneficial interests in securitization transactions. The Update also states that, in the absence of specific guidance for cash receipts and payments that have aspects of more than one class of cash flows, an entity should classify each separately identifiable source or use within the cash receipts and payments on the basis of their nature in financing, investing, or operating activities. In situations in which cash receipts or payments cannot be separated by source or use, the appropriate classification should depend on the activity that is likely to be the predominant source or use of cash flows for the item. The amendments in the Update will be applied using a retrospective transition method to each period presented and, for public entities, are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017 and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in an interim period. Management is currently evaluating the impact this guidance may have on CONSOL Mining Corporation’s financial statements.

In June 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-13 - Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, which provides financial statement users with more decision-useful information about the expected credit losses on financial instruments and other commitments to extend credit held by a reporting entity at each reporting date. To achieve this, the amendments in this Update replace the incurred loss impairment methodology in current Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) with a methodology that reflects expected credit losses and requires consideration of a broader range of reasonable and supportable information to inform credit loss estimates. The measurement of expected credit losses will be based on relevant information about past events, including historical experience, current conditions, and reasonable and supportable forecasts that affect the collectability of the reported amount. The amendments in this Update will be applied using a modified-retrospective approach and, for public entities, are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019 and interim periods within those annual periods. Early adoption is permitted for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018 and interim periods within those annual periods. Management believes this guidance will not have a material impact on CONSOL Mining Corporation’s financial statements.

In May 2014, the FASB issued Update 2014-09 - Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), which supersedes the revenue recognition requirements in Topic 605 - Revenue Recognition and most industry-specific guidance throughout the Industry Topics of the Codification. The objective of the amendments in this Update is to improve financial reporting by creating common revenue recognition guidance for U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The core principle of the guidance is that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services and should disclose sufficient information, both qualitative and quantitative, to enable users of financial statements to understand the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers. The following updates to Topic 606 were made during 2016:

 

   

In March 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-08 - Principal versus Agent Considerations (Reporting Revenue Gross versus Net), which clarifies how an entity determines whether it is a principal or an agent for goods or services promised to a customer as well as the nature of the goods or services promised to their customers.

   

In April 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-10 - Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Identifying Performance Obligations and Licensing, which seeks to address implementation issues in the areas of identifying performance obligations and licensing.

   

In May 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-12 - Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Narrow Scope Improvements and Practical Expedients, which seeks to address implementation issues in the areas of collectability, presentation of sales taxes, noncash consideration, and completed contracts and contract modifications at transition.

 

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In December 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-20 - Technical Corrections and Improvements to Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which includes amendments related to loan guarantee fees, contract costs, provisions for losses on construction and production-type contracts, scope, disclosures, contract modification, contract asset versus receivable, refund liability and advertising costs.

The new standards are effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, with the option to adopt as early as annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016. Management continues to evaluate the impacts that these standards will have on CONSOL Mining Corporation’s financial statements, specifically as it relates to contracts that contain positive electric power price related adjustments. CONSOL Mining Corporation anticipates using the modified retrospective approach at adoption as it relates to ASU 2014-09.

In March 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-09 - Compensation-Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting, which simplifies several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment transactions, including the income tax consequences, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, and classification on the statement of cash flows. Specifically, this Update states that: all excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies should be recognized as income tax expense or benefit in the income statement; excess tax benefits should be classified along with other income tax cash flows as an operating activity; an entity can make an accounting policy election to either estimate the number of awards that are expected to vest or account for forfeitures when they occur; the threshold to qualify for equity classification permits withholding up to the maximum statutory tax rates in the applicable jurisdictions; and cash paid by an employer when directly withholding shares for tax-withholding purposes should be classified as a financing activity. For public entities, the amendments in this Update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016 and interim periods within those annual periods. Early adoption is permitted. The adoption of this new guidance did not have a material impact on CONSOL Mining Corporation’s financial statements.

In February 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-02 - Leases (Topic 842), which increases transparency and comparability among organizations by recognizing lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet and disclosing key information about leasing arrangements. Update 2016-02 does retain a distinction between finance leases and operating leases, which is substantially similar to the classification criteria for distinguishing between capital leases and operating leases in the previous lease guidance. Retaining this distinction allows the recognition, measurement and presentation of expenses and cash flows arising from a lease to not significantly change from previous GAAP. For leases with a term of 12 months or less, a lessee is permitted to make an accounting policy election by class of underlying asset not to recognize lease assets and lease liabilities, but to recognize lease expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term. For both financing and operating leases, the right-to-use asset and lease liability will be initially measured at the present value of the lease payments in the statement of financial position. The accounting applied by a lessor is largely unchanged from that applied under previous GAAP. For public business entities, the amendments in this Update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early application is permitted. In transition, lessees and lessors are required to recognize and measure leases at the beginning of the earliest period presented using a modified retrospective approach. Management is currently evaluating the impact this guidance may have on CONSOL Mining Corporation’s financial statements.

Subsequent Events

Events and transactions subsequent to the balance sheet date have been evaluated through July 10, 2017, the date these financial statements were issued, for potential recognition in the financial statements or disclosure in the accompanying footnotes.

NOTE 3—RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS:

During 2016, 2015 and 2014, the Predecessor’s related parties included CONSOL Energy and its subsidiaries, including Fairmont Supply Company, which was a wholly-owned subsidiary of CONSOL Energy until December 2014.

 

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The Combined Statements of Income include expense allocations for certain corporate functions historically performed by CONSOL Energy, including allocations of stock based compensation and general corporate expenses related to legal, treasury, human resources, information technology and other administrative services. Those allocations, which are included in Selling, General and Administrative Costs in the Combined Statements of Income, were based primarily on specific identification, head counts and coal tons produced. Also, the Predecessor used centralized cash management activities at CONSOL Energy for collections and payments related to normal course of business accounts receivable and payments for goods and services. The balance of any receivable/payable from CONSOL Energy and other affiliates are presented as contributions/distributions in these combined financial statements.

The Predecessor believes that transactions with related parties, other than certain transactions with CONSOL Energy related to administrative services, were conducted on terms comparable to those with unrelated parties and would not have been materially different had they been calculated on a stand-alone basis. However, such expenses may not be indicative of the actual level of expense that the Predecessor would have incurred if it had operated as an independent, publicly-traded company or of the costs expected to be incurred in the future. It would be impracticable to estimate what the costs related to administrative services provided by CONSOL Energy would have been with an unrelated third party.

Fairmont Supply Company also sold the Predecessor supplies for use in its mines during the year ended December 31, 2014.

In July 2015, CNXC closed its initial public offering of 5,000,000 common units representing limited partnership interests at a price to the public of $15.00 per unit. Additionally, Greenlight Capital entered into a common unit purchase agreement with CNXC pursuant to which Greenlight Capital agreed to purchase, and CNXC agreed to sell, 5,000,000 common units at a price per unit equal to $15.00, which equates to $75,000 in net proceeds. CNXC’s general partner is CNX Coal Resources GP, a wholly owned subsidiary of CONSOL Energy. The underwriters of the IPO filing exercised an over-allotment option of 561,067 common units to the public at $15.00 per unit.

In connection with the Initial Public Offering (IPO), CNXC entered into a $400,000 senior secured revolving credit facility with certain lenders and PNC Bank, National Association (PNC), as administrative agent. Obligations under the revolving credit facility are guaranteed by CNXC’s subsidiaries (the guarantor subsidiaries) and are secured by substantially all of CNXC’s and CNXC’s subsidiaries’ assets pursuant to a security agreement and various mortgages. Under the new revolving credit facility, CNXC made an initial draw of $200,000, and after origination fees of $3,000, the net proceeds were $197,000.

The total net proceeds related to these transactions that were distributed to CONSOL Energy were $342,711.

In September 2016, CNXC and its wholly owned subsidiary, CNX Thermal Holdings LLC (CNX Thermal), entered into a Contribution Agreement with CONSOL Energy, Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company LLC and Conrhein Coal Company (the Contributing Parties) under which CNX Thermal acquired an additional 5% undivided interest in and to the Pennsylvania Mine Complex, in exchange for (i) cash consideration in the amount of $21,500 and (ii) CNXC’s issuance of 3,956,496 Class A Preferred Units representing limited partner interests in CNXC at an issue price of $17.01 per Class A preferred Unit (the Class A Preferred Unit Issue Price), or an aggregate $67,300 in equity consideration. The Class A Preferred Unit Issue Price was calculated as the volume-weighted average trading price of CNXC’s common units (the Common Units) over the trailing 15-day trading period ending on September 29, 2016 (or $14.79 per unit), plus a 15% premium.

In connection with the PAMC acquisition, in September 2016, the CNXC GP and CNXC entered into the First Amended and Restated Omnibus Agreement (the “Amended Omnibus Agreement”) with CONSOL Energy and certain of its subsidiaries. Under the Amended Omnibus Agreement, CONSOL Energy indemnified CNXC for certain liabilities. The Amended Omnibus Agreement also amended CNXC’s obligations to CONSOL Energy

 

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with respect to the payment of an annual administrative support fee and reimbursement for the provisions of certain management and operating services provided, in each case to reflect structural changes in how those services are provided to CNXC by CONSOL Energy.

Charges for services from CONSOL Energy include the following:

 

     December 31,  
     2016      2015      2014  

Operating and Other Costs

   $ 4,251      $ 6,793      $ 6,707  

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

     3,826        8,926        11,384  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Services from CONSOL Energy

   $             8,077      $             15,719      $             18,091  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

At March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, CNXC had a net payable to CONSOL Energy in the amount of $1,764 and $1,666, respectively. This payable includes reimbursements for business expenses, executive fees, stock-based compensation and other items under the omnibus agreement.

NOTE 4—LONG-TERM DEBT:

 

     December 31,  
     2016      2015  

Debt:

     

Revolving Credit Facility - CNX Coal Resources LP

   $ 201,000      $ 185,000  

MEDCO Revenue Bonds in Series due September 2025 at 5.75%

     102,865        102,865  
Advance Royalty Commitments (7.73%, and 16.35% Weighted Average Interest Rate, respectively)      2,678        3,962  

Less: Unamortized Debt Issuance Costs

     4,343        5,375  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 
   $ 302,200      $ 286,452  

Less: Amounts Due in One Year*

     373        675  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Long-Term Debt

   $     301,827      $     285,777  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

* Excludes current portion of Capital Lease Obligations of $3,703 and $357 at December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Annual undisclosed maturities on long-term debt during the next five years and thereafter are as follows:

 

Year ended December 31,    Amount  

2017

     $373  

2018

     $314  

2019

     $292  

2020

      $201,270  

2021

     $250  

Thereafter

      $104,044  
  

 

 

 

Total Long-term Debt Maturities

      $306,543  
  

 

 

 

 

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NOTE 5—PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

The Predecessor’s property, plant and equipment consist of the following:

 

     December 31,
2016
     December 31,
2015
 
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Plant and Equipment

   $ 2,680,453       $ 2,663,314   

Airshafts

     381,755         361,872   

Coal Properties and Surface Lands

     861,048         865,581   

Mine Development

     344,139         344,298   

Advance Mining Royalties

     326,000         327,475   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Property, Plant and Equipment

     4,593,395         4,562,540   

Less Accumulated Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     2,413,125         2,237,359   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Property, Plant and Equipment, Net

   $       2,180,270       $       2,325,181   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

NOTE 6—OTHER ACCRUED LIABILITIES:

 

     December 31,  
           2016                  2015        

Subsidence liability

   $ 104,437       $ 86,860   

Accrued payroll and benefits

     17,326         15,640   

Equipment lease rental

     15,286         15,286   

Accrued other taxes

     12,732         6,071   

Litigation

     12,532         13,215   

Deferred revenue

     10,520         4,670   

Short-term incentive compensation

     6,073         3,211   

Other

     21,986         23,902   

Current portion of long-term liabilities:

     

Postretirement benefits other than pensions

     40,611         40,863   

Mine closing

     14,276         22,599   

Workers’ compensation

     13,596         14,507   

Gas well closing

     11,983         10,346   

Pneumoconiosis benefits

     10,763         9,382   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Other Accrued Liabilities

   $         292,121       $         266,552   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

NOTE 7—ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS:

The Predecessor accrues for mine closing costs, perpetual water care costs, costs related to the dismantling and removing of natural gas related facilities and surface reclamation costs using the accounting treatment prescribed by the Asset Retirement and Environmental Obligations Topic of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification. The Predecessor recognizes capitalized asset retirement costs by increasing the carrying amount of related long-lived assets.

 

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The reconciliation of changes in the asset retirement obligations:

 

     December 31,
     2016   2015

Balance at beginning of period

   $ 288,977     $ 318,899  

Accretion expense

     20,111       22,740  

Payments

     (11,637     (15,384

Revisions in estimated cash flows

     (25,427     (31,481

Other

     514       (5,797
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balance at end of period

   $     272,538     $     288,977  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the year ended December 31, 2015, Other includes ($2,133) related to the disposition of two Perpetual Care sites and ($2,355) related to the disposition of a non-producing mine.

NOTE 8—PENSION AND OTHER POSTRETIREMENT BENEFIT PLANS (OPEB):

Pension:

CONSOL Mining Corporation has non-contributory defined benefit retirement plans. Effective December 31, 2015, CONSOL Mining Corporation’s qualified defined benefit retirement plan was frozen. The benefits for these plans are based primarily on years of service and employees’ pay. CONSOL Mining Corporation’s qualified pension plan allows for lump-sum distributions of benefits earned up until December 31, 2005, at the employees’ election.

On September 30, 2014, the qualified pension plan was amended to reduce future accruals of pension benefits as of January 1, 2015. The plan amendment called for a hard freeze of the qualified defined benefit pension plan on January 1, 2015 for employees who were under age 40 or had less than 10 years of service as of September 30, 2014. Employees who were age 40 or over and had at least 10 years of service continued in the defined benefit pension plan unchanged. The modifications to the pension plan resulted in a $21,624 reduction in the pension liability.

On August 31, 2015, the qualified pension plan was remeasured to reflect an announced plan amendment that reduced accruals of pension benefits as of January 1, 2016. The plan amendment called for a hard freeze of the qualified defined benefit pension plan on January 1, 2016 for all remaining participants in the plan. The modifications to the pension plan resulted in a $26,352 reduction in the pension liability. The amendment resulted in a remeasurement of the qualified pension plan at August 31, 2015, which increased the pension liability by $17,793.

In the third quarter of 2015, CONSOL Mining Corporation remeasured its pension plan as a result of the previously discussed plan amendment. In conjunction with this remeasurement, the method used to estimate the service and interest components of net periodic benefit cost for pension was changed. This change was also made to other postretirement benefits in the fourth quarter during the annual remeasurement of that plan. This change, compared to the previous method, resulted in a decrease in the service and interest components for pension cost in the third quarter. Historically, CONSOL Mining Corporation estimated these service and interest cost components utilizing a single weighted-average discount rate derived from the yield curve used to measure the benefit obligation at the beginning of the period. CONSOL Mining Corporation has elected to utilize a full yield curve approach in the estimation of these components by applying the specific spot rates along the yield curve used in the determination of the benefit obligation to the relevant projected cash flows. This change was made to provide a more precise measurement of service and interest costs by improving the correlation between projected benefit cash flows to the corresponding spot yield curve rates. This change is immaterial to CONSOL Mining

 

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Corporation’s financial statements. CONSOL Mining Corporation has accounted for this change as a change in accounting estimate that is inseparable from a change in accounting principle and, accordingly, accounted for it prospectively.

According to the Defined Benefit Plans Topic of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification, if the lump sum distributions made during a plan year, which for CONSOL Mining Corporation is January 1 to December 31, exceed the total of the projected service cost and interest cost for the plan year, settlement accounting is required. Lump sum payments exceeded this threshold during the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015, and 2014. Accordingly, CONSOL Mining Corporation recognized settlement expense of $22,196, $19,053, and $29,095 for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014 respectively, in Operating and Other Costs in the Combined Statements of Income. The settlement charges resulted in remeasurements of the pension plan during 2016, 2015 and 2014.

Other Postretirement Benefit Plans:

Certain subsidiaries of CONSOL Mining Corporation provide medical and prescription drug benefits to retired employees covered by the Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefit Act of 1992 (the Coal Act). Represented hourly employees are eligible to participate based upon the terms of the National Bituminous Coal Wage Agreement of 2011.

On September 30, 2014, the Salaried OPEB plan and Production and Maintenance (P&M) OPEB plans were remeasured to reflect an announced plan amendment that reduced retiree medical and life insurance benefits as of September 30, 2014. Effective September 30, 2014, no retiree medical, prescription drug or life benefits were to be provided to active employees. Salaried and P&M retirees as of September 30, 2014 were to continue in the OPEB plans for a maximum period up to December 31, 2019 and coverage thereafter was eliminated (see below for information on an additional amendment made to these plans in 2015). CONSOL Mining Corporation elected to make cash transition payments totaling approximately $46,282 to the active employees whose retiree medical, prescription drug and life insurance benefits were eliminated by the changes to the OPEB plans. These cash payments are not considered to be post-retirement benefits, and as such, they are not reflected in the actuarial calculations related to the OPEB plans. The amendment to the OPEB plans resulted in a $315,439 reduction in the OPEB liability and a curtailment gain of $35,633.

On May 31, 2015, the Salaried OPEB and P&M OPEB plans were remeasured to reflect another plan amendment which eliminated Salaried and P&M OPEB benefits at December 31, 2015. The amendment to the OPEB plans resulted in a $43,598 reduction in the OPEB liability. The amendment also resulted in a remeasurement of the OPEB plan at May 31, 2015, which decreased the liability by $1,070. CONSOL Mining Corporation recognized income of $235,541 related to amortization of prior service credits, coupled with recognition of actuarial losses in Operating and Other Costs in the Combined Statements of Income for the year ended December 31, 2015 as a result of the changes made to the Salaried and P&M OPEB plans.

CONSOL Mining Corporation will incur savings from cost containment changes related to pharmacy benefits, which were implemented on January 1, 2017, and increased member responsibility when using out-of-network providers and facilities, which will be implemented on March 27, 2017. These plan amendments resulted in a $28,164 reduction in the OPEB liability during the year ended December 31, 2016.

 

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The reconciliation of changes in the benefit obligation, plan assets and funded status of these plans at December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014 is as follows:

 

     Pension Benefits
at December 31,
  Other Postretirement
Benefits
at December 31,
     2016   2015   2016   2015

Change in benefit obligation:

        

Benefit obligation at beginning of period

   $ 751,617     $ 858,864     $ 671,755     $ 760,959  

Service cost

     1,533       8,256              

Interest cost

     25,048       31,655       24,241       27,238  

Actuarial loss (gain)

     46,885       (38,909     77,640       (9,224

Plan amendments

                 (28,164     (43,598

Plan transfer*

                       (5,242

Plan curtailments

           (26,352            

Plan settlements

     (54,197     (51,497            

Participant contributions

                       1,649  

Benefits and other payments

     (35,709     (30,400     (45,387     (60,027
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Benefit obligation at end of period

   $ 735,177     $ 751,617     $ 700,085     $ 671,755  
        

Change in plan assets:

        

Fair value of plan assets at beginning of period

   $ 669,039     $ 751,176     $     $  

Actual return (loss) on plan assets

     50,575       (9,293            

Company contributions

     2,726       9,053       45,387       58,378  

Participant contributions

                       1,649  

Benefits and other payments

     (35,709     (30,400     (45,387     (60,027

Plan settlements

     (54,197     (51,497            
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fair value of plan assets at end of period

   $ 632,434     $ 669,039     $     $  
        

Funded status:

        

Current liabilities

   $ (2,871   $ (2,746   $ (40,611   $ (40,863

Noncurrent liabilities

     (99,872     (79,832     (659,474     (630,892
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net obligation recognized

   $ (102,743   $ (82,578   $ (700,085   $ (671,755
        

Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income consist of:

        

Net actuarial loss

   $ 295,152     $ 283,528     $ 426,392     $ 367,920  

Prior service credit

     (1,372     (1,874     (28,164      
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net amount recognized (before tax effect)

   $     293,780     $     281,654     $     398,228     $     367,920  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* The plan transfer relates to the IBNR (incurred but not reported) costs associated with the terminated Salaried and P&M OPEB plans. These costs are now included in Other Accrued Liabilities in the Combined Balance Sheets.

 

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The components of net periodic benefit costs are as follows:

 

    Pension Benefits   Other Postretirement Benefits
    For the Years Ended December 31,   For the Years Ended December 31,
    2016   2015   2014   2016   2015   2014

Components of net periodic benefit cost:

           

Service cost

  $ 1,533     $ 8,256     $ 16,913     $     $     $ 7,089  

Interest cost

    25,048       31,655       34,998       24,241             27,238       44,177  

Expected return on plan assets

    (46,674     (51,528     (51,400                  

Amortization of prior service credits

    (502     (579     (1,129           (336,327     (21,163

Recognized net actuarial loss

    9,163       20,870       23,544       19,168       102,875       28,682  

Curtailment loss (gain)

          5       (549                 (35,633

Settlement loss (gain)

    22,196       19,053       29,095             (8,932      
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net periodic benefit cost (credit)

  $       10,764     $       27,732     $       51,472     $       43,409     $ (215,146   $       23,152  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amounts included in accumulated other comprehensive loss which are expected to be recognized in 2017 net periodic benefit costs:

 

     Pension
Benefits
    Other
Postretirement
Benefits
 

Prior service credit recognition

   $ (502   $ (2,405

Actuarial loss recognition

   $           8,897     $           23,112  

CONSOL Mining Corporation utilizes a corridor approach to amortize actuarial gains and losses that have been accumulated under the Pension Plan. Cumulative gains and losses that are in excess of 10% of the greater of either the projected benefit obligation (PBO) or the market-related value of plan assets are amortized over the expected remaining future lifetime of all plan participants for the Pension plan.

CONSOL Mining Corporation also utilizes a corridor approach to amortize actuarial gains and losses that have been accumulated under the OPEB Plan. Cumulative gains and losses that are in excess of 10% of the greater of either the accumulated postretirement benefit obligation (APBO) or the market-related value of plan assets are amortized over the average future remaining lifetime of the current inactive population for the OPEB plan.

The following table provides information related to pension plans with an accumulated benefit obligation in excess of plan assets:

 

     As of December 31,  
     2016      2015  

Projected benefit obligation

   $     735,177      $     751,617  

Accumulated benefit obligation

   $ 733,542      $ 749,805  

Fair value of plan assets

   $ 632,434      $ 669,039  

 

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Assumptions:

The weighted-average assumptions used to determine benefit obligations are as follows:

 

     Pension Benefits      Other Postretirement Benefits  
     For the Year Ended      For the Year Ended  
     December 31,      December 31,  
       2016          2015          2014          2016          2015          2014    

Discount rate

     4.31%        4.50%        4.07%        4.22%        4.50%        4.03%  

Rate of compensation increase

     3.90%        3.80%        3.80%        —          —          —    

The discount rates are determined using a Company-specific yield curve model (above-mean) developed with the assistance of an external actuary. The Company-specific yield curve models (above-mean) use a subset of the expanded bond universe to determine the Company-specific discount rate. Bonds used in the yield curve are rated AA by Moody’s or Standard & Poor’s as of the measurement date. The yield curve models parallel the plans’ projected cash flows, and the underlying cash flows of the bonds included in the models exceed the cash flows needed to satisfy the Predecessor’s plans.

The weighted-average assumptions used to determine net periodic benefit costs are as follows:

 

     Pension Benefits at     

Other
Postretirement

Benefits at

 
     December 31,      December 31,  
       2016          2015          2016          2015    

Discount rate

     4.52%        4.07%        4.50%        4.03%  

Expected long-term return on plan assets

     7.25%        7.75%        —          —    

Rate of compensation increase

     3.80%        3.80%        —          —    

The long-term rate of return is the sum of the portion of total assets in each asset class held multiplied by the expected return for that class, adjusted for expected expenses to be paid from the assets. The expected return for each class is determined using the plan asset allocation at the measurement date and a distribution of compound average returns over a twenty year time horizon. The model uses asset class returns, variances and correlation assumptions to produce the expected return for each portfolio. The return assumptions used forward-looking gross returns influenced by the current Treasury yield curve. These returns recognize current bond yields, corporate bond spreads and equity risk premiums based on current market conditions.

The assumed health care cost trend rates are as follows:

 

     At December 31,  
         2016             2015      

Health care cost trend rate for next year

     6.31     6.49

Rate to which the cost trend is assumed to decline (ultimate trend rate)

     4.50     4.50

Year that the rate reaches ultimate trend rate

     2038       2038  

Assumed health care cost trend rates have a significant effect on the amounts reported for the medical plans. A one-percentage point change in assumed health care cost trend rates would have the following effects:

 

     1 Percentage
Point Increase
     1 Percentage
Point Decrease
 

Effect on total of service and interest cost components

   $ 3,659      $ (3,053)  

Effect on accumulated postretirement benefit obligation

   $ 84,381      $ (71,751)  

 

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Plan Assets:

CONSOL Mining Corporation’s overall investment strategy is to meet current and future benefit payment needs through diversification across asset classes, fund strategies and fund managers to achieve an optimal balance between risk and return and between income and growth of assets through capital appreciation. Consistent with the objectives of the Trust and in consideration of the Trust’s current funded status and the current level of market interest rates, the Retirement Board has approved an asset allocation strategy that will change over time in response to future improvements in the Trust’s funded status and/or changes in market interest rates. Such changes in asset allocation strategy are intended to allocate additional assets to the fixed income asset class should the Trust’s funded status improve. In this framework, the current target allocation for plan assets is 26% U.S. equity securities, 16.5% non-U.S. equity securities, 7.5% global equity securities and 50% fixed income. Both the equity and fixed income portfolios are comprised of both active and passive investment strategies. The Trust is primarily invested in Mercer Common Collective Trusts. Equity securities consist of investments in large and mid/small cap companies; non-U.S. equities are derived from both developed and emerging markets. Fixed income securities consist of U.S. as well as international instruments, including emerging markets. The core domestic fixed income portfolios invest in government, corporate, asset-backed securities and mortgage-backed obligations. The average quality of the fixed income portfolio must be rated at least “investment grade” by nationally recognized rating agencies. Within the fixed income asset class, investments are invested primarily across various strategies such that its overall profile strongly correlates with the interest rate sensitivity of the Trust’s liabilities in order to reduce the volatility resulting from the risk of changes in interest rates and the impact of such changes on the Trust’s overall financial status. Derivatives, interest rate swaps, options and futures are permitted investments for the purpose of reducing risk and to extend the duration of the overall fixed income portfolio; however, they may not be used for speculative purposes. All or a portion of the assets may be invested in mutual funds or other commingled vehicles so long as the pooled investment funds have an adequate asset base relative to their asset class; are invested in a diversified manner; and have management and/or oversight by an Investment Adviser registered with the SEC. The Retirement Board, as appointed by the CONSOL Mining Corporation Board of Directors, reviews the investment program on an ongoing basis including asset performance, current trends and developments in capital markets, changes in Trust liabilities and ongoing appropriateness of the overall investment policy.

In May 2015, the FASB issued an Accounting Standards Update that removes the requirement to categorize within the fair value hierarchy investments for which fair values are estimated using the net asset value practical expedient provided by Accounting Standards Codification 820, Fair Value Measurement. This new guidance is effective for public entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015. In accordance with this Update, certain investments in 2016, 2015 and 2014 that are measured at fair value using the net asset value per share (or its equivalent) practical expedient have not been classified as Level 1, 2 or 3 in the below fair value hierarchy but are included in the total.

The fair values of plan assets at December 31, 2016 and 2015 by asset category are as follows:

 

     Fair Value Measurements at December 31, 2016    Fair Value Measurements at December 31, 2015
          Quoted                   Quoted          
          Prices in                   Prices in          
          Active                   Active          
          Markets for    Significant    Significant         Markets for    Significant    Significant
          Identical    Observable    Unobservable         Identical    Observable    Unobservable
          Assets    Inputs    Inputs         Assets    Inputs    Inputs
     Total    (Level 1)    (Level 2)    (Level 3)    Total    (Level 1)    (Level 2)    (Level 3)

Asset Category

                       

Cash/Accrued Income

   $ 639      $ 639      $      $      $ 631      $ 631      $      $  

US Equities (a)

     11        11                      10        10                

Mercer Common Collective Trusts (b)

     631,784                             668,398                       
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total

   $   632,434      $   650      $      $      $   669,039      $           641      $           —      $           —  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

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  (a)

This category includes investments in US common stocks and corporate debt.

 

  (b)

Certain investments that are measured at fair value using the net asset value per share (or its equivalent) practical expedient have not been classified in the fair value hierarchy but are included in the total.

There are no investments in CONSOL Energy or CONSOL Mining Corporation stock held by these plans at December 31, 2016 and 2015.

There are no assets in the other postretirement benefit plans at December 31, 2016 and 2015.

Cash Flows:

If necessary, CONSOL Mining Corporation intends to contribute to the pension trust using prudent funding methods. However, CONSOL Mining Corporation does not expect to contribute to the pension plan trust in 2017. Pension benefit payments are primarily funded from the trust. CONSOL Mining Corporation expects to pay benefits of $2,871 from the non-qualified pension plan in 2017. CONSOL Mining Corporation does not expect to contribute to the other postemployment plan in 2017 and intends to pay benefit claims as they are due.

The following benefit payments, reflecting expected future service, are expected to be paid:

 

            Other  
     Pension      Postretirement  
     Benefits      Benefits  

2017

   $ 47,340      $ 40,611  

2018

   $ 47,066      $ 43,829  

2019

   $ 46,174      $ 43,932  

2020

   $ 45,735      $ 44,136  

2021

   $ 44,167      $ 44,233  

Year 2022-2026

   $           223,536      $           215,248  

NOTE 9—COAL WORKERS’ PNEUMOCONIOSIS (CWP) AND WORKERS’ COMPENSATION:

Under the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, as amended, CONSOL Mining Corporation is responsible for medical and disability benefits to employees and their dependents resulting from occurrences of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis disease. CONSOL Mining Corporation is also responsible under various state statutes for pneumoconiosis benefits. CONSOL Mining Corporation primarily provides for these claims through a self-insurance program. The calculation of the actuarial present value of the estimated pneumoconiosis obligation is based on an annual actuarial study by independent actuaries and uses assumptions regarding disability incidence, medical costs, indemnity levels, mortality, death benefits, dependents and interest rates which are derived from actual company experience and outside sources. Recent legislative changes have not been favorable for CWP. Although these changes have not had a significant impact on the liability, CONSOL Mining Corporation has noticed an increase in claims. Actuarial gains or losses can result from differences in incident rates and severity of claims filed as compared to original assumptions.

CONSOL Mining Corporation must also compensate individuals who sustain employment-related physical injuries or some types of occupational diseases and, on some occasions, for costs of their rehabilitation. Workers’ compensation laws will also compensate survivors of workers who suffer employment-related deaths. Workers’ compensation laws are administered by state agencies, and each state has its own set of rules and regulations regarding compensation that is owed to an employee that is injured in the course of employment. CONSOL Mining Corporation primarily provides for these claims through a self-insurance program. CONSOL Mining

 

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Corporation recognizes an actuarial present value of the estimated workers’ compensation obligation calculated by independent actuaries. The calculation is based on claims filed and an estimate of claims incurred but not yet reported as well as various assumptions, including discount rate, future healthcare trend rate, benefit duration and recurrence of injuries. Actuarial gains or losses associated with workers’ compensation have resulted from discount rate changes and differences in claims experience and incident rates as compared to prior assumptions.

 

     CWP  

Workers’

Compensation

     at December 31,   at December 31,
     2016   2015   2016   2015

Change in benefit obligation:

        

Benefit obligation at beginning of period

   $ 121,285     $ 124,815     $ 81,502     $ 87,946  

State administrative fees and insurance bond premiums

                 3,199       3,510  

Service cost

     4,327       6,194       7,466       9,201  

Interest cost

     4,283       5,116       2,499       3,131  

Actuarial loss (gain)

     439       (5,089     121       (4,007

Benefits paid

     (10,191     (9,751     (16,688     (18,619

Curtailment gain

     (1,307                  

Settlements

                       340  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Benefit obligation at end of period

   $     118,836     $     121,285     $     78,099     $       81,502  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

Current assets

   $     $     $ 1,429     $ 1,421  

Current liabilities

     (10,763     (9,382     (13,596     (14,507

Noncurrent liabilities

     (108,073     (111,903     (65,932     (68,416
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net obligation recognized

   $ (118,836   $ (121,285   $ (78,099   $ (81,502
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income consist of:

        

Net actuarial gain

   $ (62,714   $ (68,101   $ (12,656   $ (13,171
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net amount recognized (before tax effect)

   $ (62,714   $ (68,101   $ (12,656   $ (13,171
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The components of the net periodic cost are as follows:

 

     CWP   Workers’ Compensation
     For the Years Ended   For the Years Ended
     December 31,   December 31,
     2016   2015   2014   2016   2015   2014

Service cost

   $ 4,327     $ 6,194     $ 5,587     $ 7,466     $ 9,201     $ 9,585  

Interest cost

     4,283       5,116       5,537       2,499       3,131       3,506  

Recognized net actuarial gain

     (4,948     (5,576     (6,196     (395     (30     (375

State administrative fees and insurance bond premiums

                       3,199       3,510       3,285  

Curtailment gain

     (1,307                              
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net periodic cost

   $ 2,355     $ 5,734     $ 4,928     $ 12,769     $ 15,812     $ 16,001  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The following are amounts included in accumulated other comprehensive income that are expected to be recognized in 2017 net periodic benefit costs:

 

         Workers’
     CWP   Compensation
     Benefits   Benefits

Actuarial gain recognition

   $ (7,631   $ (598

CONSOL Mining Corporation utilizes a corridor approach to amortize actuarial gains and losses that have been accumulated under the Workers’ Compensation and CWP plans. Cumulative gains and losses that are in excess of 10% of the greater of either the estimated liability or the market-related value of plan assets are amortized over the expected average remaining future service of the current active membership of the Workers’ Compensation and CWP plans.

Assumptions:

The weighted-average discount rates used to determine benefit obligations and net periodic cost are as follows:

 

     CWP   Workers’ Compensation
     For the Years Ended   For the Years Ended
     December 31,   December 31,
     2016   2015   2014     2016       2015       2014  

Benefit obligations

     4.40     4.60     4.21     4.05     4.26     3.84

Net periodic cost

     4.60     4.21     4.75     4.26     3.84     4.57

Discount rates are determined using a Company-specific yield curve model (above-mean) developed with the assistance of an external actuary. The Company-specific yield curve models (above-mean) use a subset of the expanded bond universe to determine the Company-specific discount rate. Bonds used in the yield curve are rated AA by Moody’s or Standard & Poor’s as of the measurement date. The yield curve models parallel the plans’ projected cash flows, and the underlying cash flows of the bonds included in the models exceed the cash flows needed to satisfy the Predecessor’s plans.

Cash Flows:

CONSOL Mining Corporation does not intend to make contributions to the CWP or Workers’ Compensation plans in 2017, but it intends to pay benefit claims as they become due.

The following benefit payments, which reflect expected future claims as appropriate, are expected to be paid:

 

          Workers’ Compensation
     CWP
Benefits
   Total
Benefits
   Actuarial
Benefits
   Other
Benefits

2017

   $ 10,763      $ 15,579      $ 12,168      $ 3,411  

2018

   $ 8,417      $ 14,890      $ 11,393      $ 3,497  

2019

   $ 7,606      $ 14,760      $ 11,176      $ 3,584  

2020

   $ 7,137      $ 14,743      $ 11,069      $ 3,674  

2021

   $ 6,963      $ 14,755      $ 10,990      $ 3,765  

Year 2022-2026

   $         35,714      $         75,045      $         54,758      $         20,287  

NOTE 10—OTHER BENEFIT PLANS:

UMWA Benefit Trusts:

The Coal Act created two multi-employer benefit plans: (1) the United Mine Workers of America Combined Benefit Fund (the Combined Fund) into which the former UMWA Benefit Trusts were merged, and (2) the

 

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United Mine Workers of America 1992 Benefit Plan (1992 Benefit Plan). CONSOL Mining Corporation accounts for required contributions to these multi-employer trusts as expense when incurred.

The Combined Fund provides medical and death benefits for all beneficiaries of the former UMWA Benefit Trusts who were actually receiving benefits as of July 20, 1992. The 1992 Benefit Plan provides medical and death benefits to orphan UMWA-represented members eligible for retirement on February 1, 1993, and for those who retired between July 20, 1992 and September 30, 1994. The Coal Act provides for the assignment of beneficiaries to former employers and the allocation of unassigned beneficiaries (referred to as orphans) to companies using a formula set forth in the Coal Act. The Coal Act requires that responsibility for funding the benefits to be paid to beneficiaries be assigned to their former signatory employers or related companies. This cost is recognized when contributions are assessed. CONSOL Mining Corporation’s total contributions under the Coal Act were $8,455, $9,239 and $10,121 for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively. Based on available information at December 31, 2016, CONSOL Mining Corporation’s obligation for the Combined Fund and 1992 Benefit Plans is estimated to be approximately $93,795.

Pursuant to the provisions of the Tax Relief and Healthcare Act of 2006 (the 2006 Act) and the 1992 Benefit Plan, CONSOL Mining Corporation is required to provide security in an amount based on the annual cost of providing health care benefits for all individuals receiving benefits from the 1992 Benefit Plan who are attributable to CONSOL Mining Corporation, plus all individuals receiving benefits from an individual employer plan maintained by CONSOL Mining Corporation who are entitled to receive such benefits. In accordance with the terms of the 2006 Act and the 1992 Benefit Plan, CONSOL Mining Corporation must secure its obligations by posting letters of credit, which were $19,170, $21,473 and $21,394 at December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively. The 2016, 2015 and 2014 security amounts were based on the annual cost of providing health care benefits and included a reduction in the number of eligible employees.

Investment Plan:

CONSOL Energy has an investment plan available to most non-represented employees in which CONSOL Mining Corporation employees may participate. Throughout the year ended December 31, 2016, the Predecessor’s matching contribution was 6% of eligible compensation contributed by eligible employees. In conjunction with the qualified pension plan changes in 2015, the Predecessor contributed an additional 3% of eligible compensation into the 401(k) plan accounts for employees hired or rehired on or after October 1, 2014 or who were under age 40 or had less than 10 years of service with the Predecessor as of September 30, 2014. This additional contribution was eliminated on January 1, 2016. The Predecessor may also make discretionary contributions to the Plan ranging from 1% to 6% (1% to 4% prior to January 1, 2016) of eligible compensation for eligible employees (as defined by the Plan). Discretionary contributions made by the Predecessor were $9,499 for the year ended December 31, 2016. There were no such discretionary contributions made by the Predecessor for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014. Total payments and costs were $17,687, $13,729 and $11,564 for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively.

Long-Term Disability:

CONSOL Mining Corporation has a Long-Term Disability Plan available to all eligible full-time salaried employees. The benefits for this plan are based on a percentage of monthly earnings, offset by all other income benefits available to the disabled.

 

           For the Years Ended      
December 31,
     2016   2015   2014

Benefit cost

   $     1,936     $     2,383     $     2,014  

Discount rate assumption used to determine net periodic benefit costs

     3.71     3.18     3.53

 

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Liabilities incurred under the Long-Term Disability Plan are included in Other Accrued Liabilities and Long-Term Liabilities–Other in the Combined Balance Sheets and amounted to a combined total of $17,421, $18,008 and $20,409 at December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively.

NOTE 11—COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES:

The Predecessor is subject to various lawsuits and claims with respect to such matters as personal injury, wrongful death, damage to property, exposure to hazardous substances, governmental regulations including environmental remediation, employment and contract disputes and other claims and actions arising out of the normal course of business. The Company accrues the estimated loss for these lawsuits and claims when the loss is probable and reasonably estimable. The Predecessor current estimated accruals related to these pending claims, individually and in the aggregate, are immaterial to the financial position, results of operations or cash flows of the Predecessor. It is possible that the aggregate loss in the future with respect to these lawsuits and claims could ultimately be material to the Predecessor’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows; however, such amounts cannot be reasonably estimated. The amount claimed against the Predecessor is disclosed below when an amount is expressly stated in the lawsuit or claim, which is not often the case.

Fitzwater Litigation : Three nonunion retired coal miners have sued CONSOL Energy Inc., Fola Coal Company and Consolidation Coal Company in West Virginia Federal Court alleging ERISA violations in the termination of retiree health care benefits. The Plaintiffs contend they relied to their detriment on oral statements and promises of “lifetime health benefits” allegedly made by various members of management during Plaintiffs’ employment and that they were allegedly denied access to Summary Plan Documents that clearly reserved to the Predecessor the right to modify or terminate the CONSOL Energy Inc. Retiree Health and Welfare Plan. Plaintiffs request that retiree health benefits be reinstated and seek to represent a class of all nonunion retirees of CONSOL Energy and its subsidiaries. The Predecessor believes it has meritorious defense and intends to vigorously defend this suit.

Virginia Mine Void Litigation . Four lawsuits naming Consolidation Coal Company, Island Creek Coal Company, CNX Gas Company, and/or CONSOL Energy have recently concluded in favor of the companies. After the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants in two of the actions upon its finding that plaintiffs’ claims are barred by the applicable statutes of limitation, plaintiffs appealed both cases to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. On March 9, 2017, the Fourth Circuit affirmed and entered judgment in favor of the defendants. Plaintiffs did not seek review by the U.S. Supreme Court and those judgments are now final. As a direct result of the Fourth Circuit action, Motions for Voluntary Dismissal were filed and granted by the court in both of the two remaining cases. On January 26, 2016, six mine void lawsuits that had twice before been filed and voluntarily dismissed were refiled for a third time in state court but have not been served. Because each had twice before been filed and voluntarily dismissed, and because the most recent refilings were not served within a one-year period, under these procedural circumstances these actions should no longer be viable under federal or Virginia state law. The complaints sought damages and injunctive relief in connection with the transfer of water from mining activities at Buchanan Mine into void spaces in inactive ICCC mines adjacent to the Buchanan operations, voids ostensibly underlying plaintiffs’ properties. While some of the plaintiffs claimed an ownership interest in the coal, others had some interest in one or more of the fee, surface, oil/gas or other mineral estates. The suits alleged the water storage precluded access to and damaged coal, impeded coalbed methane gas production and was made without compensation to the property owners. Plaintiffs sought recovery in tort, contract and trespass assumpsit (quasi-contract). The suits each sought damages between $50,000 and in excess of $100,000 plus punitive damages.

Other Matters: The Predecessor is a defendant in certain other legal proceedings arising out of the conduct of its business. In the opinion of management, based upon an investigation of these matters and discussion with legal counsel, the ultimate outcome of such other legal proceedings and compliance reviews, individually and in the aggregate, is not expected to have a material adverse effect on the Predecessor’s financial position, results of operations or liquidity.

 

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Employee-related financial guarantees have primarily been provided to support the United Mine Workers’ of America’s 1992 Benefit Plan and various state workers’ compensation self-insurance programs. Environmental financial guarantees have primarily been provided to support various performance bonds related to reclamation and other environmental issues. Coal and other financial guarantees have primarily been provided to support various sales contracts. Other guarantees have been extended to support insurance policies, legal matters, full and timely payments of mining equipment leases, and various other items necessary in the normal course of business.

At December 31, 2016, the Predecessor has provided the following financial guarantees, unconditional purchase obligations and letters of credit to certain third parties, as described by major category in the following table. These amounts represent the maximum potential of total future payments that the Predecessor could be required to make under these instruments. These amounts have not been reduced for potential recoveries under recourse or collateralization provisions. Generally, recoveries under reclamation bonds would be limited to the extent of the work performed at the time of the default. No amounts related to these financial guarantees and letters of credit are recorded as liabilities in the financial statements. CONSOL Mining Corporation management believes that these guarantees will expire without being funded, and therefore the commitments will not have a material adverse effect on financial condition.

 

     Amount of Commitment Expiration Per Period
     Total
Amounts
Committed
   Less Than
1 Year
   1-3 Years    3-5 Years    Beyond
5 Years

Letters of Credit:

              

Employee-Related

   $ 82,273      $ 67,871      $ 14,402      $      $  

Environmental

     998        600        398                

Other

     23,326        22,626        700                
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Letters of Credit

     106,597        91,097        15,500                
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Surety Bonds:

              

Employee-Related

     112,810        111,510        1,300                

Environmental

     509,341        478,379        30,962                

Other

     10,609        10,442        166        1         
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Surety Bonds

     632,760        600,331        32,428        1         
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Guarantees:

              

Other

     74,203        41,285        17,767        13,401        1,750  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Guarantees

     74,203        41,285        17,767        13,401        1,750  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Commitments

   $ 813,560      $ 732,713      $ 65,695      $ 13,402      $ 1,750  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

The Predecessor regularly evaluates the likelihood of default for all guarantees based on an expected loss analysis and records the fair value, if any, of its guarantees as an obligation in the combined financial statements.

 

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NOTE 12—LEASES:

CONSOL Mining Corporation uses various leased facilities and equipment in its operations. Future minimum lease payments under capital and operating leases, together with the present value of the net minimum capital lease payments, at December 31, 2016 are as follows:

 

     Capital
Leases
     Operating
Leases
 

Year Ended December 31,

     

2017

   $ 4,492      $ 93,818  

2018

     3,779        56,197  

2019

     3,644        30,017  

2020

     3,473        21,119  

2021

     2,252        20,213  

Thereafter

            20,696  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total minimum lease payments

   $           17,640      $           242,060  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Less amount representing interest (2.00% – 6.00%)

     2,125     
  

 

 

    

Present value of minimum lease payments

     15,515     

Less amount due in one year

     3,703     
  

 

 

    

Total Long-Term Capital Lease Obligation

   $ 11,812     
  

 

 

    

Rental expense under operating leases was $87,903, $83,423, and $84,034 for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively.

At December 31, 2016, certain of the above capital leases for mining equipment are subleased to a third-party. The following represents the minimum payments including interest for those capital subleases:

 

    2017             2018             2019             2020             2021             Thereafter             Total      
$     3,699     $     3,699     $     3,699     $     3,699     $     2,157     $         —     $     16,953  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

At December 31, 2016, certain of the above operating leases for mining equipment are subleased to third-parties. The following represents the minimum rental payments for those operating subleases:

 

    2017             2018             2019             2020             2021             Thereafter             Total      
$     40,299     $     13,819     $     6,909     $         —     $         —     $         —     $     61,027  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

CONSOL Mining Corporation leases certain owned mining equipment to a third-party under operating leases. The owned equipment included in gross property, plant and equipment was $26,005, with $15,603 accumulated depreciation at December 31, 2016 and $31,059, with $12,424 accumulated depreciation, at December 31, 2015.

At December 31, 2016, scheduled minimum rental payments for operating leases related to this equipment were as follows:

 

    2017             2018             2019             2020             2021             Thereafter             Total      
$     4,496     $     2,992     $     1,701     $     627     $         —     $         —     $     9,816  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

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NOTE 13—SEGMENT INFORMATION:

CONSOL Mining Corporation consists of one principal business division: Pennsylvania Mining Complex (PAMC). The principal activities of the PAMC division are mining, preparation and marketing of thermal coal, sold primarily to power generators. It also includes selling, general and administrative activities, as well as various other activities assigned to the PAMC division.

CONSOL Mining Corporation’s Other division includes expenses from various corporate and diversified business activities that are not allocated to the PAMC division. The diversified business activities include coal terminal operations, closed and idle mine activities, selling, general and administrative activities, as well as various other non-operated activities, none of which are individually significant to the Predecessor.

Industry segment results for the year ended December 31, 2016 are:

 

     PAMC    Other   Adjustments
and
Eliminations
   Combined

Sales—Outside

   $ 1,065,582      $     $      $ 1,065,582  

Other Outside Sales

            31,464              31,464  

Freight—Outside

     46,468                     46,468  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Sales and Freight

   $           1,112,050      $     31,464     $             —      $         1,143,514  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Earnings (Loss) Before Income Tax

   $ 130,708      $ (65,693   $      $ 65,015  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Segment Assets

   $ 1,982,206      $ 705,228     $      $ 2,687,434  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

   $ 168,195      $ 9,927     $      $ 178,122  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Capital Expenditures

   $ 50,809      $ 2,791     $      $ 53,600  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Industry segment results for the year ended December 31, 2015 are:

 

     PAMC    Other    Adjustments
and
Eliminations
   Combined

Sales—Outside

   $ 1,289,036      $      $      $ 1,289,036  

Other Outside Sales

            30,967               30,967  

Freight—Outside

     20,499                      20,499  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Sales and Freight

   $         1,309,535      $         30,967      $             —      $         1,340,502  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Earnings Before Income Tax

   $ 404,994      $ 38,032      $      $ 443,026  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Segment Assets

   $ 2,076,301      $ 791,432      $      $ 2,867,733  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

   $ 176,864      $ 18,473      $      $ 195,337  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Capital Expenditures

   $ 136,291      $ 6,762      $      $ 143,053  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

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Industry segment results for the year ended December 31, 2014 are:

 

     PAMC    Other   Adjustments
and
Eliminations
   Combined

Sales—Outside

   $ 1,616,874      $     $      $ 1,616,874  

Other Outside Sales

            41,255              41,255  

Freight—Outside

     23,133                     23,133  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Sales and Freight

   $ 1,640,007      $ 41,255     $      $ 1,681,262  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Earnings (Loss) Before Income Tax

   $ 430,968      $ (18,663   $      $ 412,305  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Segment Assets

   $ 2,094,041      $ 998,333     $      $ 3,092,374  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

   $ 173,316      $ 33,368     $      $ 206,684  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Capital Expenditures

   $ 341,229      $ 7,617     $      $ 348,846  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Reconciliation of Segment Information to Combined Amounts:

Revenue and Other Income:

 

     For the Years Ended December 31,
     2016    2015    2014

Total Segment Sales and Freight from External Customers

   $     1,143,514      $     1,340,502      $     1,681,262  

Other Income not Allocated to Segments

     82,120        68,193        123,604  

Gain on Sale of Assets

     5,228        13,025        26,312  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Combined Revenue and Other Income

   $ 1,230,862      $ 1,421,720      $ 1,831,178  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Earnings (Loss) Before Income Tax:

 

     For the Years Ended December 31,
     2016   2015   2014

Segment Income Before Income Taxes for reportable business segments

   $     79,068     $     450,570     $     412,305  

Interest expense

     (14,053     (7,544      
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earnings Before Income Tax

   $ 65,015     $ 443,026     $ 412,305  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enterprise-Wide Disclosures:

CONSOL Mining Corporation’s Revenues by geographical location (A):

 

     For the Years Ended December 31,
     2016    2015    2014

United States

   $ 962,258      $ 1,081,081      $ 1,464,923  

Asia

     109,312        106,954        66,912  

Europe

     40,704        112,844        121,909  

South America

     25,406        28,060        19,013  

Canada

     5,834        11,563        8,505  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Revenues and Freight from External Customers (B)

   $     1,143,514      $     1,340,502      $     1,681,262  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

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(A) CONSOL Mining Corporation attributes revenue to individual countries based on the location of the customer.

(B) CONSOL Mining Corporation has contractual relationships with certain U.S. based customers who distribute coal to international markets. The table above reflects the ultimate destination of CONSOL Mining Corporation coal.

CONSOL Mining Corporation’s Property, Plant and Equipment by geographical location:

 

     December 31,
     2016    2015    2014

United States

   $ 2,169,246      $ 2,314,157      $     2,518,633  

Canada

     11,024        11,024        11,024  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Property, Plant and Equipment, net

   $     2,180,270      $     2,325,181      $ 2,529,657  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

NOTE 14—MISCELLANEOUS OTHER INCOME:

 

     For the Years Ended December 31,
     2016    2015    2014

Rental Income

   $ 34,789      $ 36,908      $ 44,367  

Royalty Income - Non-Operated Coal

     19,739        15,356        19,608  

Right of Way Issuance

     11,281        10,827        6,667  

Coal Contract Buyout

     6,288               30,000  

Purchased Coal Sales

     5,757        1,596        9,029  

Interest Income

     1,166        410        135  

Other

     3,100        3,096        13,798  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Miscellaneous Other Income

   $           82,120      $           68,193      $           123,604  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

NOTE 15—INCOME TAXES:

Income tax expense (benefit) provided on earnings consisted of:

 

     For The Years Ended December 31,
           2016               2015                2014      

Current:

       

U.S. Federal

   $ (76,447   $ 49,435      $ 68,753  

U.S. State

     (1,924     2,591        9,970  

Non-U.S.

     1,411       963        1,966  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

     (76,960     52,989        80,689  

Deferred:

       

U.S. Federal

     89,268       66,187        39,524  

U.S. State

     2,257       6,429        1,140  
     91,525       72,616        40,664  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Income Tax Expense

   $ 14,565     $ 125,605      $ 121,353  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

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The components of the net deferred taxes are as follows:

 

     December 31,
             2016                   2015        

Deferred Tax Assets:

    

Postretirement benefits other than pensions

   $ 255,507     $ 246,173  

Mine closing

     85,003       91,593  

Pneumoconiosis benefits

     43,371       44,446  

Mine subsidence

     39,251       32,839  

Salary retirement

     37,498       30,261  

Workers’ compensation

     28,530       29,956  

Gas well closing

     14,464       14,297  

Long-term disability

     6,358       9,067  

State bonus, net of Federal

     3,175       2,674  

Reclamation

           198  

Other

     8,042       8,572  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Deferred Tax Assets

     521,199       510,076  

Valuation Allowance

            
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net Deferred Tax Assets

     521,199       510,076  

Deferred Tax Liabilities:

    

Property, plant and equipment

     (256,947     (168,992

Equity Partnerships

     (67,498     (68,081

Advance mining royalties

     (12,175     (13,400
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Deferred Tax Liabilities

     (336,620     (250,473
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net Deferred Tax Asset (Liability)

   $ 184,579     $ 259,603  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A valuation allowance is required when it is more likely than not that all or a portion of a deferred tax asset will not be realized. All available evidence, both positive and negative, must be considered in determining the need for a valuation allowance. For the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, positive evidence considered included financial earnings generated over the past three years for certain subsidiaries, reversals of financial to tax temporary differences and the implementation of and/or ability to employ various tax planning strategies. Negative evidence included financial and tax losses generated in prior periods, the inability to achieve forecasted results for those periods and the expectation that future financial results from normal operations would not be sufficient to support full utilization of certain tax credits within the foreseeable future. CONSOL Mining Corporation has no net operating losses and no valuation allowances at December 31, 2016 and 2015.

Management will continue to assess the potential for realized deferred tax assets based upon income forecast data and the feasibility of future tax planning strategies and may record adjustments to valuation allowances against deferred tax assets in future periods, as appropriate, that could materially impact net income.

 

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The following is a reconciliation, stated as a percentage of pretax income, of the United States statutory federal income tax rate to CONSOL Mining Corporation’s effective tax rate:

 

     For the Years Ended December 31,
     2016   2015   2014
     Amount   Percent   Amount   Percent   Amount   Percent

Statutory U.S. federal income tax rate

   $ 19,621       35.0   $ 151,416       35.0   $ 144,307       35.0

Excess tax depletion

     (21,856     (39.0     (27,720     (6.4     (22,048     (5.3

Effect of domestic production activities

     1,621       2.9       (4,933     (1.1     (5,956     (1.4

IRS and state tax examination settlements

     14,048       25.1                   (1,327     (0.3

Net effect of state income taxes

     (52     (0.1     5,725       1.3       6,125       1.5  

Net effect of state tax rate change on DIT

     1,049       1.9       1,042       0.2              

Other

     134       0.2       75             252       0.1  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Income Tax Expense / Effective Rate

   $ 14,565       26.0   $ 125,605       29.0   $ 121,353       29.6
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As part of our IRS examination of the tax years 2010-2013 we were able to claim bonus depreciation resulting in a net cash refund of $58,000. The bonus depreciation deduction adversely impacts earnings by reducing our percentage depletion adjustment on our mining operations and reducing our Section 199 manufacturing deduction in the years 2010-2013. This resulted in a net charge to earnings of $14,048.

CONSOL Mining Corporation had no unrecognized tax expense or benefit as of December 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015.

 

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CONSOL MINING CORPORATION

COMBINED STATEMENTS OF INCOME

(Dollars in Thousands)

(unaudited)

 

     Six Months Ended
June 30,
Revenue and Other Income:    2017    2016

  Coal Sales

   $ 620,155      $ 476,726  

  Other Outside Sales

     27,742        15,767  

  Freight Revenue

     30,045        24,557  

  Miscellaneous Other Income

     32,794        36,133  

  Gain on Sale of Assets

     13,536        3,904  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Revenue and Other Income

     724,272        557,087  

Costs and Expenses:

     

  Operating and Other Costs

     452,876        407,446  

  Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     78,261        77,976  

  Freight Expense

     30,045        24,557  

  Selling, General, and Administrative Costs

     37,417        18,020  

  Interest Expense

     7,966        6,496  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Costs and Expenses

     606,565        534,495  
     

Earnings Before Income Tax

     117,707        22,592  

Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

     19,017        (193
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Net Income

     98,690        22,785  

  Less: Net Income Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest

     9,777        2,293  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Net Income Attributable to CONSOL Mining Corporation Shareholder

   $         88,913      $           20,492  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these combined financial statements.

 

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CONSOL MINING CORPORATION

COMBINED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

(Dollars in Thousands)

(unaudited)

 

     Six Months Ended
June 30,
     2017    2016

Net Income

   $ 98,690       $ 22,785  

Other Comprehensive Income:

     

Actuarially Determined Long-Term Liability Adjustments (Net of tax: ($3,786), ($3,621))

     6,569         6,284  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Other Comprehensive Income

     6,569         6,284  
     

Comprehensive Income

     105,259         29,069  
     

Less: Comprehensive Income Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest

     9,754         2,293  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Comprehensive Income Attributable to CONSOL Mining Corporation Shareholder

   $       95,505       $         26,776  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these combined financial statements.

CONSOL MINING CORPORATION

COMBINED STATEMENTS OF EQUITY

(Dollars in Thousands)

(unaudited)

 

     Parent
Net
Investment
  Accumulated
Other
Comprehensive
Income
(Loss)
  Noncontrolling
Interest
  Total
Equity

Balance at December 31, 2016

   $ 1,057,694     $ (400,063   $ 142,493     $ 800,124  

Net Income

     88,913             9,777       98,690  
Actuarially Determined Long-Term Liability Adjustments (Net of ($3,786) Tax)            6,592       (23                 6,569  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comprehensive Income

     88,913                   6,592                   9,754       105,259  

Distributions to Noncontrolling Interest

                 (10,935     (10,935

Amortization of Stock-Based Compensation Awards

                 1,706       1,706  

Treasury Stock Activity

                 (808     (808

Net Parent Distributions

     (69,049                 (69,049
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balance at June 30, 2017

   $     1,077,558     $ (393,471   $ 142,210     $ 826,297  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these combined financial statements.

 

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CONSOL MINING CORPORATION

COMBINED BALANCE SHEETS

(Dollars in Thousands)

(unaudited)

 

     June 30,      December 31,  
     2017      2016  

ASSETS

     

Current Assets:

     

Cash and Cash Equivalents

   $ 6,739      $ 13,311  

Trade Accounts Receivable

     107,028        95,707  

Other Receivables

     17,445        23,320  

Other Receivables - Related Party

     32        34  

Inventories

     60,286        50,161  

Prepaid Expenses

     12,364        17,601  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Current Assets

     203,894        200,134  

Property, Plant and Equipment:

     

Property, Plant and Equipment

     4,613,940        4,593,395  

Less—Accumulated Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     2,495,546        2,413,125  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Property, Plant and Equipment—Net

     2,118,394        2,180,270  

Other Assets:

     

Other Assets

     111,759        122,451  

Deferred Tax Asset

     192,563        184,579  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Other Assets

     304,322        307,030  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

TOTAL ASSETS

   $     2,626,610      $     2,687,434  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these combined financial statements.

 

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CONSOL MINING CORPORATION

UNAUDITED COMBINED BALANCE SHEETS

(Dollars in Thousands)

(unaudited)

 

     June 30,   December 31,
     2017   2016

LIABILITIES AND EQUITY

    

Current Liabilities:

    

  Accounts Payable

   $ 72,263     $ 82,897  

  Current Portion of Long-Term Debt

     3,643       4,076  

  Other Accrued Liabilities

     283,393       292,121  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Current Liabilities

     359,299       379,094  

  Long-Term Debt:

    

  Long-Term Debt

     291,344       301,827  

  Capital Lease Obligations

     10,204       11,812  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Long-Term Debt

     301,548       313,639  

Deferred Credits and Other Liabilities:

    

  Postretirement Benefits Other Than Pensions

     652,206       659,474  

  Pneumoconiosis Benefits

     107,321       108,073  

  Asset Retirement Obligations

     228,576       246,279  

  Workers’ Compensation

     64,689       65,932  

  Salary Retirement

     72,529       99,872  

  Other

     14,145       14,947  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Total Deferred Credits and Other Liabilities

     1,139,466       1,194,577  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  TOTAL LIABILITIES

     1,800,313       1,887,310  

Equity:

    

  Parent Net Investment

     1,077,558       1,057,694  

  Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss

     (393,471     (400,063
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Parent Net Investment and Other Comprehensive Loss

     684,087       657,631  

Noncontrolling Interest

     142,210       142,493  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TOTAL EQUITY

     826,297       800,124  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY

   $ 2,626,610     $ 2,687,434  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these combined financial statements.

 

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CONSOL MINING CORPORATION

STATEMENTS OF COMBINED CASH FLOWS

(Dollars in Thousands)

(unaudited)

 

     Six Months Ended
June 30,
     2017   2016

Cash Flows from Operating Activities:

    

Net Income

   $       98,690     $       22,785  

Adjustments to Reconcile Net Income to Net Cash Provided By Operating Activities:

    

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     78,261       77,976  

Stock-Based Compensation

     8,765       5,364  

Gain on Sale of Assets

     (13,536     (3,904

Deferred Income Taxes

     (11,770     55,125  

Unit Based Compensation

     1,706       615  

Changes in Operating Assets:

    

Accounts and Notes Receivable

     (4,749     (7,909

Inventories

     (10,125     4,238  

Prepaid Expenses

     5,237       9,644  

Changes in Other Assets

     10,625       (17,088

Changes in Operating Liabilities:

    

Accounts Payable

     (16,400     (18,246

Other Operating Liabilities

     (8,728     2,476  

Changes in Other Liabilities

     (34,847     (37,834

Other

     898       1,828  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities

     104,027       95,070  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash Flows from Investing Activities:

    

Capital Expenditures

     (23,229     (27,206

Proceeds from Sales of Assets

     16,985       4,585  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net Cash Used in Investing Activities

     (6,244     (22,621
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash Flows from Financing Activities:

    

Payments on Miscellaneous Borrowings

     (1,990     (147

Net (Payments on) Proceeds from CNXC Revolver

     (11,000     13,000  

Distributions to Noncontrolling Interest

     (10,935     (10,825

Net Parent Distributions

     (79,622     (72,066

Tax Cost from Unit-Based Compensation

     (808      
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net Cash Used in Financing Activities

     (104,355     (70,038

Net (Decrease) Increase in Cash and Cash Equivalents

     (6,572     2,411  

Cash and Cash Equivalents at Beginning of Period

     13,311       6,639  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash and Cash Equivalents at End of Period

   $ 6,739     $ 9,050  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016, CONSOL Mining Corporation paid interest expense, net of capitalized interest, of $7,966 and $6,496, respectively.

The following are non-cash transactions that impact the investing and financing activities of CONSOL Mining Corporation.

As of June 30, 2017 and 2016, CONSOL Mining Corporation purchased goods and services related to capital projects in the amount of $53 and $1,703, respectively, which are included in accounts payable. As of June 30, 2017 and 2016, there were capital equipment transfers of ($1,808) and $615, respectively, between CONSOL Mining Corporation and CONSOL Energy that are included in Net Parent Distributions.

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these combined financial statements.

 

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CONSOL MINING CORPORATION

NOTES TO COMBINED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(Dollars in Thousands)

NOTE 1—THE PROPOSED SEPARATION AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION

The Proposed Separation

In December 2016, CONSOL Energy announced its intent to separate into two independent, publicly-traded companies (the separation): CONSOL Mining Corporation (Predecessor), which will hold CONSOL Energy’s Pennsylvania Mining Operations (PAMC) and certain related coal assets, including CONSOL Energy’s ownership interest in CNX Coal Resources LP (CNXC), which owns a 25% stake in PAMC, the CNX Marine Terminal, and Greenfield Reserves (collectively, the Coal Business), and an oil and natural gas exploration and production (E&P) company focused on Appalachian area natural gas and liquids activities, including production, gathering, processing and acquisition of natural gas properties in the Appalachian Basin (the Gas Business) of CONSOL Energy.

The separation will occur by means of a pro rata distribution by CONSOL Energy of all of the common stock of the Predecessor. CONSOL Energy, the existing publicly traded company, will continue to own the Gas Business.

The separation transaction, which is expected to be completed in the second half of 2017, is subject to a number of conditions, including, but not limited to: final approval by CONSOL Energy’s Board of Directors; receipt of a private letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service and one or more opinions of its tax advisors, in each case, regarding certain U.S. federal income tax matters relating to the transaction; and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) declaring effective the registration statement of which this information statement forms a part.

CONSOL Mining Corporation and CONSOL Energy will enter into an agreement (the Separation Agreement) that will identify the assets to be transferred, the liabilities to be assumed and the contracts to be transferred to each of CONSOL Mining Corporation and CONSOL Energy as part of the separation of CONSOL Energy into two companies, and will provide for when and how these transfers and assumptions will occur. CONSOL Energy may, at any time and for any reason until the proposed transaction is complete, abandon the separation plan or modify its terms.

Basis of Presentation

The unaudited Combined Financial Statements of CONSOL Mining Corporation are prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) and require management to make certain judgments, estimates, and assumptions. These may affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements. They also may affect the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results could differ from those estimates upon subsequent resolution of identified matters. The unaudited Combined Financial Statements of CONSOL Mining Corporation include the accounts of CONSOL Mining Corporation and companies in which CONSOL Mining Corporation has a controlling interest. Intercompany transactions have been eliminated. The equity method of accounting is used for investments in affiliates and other joint ventures over which CONSOL Mining Corporation has significant influence but does not have effective control. Investments in affiliates in which CONSOL Mining Corporation cannot exercise significant influence are accounted for on the cost method.

Cost Allocations

Historically, CONSOL Energy has charged its operating subsidiaries for various corporate costs incurred in the operation of the business. Accordingly, no significant additional cost allocations were necessary for the

 

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preparation of these unaudited Combined Financial Statements. The unaudited Combined Financial Statements of CONSOL Mining Corporation may not reflect the actual expenses that would have been incurred and may not reflect CONSOL Mining Corporation’s combined results of operations, financial position and cash flows had it been a standalone company during the periods presented. Actual costs that would have been incurred if CONSOL Mining Corporation had been a standalone company would depend on multiple factors, including organizational structure, capital structure, and strategic decisions made in various areas, including information technology and infrastructure. Transactions between CONSOL Mining Corporation and CONSOL Energy have been included as related party transactions in these unaudited Combined Financial Statements and are considered to be effectively settled for cash at the time the transaction is recorded. The total net effect of the settlement of these transactions is reflected in the unaudited Statements of Combined Cash Flows as a financing activity and in the unaudited Combined Balance Sheets as Parent Net Investment.

All external debt not directly attributable to the Predecessor has been excluded from the unaudited Combined Balance Sheets of CONSOL Mining Corporation.

NOTE 2—SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES:

A summary of the significant accounting policies of CONSOL Mining Corporation is presented below. These, together with the other notes that follow, are an integral part of the unaudited Combined Financial Statements.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, as well as various disclosures. Actual results could differ from those estimates. The most significant estimates included in the preparation of the unaudited Combined Financial Statements are related to other postretirement benefits, coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, workers’ compensation, salary retirement benefits, asset retirement obligations, contingencies, and the values of coal reserves.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Predecessor participates in CONSOL Energy’s centralized cash management system. The centralized cash management system entitles the Predecessor to issue checks against the central bank account for on-going operations. The presented checks against the central bank account are reflected as contributions of CONSOL Energy’s equity investment. Remaining cash includes petty cash on hand and on deposit at banking institutions that are not included in the centralized cash management system.

Trade Accounts Receivable

Trade accounts receivable are recorded at the invoiced amount and do not bear interest. CONSOL Mining Corporation reserves for specific accounts receivable when it is probable that all or a part of an outstanding balance will not be collected, such as customer bankruptcies. Collectability is determined based on terms of sale, credit status of customers and various other circumstances. CONSOL Mining Corporation regularly reviews collectability and establishes or adjusts the allowance as necessary using the specific identification method. Account balances are charged off against the allowance after all means of collection have been exhausted and the potential for recovery is considered remote. Reserves for uncollectable amounts were not material in the periods presented. In addition, there were no material financing receivables with a contractual maturity greater than one year at June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016.

Inventories

Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value. The cost of coal inventory is determined by the first-in, first-out (“FIFO”) method and includes labor, supplies, equipment costs, operating overhead,

 

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depreciation, depletion and amortization, and other related costs. The cost of supplies inventory is determined by the average cost method and includes operating and maintenance supplies to be used in operation of the Predecessor’s coal mines.

The Predecessor’s inventories consisted of the following:

 

     June 30,
2017
     December 31,
2016
 

Coal

   $ 17,170      $ 7,800  

Supplies

     43,116        42,361  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Inventories

   $                 60,286      $                 50,161  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Property, Plant and Equipment

Property, plant and equipment is recorded at cost upon acquisition. Costs of developing new underground mines and certain underground expansion projects are capitalized and typically include those costs incurred to make the mineral physically accessible. Such costs generally include those to create mine shafts and to drive main entries for ventilation, haulage costs, personnel costs, the construction of airshafts and roof protection.

Expenditures which extend the useful lives of existing plant and equipment are capitalized. Costs of additional mine facilities required to maintain production after a mine reaches the production stage, generally referred to as “receding face costs,” are expensed as incurred; however, the costs of additional airshafts and new portals are capitalized. Planned major maintenance costs which do not extend the useful lives of existing plant and equipment are expensed as incurred. Interest costs applicable to major asset additions are capitalized during the construction period.

Coal exploration costs are expensed as incurred and include costs incurred to ascertain existence, location, extent or quality of ore or minerals before beginning the development stage of the mine.

Airshafts and capitalized mine development associated with a coal reserve are amortized on a units-of-production basis as the coal is produced so that each ton of coal is assigned a portion of the unamortized costs. The Predecessor employs this method to match costs with the related revenues realized in a particular period. Rates are updated when revisions to coal reserve estimates are made. Coal reserve estimates are reviewed when information becomes available that indicates a reserve change is needed, or at a minimum once per year. Any material effect from changes in estimates is disclosed in the period the change occurs. Amortization of development cost begins when the development phase is complete and the production phase begins. At an underground mine, the end of the development phase and the beginning of the production phase takes place when construction of the mine for economic extraction is substantially complete. Coal extracted during the development phase is incidental to the mine’s production capacity and is not considered to shift the mine into the production phase.

When properties are retired or otherwise disposed, the related cost and accumulated depreciation are removed from the respective accounts and any profit or loss on disposition is recognized in Gain (Loss) on Sale of Assets in the unaudited Combined Statements of Income.

Depreciation of plant and equipment is calculated on the straight-line method over their estimated useful lives or lease terms, generally as follows:

 

     Years

Buildings and improvements

   10 to 45

Machinery and equipment

   3 to 25

Leasehold improvements

   Life of Lease            

 

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Coal reserves are controlled either through fee ownership or by lease. The duration of the leases vary; however, the lease terms are generally extended automatically through the exhaustion of economically recoverable reserves, as long as active mining continues. Coal interests held by lease provide the same rights as fee ownership for mineral extraction and are legally considered real property interests. The Predecessor also makes advance payments (advanced mining royalties) to lessors under certain lease agreements that are recoupable against future production, and it makes payments that are generally based upon a specified rate per ton or a percentage of gross realization from the sale of the coal.

Advance mining royalties are advance payments made to lessors under terms of mineral lease agreements that are recoupable against future production and are amortized using the units-of-production method. Depletion of leased coal interests is computed using the units-of-production method over proven and probable coal reserves. Advance mining royalties and leased coal interests are evaluated at least once per year for impairment. More frequent tests are required on an interim basis whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable. Any revisions are accounted for prospectively as changes in accounting estimates.

Costs to obtain coal lands are capitalized based on the cost at acquisition and are amortized using the units-of-production method over all estimated proven and probable reserve tons assigned and accessible to the mine. Proven and probable coal reserves exclude non-recoverable coal reserves and anticipated processing losses. Rates are updated when revisions to coal reserve estimates are made. Coal reserve estimates are reviewed when events and circumstances indicate a reserve change is needed, or at a minimum once a year. Amortization of coal interests begins when the coal reserve is produced. At an underground mine, a ton is considered produced once it reaches the surface area of the mine. Any material effect from changes in estimates is disclosed in the period the change occurs.

Costs for purchased and internally developed software are expensed until it has been determined that the software will result in probable future economic benefits and management has committed to funding the project. Thereafter, all direct costs of materials and services incurred in developing or obtaining software, including certain payroll and benefit costs of employees associated with the project, are capitalized and amortized using the straight-line method over the estimated useful life which does not exceed seven years.

Impairment of Long-lived Assets

The Predecessor impairs long-lived assets when indicators of impairment are present and the undiscounted cash flows estimated to be generated by those assets are less than the assets’ carrying value. The carrying value of the assets is then reduced to its estimated fair value which is usually measured based on an estimate of future discounted cash flows. The Predecessor did not record any impairments during the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016.

Postretirement Benefits Other Than Pensions

Postretirement benefit obligations established by the Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefit Act of 1992 (the Coal Act) are treated as a multi-employer plan which requires expense to be recorded for the associated obligations as payments are made. Postretirement benefits other than pensions, except for those established pursuant to the Coal Act, are accounted for in accordance with the Retirement Benefits Compensation and Non-retirement Postemployment Benefits Compensation Topics of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification, which requires employers to accrue the cost of such retirement benefits for the employees’ active service periods. Such liabilities are determined on an actuarial basis and CONSOL Mining Corporation is primarily self-insured for these benefits. Differences between actual and expected results or changes in the value of obligations are recognized through Other Comprehensive Income.

 

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Pneumoconiosis Benefits and Workers’ Compensation

The Predecessor is required by federal and state statutes to provide benefits to certain current and former totally disabled employees or their dependents for awards related to coal workers’ pneumoconiosis. The Predecessor is also required by various state statutes to provide workers’ compensation benefits for employees who sustain employment-related physical injuries or some types of occupational disease. Workers’ compensation benefits include compensation for their disability, medical costs, and on some occasions, the cost of rehabilitation. CONSOL Mining Corporation is primarily self-insured for these benefits. Provisions for estimated benefits are determined on an actuarial basis.

Asset Retirement Costs

Mine closing costs and costs associated with dismantling and removing de-gasification facilities are accrued using the accounting treatment prescribed by the Asset Retirement and Environmental Obligations Topic of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification. This topic requires the fair value of an asset retirement obligation be recognized in the period in which it is incurred if a reasonable estimate of fair value can be made. The present value of the estimated asset retirement costs is capitalized as part of the carrying amount of the long-lived asset. Generally, the capitalized asset retirement cost is depreciated on a units-of-production basis. Accretion of the asset retirement obligation is recognized over time and generally will escalate over the life of the producing asset, typically as production declines. Accretion is included in Operating and Other Costs on the unaudited Combined Statements of Income. Asset retirement obligations primarily relate to the closure of mines, which includes treatment of water and the reclamation of land upon exhaustion of coal reserves.

Accrued mine closing costs, perpetual care costs, reclamation and costs associated with dismantling and removing de-gasification facilities are regularly reviewed by management and are revised for changes in future estimated costs and regulatory requirements.

Subsidence

Subsidence occurs when there is sinking or shifting of the ground surface due to the removal of underlying coal. Areas affected may include, although are not limited to, streams, property, roads, pipelines and other land and surface structures. Total estimated subsidence claims are recognized in the period when the related coal has been extracted and are included in Operating and Other Costs on the unaudited Combined Statements of Income and Other Accrued Liabilities on the unaudited Combined Balance Sheets. On occasion, the Predecessor prepays the estimated damages prior to undermining the property, in return for a release of liability. Prepayments are included as assets and either recognized as Prepaid Expenses or in Other Assets on the unaudited Combined Balance Sheets if the payment is made less than or greater than one year, respectively, prior to undermining the property.

Retirement Plans

CONSOL Mining Corporation has non-contributory defined benefit retirement plans. Effective December 31, 2015, CONSOL Mining Corporation’s qualified defined benefit retirement plans have been frozen. The benefits for these plans are based primarily on years of service and employees’ pay. These plans are accounted for using the guidance outlined in the Compensation - Retirement Benefits Topic of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification. The cost of these retiree benefits are recognized over the employees’ service periods. CONSOL Mining Corporation uses actuarial methods and assumptions in the valuation of defined benefit obligations and the determination of expense. Differences between actual and expected results or changes in the value of obligations and plan assets are recognized through Other Comprehensive Income.

Stock-Based Compensation

Eligible CONSOL Mining Corporation employees have historically participated in CONSOL Energy’s equity-based compensation plans. CONSOL Energy recognizes compensation expense for all stock-based compensation

 

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awards based on the grant date fair value estimated in accordance with the provisions of the Stock Compensation Topic of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification. CONSOL Energy recognizes these compensation costs on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period of the award, which is generally the award’s vesting term. The compensation expense recorded by CONSOL Mining Corporation, in all periods presented, includes the expense associated with employees historically attributable to CONSOL Mining Corporation operations, as well as the expense associated with the allocation of stock compensation expense for corporate employees.

Under the CNXC 2015 Long-Term Incentive Plan (the “LTIP”), the general partner issued long-term equity based awards intended to compensate the recipients thereof based on the performance of CNXC’s common units and the recipients’ continued service during the vesting period, as well as to align CNXC’s long-term interests with those of the unitholders. The LTIP limits the number of units that may be delivered pursuant to vested awards to 2,300,000 common units, subject to proportionate adjustment in the event of unit splits and similar events. Common units subject to awards that are canceled, forfeited, withheld to satisfy exercise prices or tax withholding obligations or otherwise terminated without delivery of the common units will be available for delivery pursuant to other awards.

CNXC’s general partner has also granted equity-based phantom units that vest over a period of a director’s continued service. The phantom units will be paid in common units or an amount of cash equal to the fair market value of a unit based on the vesting date. The awards may accelerate upon a change in control of CNXC. Compensation expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period, which is generally the vesting term.

Income Taxes

The Predecessor’s operations have historically been included in the income tax filings of CONSOL Energy. The provision for income taxes in the Predecessor’s unaudited Combined Statements of Income is based on a separate return methodology using the asset and liability approach of accounting for income taxes. Under this approach, the provision for income taxes represents income taxes paid or payable (or received or receivable) for the current year plus the change in deferred taxes during the year calculated as if the Predecessor was a standalone taxpayer filing hypothetical income tax returns where applicable. Any additional accrued tax liability or refund arising as a result of this approach is assumed to be immediately settled with CONSOL Energy as a component of Parent Net Investment. Deferred taxes represent the future tax consequences expected to occur when the reported amounts of assets and liabilities are recovered or paid, and result from differences between the financial and tax bases of CONSOL Mining Corporation’s assets and liabilities and are adjusted for changes in tax rates and tax laws when enacted. Deferred tax assets are reflected in the unaudited Combined Balance Sheets for net operating losses, credits or other attributes to the extent that such attributes are expected to transfer to CONSOL Mining Corporation upon the separation. Any difference from attributes generated in a hypothetical return on a separate return basis is adjusted as a component of Parent Net Investment.

Valuation allowances are recorded to reduce deferred tax assets when it is more likely than not (greater than 50%) that a tax benefit will not be realized. In evaluating the need for a valuation allowance, management considers all potential sources of taxable income, including income available in carry-back periods, future reversals of taxable temporary differences, projections of taxable income, and income from tax planning strategies, as well as all available positive and negative evidence. Positive evidence includes factors such as a history of profitable operations, projections of future profitability within the carry-forward period, including from tax planning strategies, and CONSOL Mining Corporation’s experience with similar operations. Existing favorable contracts and the ability to sell products into established markets are additional positive evidence. Negative evidence includes items such as cumulative losses, projections of future losses, or carry-forward periods that are not long enough to allow for the utilization of a deferred tax asset based on existing projections of income. Deferred tax assets for which no valuation allowance is recorded may not be realized upon changes in facts and circumstances, resulting in a future charge to establish a valuation allowance. Existing valuation allowances are re-examined under the same standards of positive and negative evidence. If it is determined that it

 

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is more likely than not that a deferred tax asset will be realized, the appropriate amount of the valuation allowance, if any, is released. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are also re-measured to reflect changes in underlying tax rates due to law changes and the granting and lapse of tax holidays.

Tax benefits related to uncertain tax positions taken or expected to be taken on a tax return are recorded when such benefits meet a more likely than not threshold. Otherwise, these tax benefits are recorded when a tax position has been effectively settled, which means that the statute of limitation has expired or the appropriate taxing authority has completed their examination even though the statute of limitations remains open. Interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions are recognized as part of the provision for income taxes and are accrued beginning in the period that such interest and penalties would be applicable under relevant tax law until such time that the related tax benefits are recognized.

Parent Net Investment

Parent Net Investment is primarily comprised of the Predecessor’s undivided interest in (i) CONSOL Energy’s initial investment in CONSOL Mining Corporation (and any subsequent adjustments thereto); (ii) the accumulated net earnings; (iii) net transfers to or from CONSOL Energy, including those related to cash management functions performed by CONSOL Energy; (iv) non-cash changes in financing arrangements, including the conversion of certain related party liabilities into Parent Net Investment and stock-based compensation; and (v) corporate cost allocations.

Revenue Recognition

Revenues are recognized when title passes to the customers and the price is fixed and determinable. For domestic coal sales, this generally occurs when coal is loaded at the mine or at offsite storage locations. For export coal sales, this generally occurs when coal is loaded onto marine vessels at terminal locations. Coal contract price per ton are fixed and determinable prior to the passage of coal title. Except for normal quality adjustments and positive electric power price related adjustments, none of the Company’s coal sales contracts allow for retroactive adjustments to pricing after title to the coal has passed. These adjustments were not material for any of the periods presented. Revenues for coal sold that relate to production under royalty contracts are recorded on a gross basis.

Freight Revenue and Expense

Shipping and handling costs invoiced to coal customers and paid to third-party carriers are recorded as Freight-Outside Coal revenue and Freight Expense, respectively.

Concentration of Credit Risk and Major Customers

The Predecessor markets its high-Btu bituminous thermal coal primarily to electric utilities in the eastern United States, its core market. The Predecessor derived a significant portion of its revenues from two customers who represented at least 10% of its total coal sales revenues for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016. As of June 30, 2017, the Predecessor had approximately seven sales agreements with these customers that expire at various times between 2017 and 2018.

Contingencies

From time to time, the Predecessor is subject to various lawsuits and claims with respect to such matters as personal injury, wrongful death, damage to property, exposure to hazardous substances, governmental regulations (including environmental remediation), employment and contract disputes, and other claims and actions, arising out of the normal course of business. Liabilities are recorded when it is probable that obligations have been incurred and the amounts can be reasonably estimated. Estimates are developed through consultation

 

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with legal counsel involved in the defense of these matters and are based upon an analysis of potential results, assuming a combination of litigation and settlement strategies. Legal fees associated with defending these various lawsuits and claims are expensed when incurred.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In May 2017, the FASB issued Update 2017-09 - Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Scope of Modification Accounting, which reduces diversity in practice and cost and complexity when applying the guidance in this Topic to a change to the terms or conditions of a share-based payment award. The amendments in this Update provide guidance about which changes to the terms or conditions of a share-based payment award require an entity to apply modification accounting in Topic 718. The amendments in the Update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those fiscal years, and should be applied prospectively to an award modified on or after the adoption date. Early adoption is permitted. The adoption of this guidance is not expected to have a material impact on CONSOL Mining Corporation’s financial statements.

In March 2017, the FASB issued Update 2017-07 - Compensation - Retirement Benefits (Topic 715): Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost, which improves the presentation of net periodic pension cost and net periodic postretirement benefit cost. The amendments in the Update require that an employer report the service cost component in the same line item as other compensation costs arising from services rendered by the pertinent employees during the period. The other components of net benefit cost are required to be presented separately from the service cost component and outside a subtotal of income from operations, if one is presented. Because CONSOL Mining Corporation does not present an income from operations subtotal, that requirement is not applicable. Additionally, the Predecessor’s service cost component is deemed immaterial, and therefore, the other components of net benefit cost will not be presented separately. For public entities, the amendments in this Update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted as of the beginning of a fiscal year for which financial statements have not been issued. The adoption of this guidance is not expected to have an impact on CONSOL Mining Corporation’s financial statements.

In August 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-15 - Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments, which addresses eight specific cash flow issues with the objective of reducing the existing diversity in practice. The amendments relate to debt prepayment or debt extinguishment costs, settlement of zero-coupon debt instruments or other debt instruments with coupon interest rates that are insignificant in relation to the effective interest rate of the borrowing, contingent consideration payments made after a business combination, proceeds from the settlement of insurance claims, proceeds from the settlement of corporate-owned life insurance policies, distributions received from equity method investees, and beneficial interests in securitization transactions. The Update also states that, in the absence of specific guidance for cash receipts and payments that have aspects of more than one class of cash flows, an entity should classify each separately identifiable source or use within the cash receipts and payments on the basis of their nature in financing, investing, or operating activities. In situations in which cash receipts or payments cannot be separated by source or use, the appropriate classification should depend on the activity that is likely to be the predominant source or use of cash flows for the item. The amendments in the Update will be applied using a retrospective transition method to each period presented and, for public entities, are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017 and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in an interim period. Management is currently evaluating the impact this guidance may have on CONSOL Mining Corporation’s financial statements.

In May 2014, the FASB issued Update 2014-09 - Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), which supersedes the revenue recognition requirements in Topic 605 - Revenue Recognition and most industry-specific guidance throughout the Industry Topics of the Codification. The objective of the amendments in this Update is to improve financial reporting by creating common revenue recognition guidance for U.S. GAAP and

 

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International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The core principle of the guidance is that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services and should disclose sufficient information, both qualitative and quantitative, to enable users of financial statements to understand the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers. The following updates to Topic 606 were made during 2016:

 

   

In March 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-08 - Principal versus Agent Considerations (Reporting Revenue Gross versus Net), which clarifies how an entity determines whether it is a principal or an agent for goods or services promised to a customer as well as the nature of the goods or services promised to their customers.

   

In April 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-10 - Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Identifying Performance Obligations and Licensing, which seeks to address implementation issues in the areas of identifying performance obligations and licensing.

   

In May 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-12 - Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Narrow Scope Improvements and Practical Expedients, which seeks to address implementation issues in the areas of collectability, presentation of sales taxes, noncash consideration, and completed contracts and contract modifications at transition.

   

In December 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-20 - Technical Corrections and Improvements to Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which includes amendments related to loan guarantee fees, contract costs, provisions for losses on construction and production-type contracts, scope, disclosures, contract modification, contract asset versus receivable, refund liability and advertising costs.

The new standards are effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, with the option to adopt as early as annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016. Management continues to evaluate the impacts that these standards will have on CONSOL Mining Corporation’s financial statements, specifically as it relates to contracts that contain positive electric power price related adjustments. CONSOL Mining Corporation anticipates using the modified retrospective approach to adoption as it relates to ASU 2014-09.

In February 2016, the FASB issued Update 2016-02 - Leases (Topic 842), which increases transparency and comparability among organizations by recognizing lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet and disclosing key information about leasing arrangements. Update 2016-02 does retain a distinction between finance leases and operating leases, which is substantially similar to the classification criteria for distinguishing between capital leases and operating leases in the previous lease guidance. Retaining this distinction allows the recognition, measurement and presentation of expenses and cash flows arising from a lease to not significantly change from previous GAAP. For leases with a term of 12 months or less, a lessee is permitted to make an accounting policy election by class of underlying asset not to recognize lease assets and lease liabilities, but to recognize lease expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term. For both financing and operating leases, the right-to-use asset and lease liability will be initially measured at the present value of the lease payments in the statement of financial position. The accounting applied by a lessor is largely unchanged from that applied under previous GAAP. For public business entities, the amendments in this Update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early application is permitted. In transition, lessees and lessors are required to recognize and measure leases at the beginning of the earliest period presented using a modified retrospective approach. Management is currently evaluating the impact this guidance may have on CONSOL Mining Corporation’s financial statements.

Subsequent Events

Events and transactions subsequent to the balance sheet date have been evaluated through September 7, 2017, the date these financial statements were issued, for potential recognition in the financial statements or disclosure in the accompanying footnotes.

 

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NOTE 3—RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS:

During the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016 and the year ended December 31, 2016, the Predecessor’s related parties included CONSOL Energy and its subsidiaries.

The unaudited Combined Statements of Income include expense allocations for certain corporate functions historically performed by CONSOL Energy, including allocations of stock-based compensation and general corporate expenses related to legal, treasury, human resources, information technology and other administrative services. Those allocations, which are included in Selling, General and Administrative Costs in the unaudited Combined Statements of Income, were based primarily on specific identification, head counts and coal tons produced. Also, the Predecessor used centralized cash management activities at CONSOL Energy for collections and payments related to normal course of business accounts receivable and payments for goods and services. The balance of any receivable/payable from CONSOL Energy and other affiliates are presented as contributions/distributions in these unaudited combined financial statements.

The Predecessor believes that transactions with related parties, other than certain transactions with CONSOL Energy related to administrative services, were conducted on terms comparable to those with unrelated parties and would not have been materially different had they been calculated on a stand-alone basis. However, such expenses may not be indicative of the actual level of expense that the Predecessor would have incurred if it had operated as an independent, publicly-traded company or of the costs expected to be incurred in the future. It would be impracticable to estimate what the costs related to administrative services provided by CONSOL Energy would have been with an unrelated third party.

In September 2016, CNXC and its wholly owned subsidiary, CNX Thermal Holdings LLC (CNX Thermal), entered into a Contribution Agreement with CONSOL Energy, Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company LLC and Conrhein Coal Company (the Contributing Parties) under which CNX Thermal acquired an additional 5% undivided interest in and to the Pennsylvania Mine Complex, in exchange for (i) cash consideration in the amount of $21,500 and (ii) CNXC’s issuance of 3,956,496 Class A Preferred Units representing limited partner interests in CNXC at an issue price of $17.01 per Class A preferred Unit (the “Class A Preferred Unit Issue Price”), or an aggregate $67,300 in equity consideration. The Class A Preferred Unit Issue Price was calculated as the volume-weighted average trading price of CNXC’s common units (the “Common Units”) over the trailing 15-day trading period ending on September 29, 2016 (or $14.79 per unit), plus a 15% premium.

In connection with the PAMC acquisition, in September 2016, the General Partner and CNXC entered into the First Amended and Restated Omnibus Agreement (the “Amended Omnibus Agreement”) with CONSOL Energy and certain of its subsidiaries. Under the Amended Omnibus Agreement, CONSOL Energy indemnified CNXC for certain liabilities. The Amended Omnibus Agreement also amended CNXC’s obligations to CONSOL Energy with respect to the payment of an annual administrative support fee and reimbursement for the provisions of certain management and operating services provided, in each case to reflect structural changes in how those services are provided to CNXC by CONSOL Energy.

Charges for services from CONSOL Energy include the following:

 

     For the Six Months Ended June 30,
                 2017                            2016            

Operating and Other Costs

   $ 1,739      $ 2,536  

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

     1,454        2,305  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Services from CONSOL Energy

   $ 3,193      $ 4,841  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

At June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, CNXC had a net payable to CONSOL Energy in the amount of $2,196 and $1,666, respectively. This payable includes reimbursements for business expenses, executive fees, stock-based compensation and other items under the omnibus agreement.

 

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NOTE 4—LONG-TERM DEBT:

 

     June 30,
2017
   December 31,
2016

Debt:

     

Revolving Credit Facility - CNX Coal Resources LP

   $ 190,000       $ 201,000   

MEDCO Revenue Bonds in Series due September 2025 at 5.75%

     102,865         102,865   

Advance Royalty Commitments (7.73% Weighted Average Interest Rate)

     2,678         2,678   

Less: Unamortized Debt Issuance Costs

     3,826         4,343   
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

   $ 291,717       $ 302,200   

Less: Amounts Due in One Year*

     373         373   
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

      Long-Term Debt

   $         291,344       $         301,827   
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

* Excludes current portion of Capital Lease Obligations of $3,270 and $3,703 at June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively.

NOTE 5—PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

The Predecessor’s property, plant and equipment consist of the following:

 

     June 30,
2017
   December 31,
2016

Plant and Equipment

   $ 2,696,928       $ 2,680,453   

Airshafts

     384,959         381,755   

Coal Properties and Surface Lands

     861,141         861,048   

Mine Development

     344,140         344,139   

Advance Mining Royalties

     326,772         326,000   
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Property, Plant and Equipment

     4,613,940         4,593,395   

Less Accumulated Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     2,495,546         2,413,125   
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Property, Plant and Equipment, Net

   $ 2,118,394       $ 2,180,270   
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

NOTE 6—OTHER ACCRUED LIABILITIES:

 

     June 30,
2017
   December 31,
2016

  Subsidence liability

   $ 108,838       $ 104,437   

  Accrued payroll and benefits

     19,360         17,326   

  Litigation

     12,215         12,532   

  Equipment lease rental

     11,624         15,286   

  Deferred revenue

     8,803         10,520   

  Accrued other taxes

     7,223         12,732   

  Short-term incentive compensation

     2,163         6,073   

  Other

     19,873         21,986   

Current portion of long-term liabilities:

     

  Postretirement benefits other than pensions

     42,220         40,611   

  Asset retirement obligations

     28,675         26,259   

  Workers’ compensation

     12,809         13,596   

  Pneumoconiosis benefits

     9,590         10,763   
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Other Accrued Liabilities

   $         283,393       $           292,121   
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

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NOTE 7—PENSION AND OTHER POSTRETIREMENT BENEFIT PLANS (“OPEB”):

Components of Net Periodic Benefit (Credit) Cost are as follows:

 

     Pension Benefits   Other Post-Employment Benefits
     For the Six Months Ended
June 30,
  For the Six Months Ended
June 30,
             2017                   2016                   2017                   2016        

Service Cost

   $ 1,518     $ 777     $     $  

Interest Cost

     12,242       13,045       11,972       12,121  

Expected Return on Plan Assets

     (21,191     (23,738            

Amortization of Prior Service Credits

     (120     (120     (1,203      

Recognized Net Actuarial Loss

     3,910       3,467       11,556       9,584  

Settlement Loss

           13,696              
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net Periodic Benefit (Credit) Cost

   $ (3,641   $ 7,127     $ 22,325     $ 21,705  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to the Defined Benefit Plans Topic of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification, if the lump sum distributions made during a plan year, which for CONSOL Mining Corporation is January 1 to December 31, exceed the total of the projected service cost and interest cost for the plan year, settlement accounting is required. Lump sum payments exceeded this threshold during the six months ended June 30, 2016. Accordingly, CONSOL Mining Corporation recognized settlement expense of $13,696 for the six months ended June 30, 2016 in Operating and Other Costs in the unaudited Combined Statements of Income. The settlement charges resulted in a remeasurement of the pension plan.

NOTE 8—COAL WORKERS’ PNEUMOCONIOSIS (CWP) AND WORKERS’ COMPENSATION:

Components of Net Periodic Benefit Cost are as follows:

 

     CWP   Workers’ Compensation
     For the Six Months Ended
June 30,
  For the Six Months Ended
June 30,
             2017                   2016                   2017                   2016        

Service Cost

   $ 2,259     $ 2,244     $ 2,867     $ 3,733  

Interest Cost

     2,025       2,176       1,160       1,250  

Amortization of Actuarial Gain

     (3,816     (2,571     (299     (198

Administrative Fees

     303             270        

State Administrative Fees and Insurance Bond Premiums

                 1,360       1,665  

Curtailment Gain

           (1,307            
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net Periodic Benefit Cost

   $ 771     $ 542     $ 5,358     $ 6,450  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOTE 9—COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES:

The Predecessor is subject to various lawsuits and claims with respect to such matters as personal injury, wrongful death, damage to property, exposure to hazardous substances, governmental regulations including environmental remediation, employment and contract disputes and other claims and actions arising out of the normal course of business. The Predecessor accrues the estimated loss for these lawsuits and claims when the loss is probable and reasonably estimable. The Predecessor’s current estimated accruals related to these pending claims, individually and in the aggregate, are immaterial to the financial position, results of operations or cash flows of the Predecessor. It is possible that the aggregate loss in the future with respect to these lawsuits and claims could ultimately be material to the Predecessor’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows;

 

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however, such amounts cannot be reasonably estimated. The amount claimed against the Predecessor is disclosed below when an amount is expressly stated in the lawsuit or claim, which is not often the case.

Fitzwater Litigation: Three nonunion retired coal miners have sued CONSOL Energy Inc., Fola Coal Company (AMVEST), Consolidation Coal Company and CONSOL of Kentucky Inc. (COK) in West Virginia Federal Court alleging ERISA violations in the termination of retiree health care benefits. The Plaintiffs contend they relied to their detriment on oral statements and promises of “lifetime health benefits” allegedly made by various members of management during Plaintiffs’ employment and that they were allegedly denied access to Summary Plan Documents that clearly reserved to the Company the right to modify or terminate the CONSOL Energy Inc. Retiree Health and Welfare Plan. Pursuant to plaintiffs amended complaint filed on April 24, 2017, plaintiffs request that retiree health benefits be reinstated and seek to represent a class of all nonunion retirees who were associated with AMVEST and COK areas of operation. The Predecessor believes it has meritorious defense and intends to vigorously defend this suit.

Casey Litigation: The Company has become aware of (but not served with) a Complaint filed on August 23, 2017, on behalf of two nonunion retired coal miners against Parent, CONSOL Buchanan Mining Co., Inc. and Consolidation Coal Company in West Virginia Federal Court alleging ERISA violations in the termination of retiree health care benefits. Filed by the same lawyers who filed the Fitzwater litigation, and raising nearly identical claims, the Plaintiffs contend they relied to their detriment on oral promises of “lifetime health benefits” allegedly made by various members of management during Plaintiffs’ employment and that they were not provided with copies of Summary Plan Documents clearly reserving to the Company the right to modify or terminate the Retiree Health and Welfare Plan. Plaintiffs request that retiree health benefits be reinstated for them and their dependents and seek to represent a class of all nonunion retirees of any Parent subsidiary that operated or employed individuals in McDowell or Mercer Counties, West Virginia, or Buchanan or Tazewell Counties, Virginia whose retiree welfare benefits were terminated.

Other Matters: The Predecessor is a defendant in certain other legal proceedings arising out of the conduct of its business. In the opinion of management, based upon an investigation of these matters and discussion with legal counsel, the ultimate outcome of such other legal proceedings and compliance reviews, individually and in the aggregate, is not expected to have a material adverse effect on the Predecessor’s financial position, results of operations or liquidity.

Employee-related financial guarantees have primarily been provided to support the United Mine Workers’ of America’s 1992 Benefit Plan and various state workers’ compensation self-insurance programs. Environmental financial guarantees have primarily been provided to support various performance bonds related to reclamation and other environmental issues. Coal and other financial guarantees have primarily been provided to support various sales contracts. Other guarantees have been extended to support insurance policies, legal matters, full and timely payments of mining equipment leases, and various other items necessary in the normal course of business.

 

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At June 30, 2017, the Predecessor has provided the following financial guarantees, unconditional purchase obligations and letters of credit to certain third parties, as described by major category in the following table. These amounts represent the maximum potential of total future payments that the Predecessor could be required to make under these instruments. These amounts have not been reduced for potential recoveries under recourse or collateralization provisions. Generally, recoveries under reclamation bonds would be limited to the extent of the work performed at the time of the default. No amounts related to these financial guarantees and letters of credit are recorded as liabilities in the financial statements. CONSOL Mining Corporation management believes that these guarantees will expire without being funded, and therefore the commitments will not have a material adverse effect on financial condition.

 

     Amount of Commitment Expiration Per Period
     Total
Amounts
Committed
   Less Than
1 Year
   1-3 Years    3-5 Years    Beyond
5 Years
 

Letters of Credit:

              

Employee-Related

   $ 83,836      $ 39,934      $ 43,902      $      $  

Environmental

     998        998                       

Other

     9,847        5,555        4,292                
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Letters of Credit

     94,681        46,487        48,194                
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Surety Bonds:

              

Employee-Related

     112,460        112,460                       

Environmental

     506,200        500,502        5,698                

Other

     11,840        11,357        482        1         
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Surety Bonds

     630,500        624,319        6,180        1         
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Guarantees:

              

Other

     38,373        10,227        16,426        10,840        880  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Guarantees

     38,373        10,227        16,426        10,840        880  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total Commitments

   $       763,554      $         681,033      $         70,800      $         10,841      $               880  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

The Predecessor regularly evaluates the likelihood of default for all guarantees based on an expected loss analysis and records the fair value, if any, of its guarantees as an obligation in the combined financial statements.

NOTE 10—SEGMENT INFORMATION:

CONSOL Mining Corporation consists of one principal business division: Pennsylvania Mining Complex (PAMC). The principal activities of the PAMC division are mining, preparation and marketing of thermal coal, sold primarily to power generators. It also includes selling, general and administrative activities, as well as various other activities assigned to the PAMC division.

CONSOL Mining Corporation’s Other division includes expenses from various corporate and diversified business activities that are not allocated to the PAMC division. The diversified business activities include coal terminal operations, closed and idle mine activities, selling, general and administrative activities, as well as various other non-operated activities, none of which are individually significant to the Predecessor.

 

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Industry segment results for the six months ended June 30, 2017 are:

 

     PAMC      Other     Adjustments
and
Eliminations
     Combined  

Sales—Outside

   $ 620,155      $     $      $ 620,155  

Other Outside Sales

            27,742              27,742  

Freight—Outside

     30,045                     30,045  
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Sales and Freight

   $ 650,200      $ 27,742     $      $ 677,942  
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Earnings Before Income Tax

   $ 110,658      $ 7,049     $      $ 117,707  
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Segment Assets

   $         1,938,811      $     687,799     $             —      $       2,626,610  
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

   $ 83,703      $ (5,442   $      $ 78,261  
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Capital Expenditures

   $ 21,888      $ 1,341     $      $ 23,229  
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Industry segment results for the six months ended June 30, 2016 are:

 

     PAMC      Other     Adjustments
and
Eliminations
     Combined  

Sales—Outside

   $ 476,726      $     $      $ 476,726  

Other Outside Sales

            15,767              15,767  

Freight—Outside

     24,557                     24,557  
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total Sales and Freight

   $ 501,283      $ 15,767     $      $ 517,050  
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Earnings (Loss) Before Income Tax

   $ 45,847      $ (23,255   $      $ 22,592  
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Segment Assets

   $         2,038,366      $     719,804     $             —      $       2,758,170  
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

   $ 82,964      $ (4,988   $      $ 77,976  
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Capital Expenditures

   $ 26,003      $ 1,203     $      $ 27,206  
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Reconciliation of Segment Information to Combined Amounts:

Earnings Before Income Tax:

 

     For the Six Months Ended
June 30,
     2017    2016

Segment Income Before Income Taxes for reportable business segments

   $       125,673      $       29,088  

Less: Interest expense

     7,966        6,496  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Earnings Before Income Tax

   $ 117,707      $ 22,592  
  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

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NOTE 11—MISCELLANEOUS OTHER INCOME:

 

     For the Six Months
Ended June 30,
 
     2017      2016  

Royalty Income - Non-Operated Coal

   $ 12,193      $ 4,433  

Rental Income

     11,133        17,623  

Purchased Coal Sales

     6,098        604  

Interest Income

     1,047        423  

Right of Way Issuance

     994        5,581  

Contract Buyout

            6,288  

Other

     1,329        1,181  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Miscellaneous Other Income

   $         32,794      $         36,133  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

NOTE 12—INCOME TAXES:

The effective tax rate for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016 was 17.6% and (1.0%), respectively. The fluctuation in the effective tax rates is primarily attributable to the impact of the percentage of depletion on the respective period’s pre-tax income.

The effective rate for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016 differs from the U.S. federal statutory rate of 35% primarily due to the income tax benefit for excess percentage depletion.

 

F-60

Exhibit 99.2

CNX Resources Corporation Completes Spin-Off of CONSOL Energy Inc.

PITTSBURGH, November  29, 2017 /PRNewswire/  CNX Resources Corporation (NYSE: CNX) (CNX Resources or the Company), formerly named CONSOL Energy Inc., announced today that it has completed the spin-off of CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE: CEIX), formerly named CONSOL Mining Corporation, creating two publicly-traded companies--a natural gas exploration and production (E&P) company and a coal company. Today marks the first day of post-separation trading in each company’s common stock on the New York Stock Exchange.

“Today’s historic announcement is the culmination of a strategy over a decade in the making. Our objective was to once again transform a 150-year old institution, which owns and operates the best natural gas and coal assets in the world. We have accomplished that goal and, in doing so, positioned two new companies to dedicate singular focus to their individual industries and market segments. The E&P company is now one of the premiere pure-play natural gas E&P companies with a significant Marcellus and Utica Shale legacy acreage position, low-cost structure, and stacked pay opportunities, while the coal company holds some of the best coal assets in the world and is positioned to dominate the coal space for years to come,” commented Nicholas J. DeIuliis, CNX Resources’ President and Chief Executive Officer.

Under the terms of the separation, on November 28, 2017, the Company’s stockholders received a distribution of one share of common stock of the newly named CONSOL Energy for every 8 shares of the Company’s common stock held as of the close of business on the record date of November 15, 2017. No fractional shares of CONSOL Energy were issued and stockholders received cash in lieu of fractional shares. The Company’s stockholders retained their shares of Company common stock, but as a result of the name change, these shares now represent shares of CNX Resources Corporation.

In connection with the distribution, the Company changed its name from CONSOL Energy Inc. to CNX Resources Corporation and retained its ticker symbol “CNX” on the New York Stock Exchange. At the same time, the newly formed CONSOL Mining Corporation changed its name to CONSOL Energy Inc. and its common stock begins trading today on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “CEIX”.

About CNX Resources

CNX Resources Corporation is one of the largest independent natural gas exploration, development and production companies, with operations centered in the major shale formations of the Appalachian basin. The company deploys an organic growth strategy focused on responsibly developing its resource base. As of December 31, 2016, CNX had 6.3 trillion cubic feet equivalent of proved natural gas reserves. The company is a member of the Standard & Poor’s Midcap 400 Index. Additional information may be found at www.cnx.com .


Important Information about Company Names and Stock Trading Symbols

Effective November 28, 2017, the company known as CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNX) separated its gas business (GasCo or RemainCo) and its coal business (CoalCo or SpinCo) into two independent, publicly traded companies by means of a separation of CoalCo from RemainCo.

 

    The gas business has been named CNX Resources Corporation (RemainCo, GasCo or CNX) and will continue to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), retaining the ticker symbol “CNX”. Information regarding CNX and its natural gas business will be available at www.cnx.com .

 

    The coal business has been named CONSOL Energy Inc. (SpinCo, CoalCo or CONSOL) and will be listed on the NYSE under a new ticker symbol: “CEIX”. CoalCo will own, operate and develop all of the company’s coal assets, including its interest in the Pennsylvania Mining Complex, the Baltimore Marine Terminal, and approximately one billion tons of greenfield coal reserves. Information regarding the new CONSOL Energy and its coal business will be available at www.consolenergy.com .

 

    The master limited partnership that was named CNX Coal Resources LP (NYSE: CNXC) has changed its name to CONSOL Coal Resources LP and will trade on the NYSE under a new ticker symbol: “CCR”. CoalCo owns 100% of the general partner of CONSOL Coal Resources LP (representing a 1.7% general partner interest), as well as all of the incentive distribution rights and the common and subordinated interests in CNX Coal Resources LP that were owned by CONSOL Energy Inc. prior to the spin-off. Information regarding CONSOL Coal Resources LP will be available at www.ccrlp.com

Cautionary Statements

We are including the following cautionary statement in this press release to make applicable and take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 for any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of us. With the exception of historical matters, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements (as defined in 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from projected results. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. The forward-looking statements may include projections and estimates concerning the timing and success of specific projects and our future production, revenues, income and capital spending. When we use the words “believe,” “intend,” “expect,” “may,” “should,” “anticipate,” “could,” “estimate,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “will,” or their negatives, or other similar expressions, the statements which include those words are usually forward-looking statements. When we describe strategy that involves risks or uncertainties, we are making forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release; we disclaim any obligation to update these statements. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and assumptions about future events. While our management considers these expectations and assumptions to be reasonable, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, regulatory and other risks, contingencies and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. These risks, contingencies and uncertainties relate to, among other matters, the following: the impact of the separation on our business; the expected tax treatment of the separation; competitive responses to the separation; deterioration in economic conditions in any of the industries in which our customers operate may decrease demand for our products, impair our ability to collect customer receivables and impair our ability to access capital; prices for natural gas and natural gas liquids are volatile and can fluctuate widely based upon a number of factors beyond our control including oversupply relative to the demand available for our products, weather and the price and availability of alternative fuels; an extended decline in the prices we receive for our natural gas and natural gas liquids affecting our operating results and cash flows; foreign currency fluctuations could adversely affect the competitiveness of our natural gas liquids abroad; our reliance on major customers; our inability to collect payments from customers if their creditworthiness declines or if they fail to honor their contracts; the disruption of gathering, processing and transportation facilities and other systems that deliver our natural gas and natural gas liquids to market; a loss of our competitive position because of the competitive nature of the natural gas industry or a loss of our competitive position because of overcapacity in this industry impairing our profitability; the impact of potential, as well as any adopted environmental regulations including any relating to greenhouse gas emissions on our operating costs as well as on the market for natural gas and for our securities; the risks inherent in natural gas operations, including our reliance upon third party contractors, being subject to unexpected disruptions, including geological conditions, equipment failure, timing of completion of significant construction or repair of equipment, fires, explosions, accidents and weather conditions that could impact financial results; decreases in the availability of, or increases in, the price of commodities or capital equipment used in our natural gas operations; obtaining and renewing governmental permits and approvals for our natural gas; the effects of government regulation on the discharge into the water or air, and the disposal and clean-up of, hazardous substances and wastes generated during our natural gas operations; our ability to find adequate water sources for our use in natural gas drilling, or our ability to dispose of water used or removed from strata in connection with our gas operations at a reasonable cost and within applicable environmental rules; the effects of stringent federal and state employee health and safety regulations, including the ability of regulators to shut down our operations;


the potential for liabilities arising from environmental contamination or alleged environmental contamination in connection with our past or current gas operations; the effects gas well closing and certain other liabilities; uncertainties in estimating our economically recoverable natural gas and oil reserves; defects may exist in our chain of title and we may incur additional costs associated with perfecting title for natural gas rights on some of our properties or failing to acquire these additional rights may result in a reduction of our estimated reserves; the outcomes of various legal proceedings, including those which are more fully described in our reports filed under the Exchange Act; exposure to employee-related long-term liabilities; acquisitions and divestitures we anticipate may not occur or produce anticipated benefits; our participation in joint ventures may restrict our operational and corporate flexibility, and actions taken by a joint venture partner may impact our financial position and operational results; risks associated with our debt; replacing our natural gas and oil reserves, which if not replaced, will cause our natural gas and oil reserves and production to decline; declines in our borrowing base could occur for a variety of reasons, including lower natural gas or oil prices, declines in natural gas and oil proved reserves, and lending regulations requirements or regulations; our hedging activities may prevent us from benefiting from near-term price increases and may expose us to other risks; changes in federal or state income tax laws, particularly in the area of percentage depletion and intangible drilling costs, could cause our financial position and profitability to deteriorate; failure to appropriately allocate capital and other resources among our strategic opportunities may adversely affect our financial condition; failure by CONSOL Energy to satisfy liabilities it acquired from us in connection with the separation, or failure to perform its obligations under various arrangements, which we guaranteed, could materially or adversely affect our results of operations, financial position, and cash flows; information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss resulting from a terrorist attack or cyber incident; operating in a single geographic area; with respect to the termination of the joint venture with Noble - disruption to our business, including customer and supplier relationships resulting from this transaction, and the impact of the transaction on our future operating and financial results and liquidity. Additional factors are described in detail under the captions “Forward Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 filed with the SEC, as supplemented by our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.

Contacts :

Investor: Tyler Lewis at (724) 485-3157

Media: Brian Aiello at (724) 485-3078

Exhibit 99.3

CNX RESOURCES CORPORATION

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

In December 2016, CONSOL Energy announced its intention to separate into two independent, publicly traded companies: a coal company and a natural gas exploration and production (E&P) company. The coal company includes CONSOL Energy’s (Pennsylvania Mining Corporation) PAMC Division, CONSOL Energy’s ownership interest in CNX Coal Resources LP ( CNXC), CNX marine terminal at the Port of Baltimore, undeveloped coal reserves located in the Northern Appalachian, Central Appalachian and Illinois basins and certain related coal assets and liabilities (collectively, the Coal Business). CONSOL Mining Corporation was formed in Delaware on June 21, 2017 for the purpose of holding CONSOL Energy’s Coal Business. The spin-off transaction, which is expected to be tax-free to CONSOL Energy stockholders, was effected through a pro rata distribution of CONSOL Energy (formerly CONSOL Mining Corporation) stock to existing CNX Resources stockholders. On November 28, 2017, CNX Resources Corporation (CNX Resources) completed the disposition of the Coal Business pursuant to the Separation and Distribution agreement dated November 28, 2017, between CONSOL Mining Corporation and CONSOL Energy Inc. (the Separation and Distribution Agreement). In connection with the spin-off, CONSOL Energy Inc. was renamed CNX Resources Corporation and CONSOL Mining Corporation changed its name to CONSOL Energy Inc. CNX Resources will no longer consolidate the Coal Business within its financial results. Beginning in the fourth quarter of 2017, the Coal Business’ historical financial results for periods prior to the Separation Date will be reflected in CNX Resources’ consolidated financial statements as a discontinued operation.

The following unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated balance sheet as of September 30, 2017 and unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated statements of income of CNX Resources for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015, and 2014 give effect to the spin-off. The unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared by management of CNX Resources based upon the historical financial statements of CNX Resources and the adjustments and assumptions in the accompanying notes to the unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated financial statements.

The unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated balance sheet as of September 30, 2017 and the unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated statements of income for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015, and 2014 have been prepared to reflect the spin-off as if it had occurred on September 30, 2017 for the unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated balance sheet and January 1, 2014 for the unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated statements of income.

The unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated financial statements may not be indicative of the results that actually would have occurred if the spin-off transaction had occurred on the dates indicated or which may be obtained in the future. Management believes that the assumptions provide a reasonable basis for presenting the significant effects of the spin-off and are (i) factually supportable, (ii) directly attributable to the spin-off transaction and (iii) with respect to the statements of income, expected to have a continuing impact on CNX Resources. The unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated financial statements are presented for informational purposes only and do not purport to represent what our results of operations would have been had the transactions to which the pro forma adjustments relate occurred on the dates indicated and they do not purport to project our financial condition or results of operations for any future period. The pro forma adjustments may differ from those that will be calculated for purposes of reporting discontinued operations in future filings.

The unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements of CNX Resources (formerly CONSOL Energy Inc.) included in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 and the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements in CNX Resources’ Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2017, and accompanying notes, in each case, which are available on the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s website at www.sec.gov and CNX Resources’ website at www.cnx.com.


CNX RESOURCES CORPORATION

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF INCOME

FOR THE NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2017

 

(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)    CONSOL
Energy
Historical
     Pro Forma
Adjustments
          Pro Forma  

Revenue and Other Income:

         

Natural Gas, NGLs and Oil Sales

   $ 812,511      $ —         $ 812,511  

Gain on Commodity Derivative Instruments

     80,508        —           80,508  

Coal Sales

     899,400        (899,400     (a     —    

Other Outside Sales

     45,986        (42,806     (a     3,180  

Purchased Gas Sales

     32,678        —           32,678  

Freight-Outside Coal

     51,847        (51,847     (a     —    

Miscellaneous Other Income

     115,669        (45,716     (a     69,953  

Gain (Loss) on Sale of Assets

     197,343        (13,024     (a     184,319  
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Revenue and Other Income

     2,235,942        (1,052,793       1,183,149  

Costs and Expenses:

         

Exploration and Production Costs

         

Lease Operating Expense

     64,459        —           64,459  

Transportation, Gathering and Compression

     279,699        —           279,699  

Production, Ad Valorem, and Other Fees

     19,854        —           19,854  

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     288,220        —           288,220  

Exploration and Production Related Other Costs

     33,980        —           33,980  

Purchased Gas Costs

     32,231        —           32,231  

Other Corporate Expenses

     68,172        —           68,172  

Impairment of Exploration and Production Properties

     137,865        —           137,865  

Selling, General, and Administrative Costs

     62,490        —         (g     62,490  
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Exploration and Production Costs

     986,970        —           986,970  

PA Mining Operations Costs

         

Operating and Other Costs

     608,678        (608,678     (a     —    

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     125,341        (125,341     (a     —    

Freight Expense

     51,847        (51,847     (a     —    

Selling, General, and Administrative Costs

     50,637        (50,637     (a     —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total PA Mining Operations Costs

     836,503        (836,503       —    

Other Costs

         

Miscellaneous Operating Expense

     117,007        (88,407     (a )/(e)      28,600  

Selling, General, and Administrative Costs

     9,182        (7,960     (a     1,222  

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     1,047        57       (a     1,104  

Loss on Debt Extinguishment

     1,233        —           1,233  

Interest Expense

     129,367        (11,828     (a     117,539  
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Other Costs

     257,836        (108,138       149,698  

Total Costs And Expenses

     2,081,309        (944,641       1,136,668  
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 

Earnings (Loss) Before Income Tax

     154,633        (108,152       46,481  

Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

     39,962        (14,345     (b     25,617  
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 

Net Income (Loss)

     114,671        (93,807       20,864  

Less: Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest

     10,567        (10,567     (a     —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 

Net Income (Loss) Attributable to CNX Resources Corporation Shareholders

   $ 104,104      $ (83,240     $ 20,864  
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 


CNX RESOURCES CORPORATION

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF INCOME

FOR THE NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2017

 

(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)    CONSOL
Energy
Historical
     Pro Forma
Adjustments
     Pro Forma  

Earnings Per Share

        

Basic

   $ 0.45         $ 0.09  
  

 

 

       

 

 

 

Dilutive

   $ 0.45         $ 0.09  
  

 

 

       

 

 

 

Dividends Declared Per Share

   $ —           $ —    
  

 

 

       

 

 

 

Weighted Average Shares Outstanding

        

Basic

     229,986,428           229,986,428  

Dilutive

     231,459,820           231,459,820  


CNX RESOURCES CORPORATION

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF INCOME

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2016

 

(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)    CONSOL
Energy
Historical
    Pro Forma
Adjustments
          Pro Forma  

Revenues and Other Income:

        

Natural Gas, NGLs and Oil Sales

   $ 793,248     $ —         $ 793,248  

Loss on Commodity Derivative Instruments

     (141,021     —           (141,021

Coal Sales

     1,065,582       (1,065,582     (a     —    

Other Outside Sales

     32,038       (31,464     (a     574  

Purchased Gas Sales

     43,256       —           43,256  

Freight-Outside Coal

     46,468       (46,468     (a     —    

Miscellaneous Other Income

     167,306       (72,814     (a     94,492  

Gain (Loss) on Sale of Assets

     19,498       (5,228     (a     14,270  
  

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Revenue and Other Income

     2,026,375       (1,221,556       804,819  

Costs and Expenses:

        

Exploration and Production Costs

        

Lease Operating Expense

     96,434       —           96,434  

Transportation, Gathering and Compression

     374,350       —           374,350  

Production, Ad Valorem, and Other Fees

     31,049       —           31,049  

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     417,853       —           417,853  

Exploration and Production Related Other Costs

     14,519       —           14,519  

Purchased Gas Costs

     42,717       —           42,717  

Other Corporate Expenses

     87,913       —           87,913  

Impairment of Exploration and Production Properties

     —         —           —    

Selling, General and Administrative Costs

     102,503       —         (g     102,503  
  

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Exploration and Production Costs

     1,167,338       —           1,167,338  

PA Mining Operations Costs

        

Operating and Other Costs

     733,300       (733,300     (a     —    

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     168,195       (168,195     (a     —    

Freight Expense

     46,468       (46,468     (a     —    

Selling, General and Administrative Costs

     37,512       (37,512     (a     —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total PA Mining Operations Costs

     985,475       (985,475       —    

Other Costs

        

Miscellaneous Operating Expense

     182,869       (136,643     (a     46,226  

Selling, General and Administrative Costs

     12,717       (12,532     (a     185  

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     12,455       (10,366     (a     2,089  

Loss on Debt Extinguishment

     —         —           —    

Interest Expense

     191,476       (14,053     (a     177,423  
  

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Other Costs

     399,517       (173,594       225,923  

Total Costs and Expenses

     2,552,330       (1,159,069       1,393,261  
  

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

Loss from Continuing Operations Before Income Tax

     (525,955     (62,487       (588,442

Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

     10,010       (13,588     (b     (3,578
  

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

Loss from Continuing Operations

     (535,965     (48,899       (584,864

Less: Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interests

     8,954       (8,954     (a     —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

Loss Attributable to CNX Resources Corporation Shareholders from Continuing Operations

   $ (544,919   $ (39,945     $ (584,864
  

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 


CNX RESOURCES CORPORATION

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF INCOME

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2016

 

(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)    CONSOL
Energy
Historical
    Pro Forma
Adjustments
     Pro Forma  

Loss Per Share From Continuing Operations

       

Basic

   $ (2.38      $ (3.87
  

 

 

      

 

 

 

Dilutive

   $ (2.38      $ (3.87
  

 

 

      

 

 

 

Dividends Declared Per Share

   $ 0.01        $ 0.01  
  

 

 

      

 

 

 

Weighted Average Shares Outstanding

       

Basic

     229,387,403          229,387,403  

Dilutive

     229,387,403          229,387,403  


CNX RESOURCES CORPORATION

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF INCOME

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2015

 

(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)    CONSOL
Energy
Historical
    Pro Forma
Adjustments
          Pro Forma  

Revenues and Other Income:

        

Natural Gas, NGLs and Oil Sales

   $ 726,921     $ —         $ 726,921  

Gain on Commodity Derivative Instruments

     392,942       —           392,942  

Coal Sales

     1,289,036       (1,289,036     (a     —    

Other Outside Sales

     30,967       (30,967     (a     —    

Purchased Gas Sales

     14,450       —           14,450  

Freight-Outside Coal

     20,499       (20,499     (a     —    

Miscellaneous Other Income

     144,351       (67,283     (a     77,068  

Gain (Loss) on Sale of Assets

     74,173       (13,025     (a     61,148  
  

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Revenue and Other Income

     2,693,339       (1,420,810       1,272,529  

Costs and Expenses:

        

Exploration and Production Costs

        

Lease Operating Expense

     121,847       —           121,847  

Transportation, Gathering and Compression

     343,403       —           343,403  

Production, Ad Valorem, and Other Fees

     30,438       —           30,438  

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     370,374       —           370,374  

Exploration and Production Related Other Costs

     10,120       —           10,120  

Purchased Gas Costs

     10,721       —           10,721  

Other Corporate Expenses

     65,939       —           65,939  

Impairment of Exploration and Production Properties

     828,905       —           828,905  

Selling, General and Administrative Costs

     102,229       —         (g     102,229  
  

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Exploration and Production Costs

     1,883,976       —           1,883,976  

PA Mining Operations Costs

        

Operating and Other Costs

     666,302       (666,302     (a     —    

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     176,864       (176,864     (a     —    

Freight Expense

     20,499       (20,499     (a     —    

Selling, General and Administrative Costs

     40,843       (40,843     (a     —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total PA Mining Operations Costs

     904,508       (904,508       —    

Other Costs

        

Miscellaneous Operating Expense

     78,743       (25,285     (a     53,458  

Selling, General and Administrative Costs

     14,918       (14,877     (a     41  

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     19,882       (18,762     (a     1,120  

Loss on Debt Extinguishment

     67,751       —           67,751  

Interest Expense

     199,266       (7,544     (a     191,722  
  

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Other Costs

     380,560       (66,468       314,092  

Total Costs and Expenses

     3,169,044       (970,976       2,198,068  
  

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

Loss from Continuing Operations Before Income Tax

     (475,705     (449,834       (925,539

Income Tax Benefit

     (125,439     (128,236     (b     (253,675
  

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

Loss from Continuing Operations

     (350,266     (321,598       (671,864

Less: Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling Interests

     10,410       (10,410     (a     —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 

Net Loss Attributable to CNX Resources Corporation Shareholders from Continuing Operations

   $ (360,676   $ (311,188     $ (671,864
  

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

 


CNX RESOURCES CORPORATION

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF INCOME

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2015

 

(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)    CONSOL
Energy
Historical
    Pro Forma
Adjustments
     Pro Forma  

Loss Per Share From Continuing Operations

       

Basic

   $ (1.57      $ (2.99
  

 

 

      

 

 

 

Dilutive

   $ (1.57      $ (2.99
  

 

 

      

 

 

 

Dividends Declared Per Share

   $ 0.145        $ 0.145  
  

 

 

      

 

 

 

Weighted Average Shares Outstanding

       

Basic

     229,186,125          229,186,125  

Dilutive

     229,186,125          229,186,125  


CNX RESOURCES CORPORATION

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF INCOME

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2014

 

(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)    CONSOL
Energy
Historical
     Pro Forma
Adjustments
          Pro Forma  

Revenues and Other Income:

         

Natural Gas, NGLs and Oil Sales

   $ 1,004,924      $ —         $ 1,004,924  

Gain on Commodity Derivative Instruments

     23,193        —           23,193  

Coal Sales

     1,616,874        (1,616,874     (a     —    

Other Outside Sales

     276,242        (41,255     (a     234,987  

Purchased Gas Sales

     8,999        —           8,999  

Freight-Outside Coal

     23,133        (23,133     (a     —    

Miscellaneous Other Income

     207,460        (122,259     (a     85,201  

Gain (Loss) on Sale of Assets

     43,198        (26,312     (a     16,886  
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Revenue and Other Income

     3,204,023        (1,829,833       1,374,190  

Costs and Expenses:

         

Exploration and Production Costs

         

Lease Operating Expense

     139,242        —           139,242  

Transportation, Gathering and Compression

     239,579        —           239,579  

Production, Ad Valorem, and Other Fees

     39,418        —           39,418  

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     323,600        —           323,600  

Exploration and Production Related Other Costs

     23,355        —           23,355  

Purchased Gas Costs

     7,251        —           7,251  

Other Corporate Expenses

     46,838        —           46,838  

Impairment of Exploration and Production Properties

     —          —           —    

Selling, General and Administrative Costs

     128,731        —         (g     128,731  
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Exploration and Production Costs

     948,014        —           948,014  

PA Mining Operations Costs

         

Operating and Other Costs

     982,749        (982,749     (a     —    

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     173,316        (173,316     (a     —    

Freight Expense

     23,133        (23,133     (a     —    

Selling, General and Administrative Costs

     68,597        (68,597     (a     —    
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total PA Mining Operations Costs

     1,247,795        (1,247,795       —    

Other Costs

         

Miscellaneous Operating Expense

     460,429        (119,523     (a     340,906  

Selling, General and Administrative Costs

     13,307        (10,127     (a     3,180  

Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     35,727        (33,657     (a     2,070  

Loss on Debt Extinguishment

     95,267        —           95,267  

Interest Expense

     223,333        —           223,333  
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Other Costs

     828,063        (163,307       664,756  

Total Costs and Expenses

     3,023,872        (1,411,102       1,612,770  
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 

Earnings (Loss) from Continuing Operations Before Income Tax

     180,151        (418,731       (238,580

Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

     15,204        (123,836     (b     (108,632
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 

Net Income (Loss) Attributable to CNX Resources Corporation Shareholders from Continuing Operations

   $ 164,947      $ (294,895     $ (129,948
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 


CNX RESOURCES CORPORATION

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF INCOME

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2014

 

(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)    CONSOL
Energy
Historical
     Pro Forma
Adjustments
     Pro Forma  

Earnings (Loss) Per Share From Continuing Operations

        

Basic

   $ 0.72         $ (0.57
  

 

 

       

 

 

 

Dilutive

   $ 0.71         $ (0.57
  

 

 

       

 

 

 

Dividends Declared Per Share

   $ 0.25         $ 0.25  
  

 

 

       

 

 

 

Weighted Average Shares Outstanding

        

Basic

     229,994,407           229,994,407  

Dilutive

     231,580,278           229,994,407  


CNX RESOURCES CORPORATION

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2017

 

(Dollars in thousands)    CONSOL
Energy
Historical
     Pro Forma
Adjustments
          Pro Forma  

ASSETS

         

Current Assets:

         

Cash and Cash Equivalents

   $ 285,708      $ 421,302       (c )/(f)    $ 707,010  

Accounts and Notes Receivable:

         

Trade

     193,778        (100,992     (c     92,786  

Other Receivables

     77,746        (14,239     (c     63,507  

Inventories

     63,182        (52,004     (c     11,178  

Recoverable Income Taxes

     105,432        —           105,432  

Prepaid Expenses

     79,437        (21,758     (c     57,679  
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Current Assets

     805,283        232,309         1,037,592  

Property, Plant and Equipment:

         

Property, Plant and Equipment

     13,738,388        (4,604,205     (c     9,134,183  

Less—Accumulated Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization

     5,939,426        (2,513,075     (c     3,426,351  
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Property, Plant and Equipment—Net

     7,798,962        (2,091,130       5,707,832  

Other Assets:

         

Investment in Affiliates

     190,154        —         (c     190,154  

Other

     185,169        (115,281     (c     69,888  
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Other Assets

     375,323        (115,281       260,042  
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 

TOTAL ASSETS

   $ 8,979,568      $ (1,974,102     $ 7,005,466  
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 


CNX RESOURCES CORPORATION

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2017

 

(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)    CONSOL
Energy
Historical
     Pro Forma
Adjustments
          Pro Forma  

LIABILITIES AND EQUITY

         

Current Liabilities:

         

Accounts Payable

   $ 303,196      $ (90,289     (c   $ 212,907  

Current Portion of Long-Term Debt

     10,971        (3,564     (c     7,407  

Other Accrued Liabilities

     540,672        (273,898     (c )/(d)      266,774  

Current Liabilities of Discontinued Operations

     5,353        —           5,353  
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Current Liabilities

     860,192        (367,751       492,441  

Long-Term Debt:

         

Long-Term Debt

     2,500,782        (289,602     (c     2,211,180  

Capital Lease Obligations

     31,530        (9,453     (c     22,077  
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Long-Term Debt

     2,532,312        (299,055       2,233,257  

Deferred Credits and Other Liabilities:

         

Deferred Income Taxes

     44,720        189,453       (b     234,173  

Postretirement Benefits Other Than Pensions

     649,565        (649,565     (c     —    

Pneumoconiosis Benefits

     106,837        (106,837     (c     —    

Mine Closing

     198,764        (198,764     (c     —    

Gas Well Closing

     223,446        —           223,446  

Workers’ Compensation

     66,165        (64,866     (c     1,299  

Salary Retirement

     100,510        (67,464     (c     33,046  

Other

     125,822        (42,367     (c     83,455  
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Deferred Credits and Other Liabilities

     1,515,829        (940,410       575,419  
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 

TOTAL LIABILITIES

     4,908,333        (1,607,216       3,301,117  

Stockholders’ Equity:

         

Common Stock, $.01 Par Value; 500,000,000 Shares Authorized, 230,090,909 Issued and Outstanding at September 30, 2017; 229,443,008 Issued and Outstanding at December 31, 2016

     2,305        —           2,305  

Capital in Excess of Par Value

     2,486,071        —           2,486,071  

Preferred Stock, 15,000,000 shares authorized, None issued and outstanding

     —          —           —    

Retained Earnings

     1,825,547        (617,919     (c )/(d)(f)      1,207,628  

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss

     (382,092      390,209       (c     8,117  
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total CNX Resources Corporation Stockholders’ Equity

     3,931,831        (227,710       3,704,121  
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 

Noncontrolling Interest

     139,404        (139,176     (c     228  
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 

TOTAL EQUITY

     4,071,235        (366,886       3,704,349  
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY

   $ 8,979,568      $ (1,974,102     $ 7,005,466  
  

 

 

    

 

 

     

 

 

 


CNX RESOURCES CORPORATION

NOTES TO UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL INFORMATION

SEPTEMBER 30, 2017

 

1. Basis of Presentation

The unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated balance sheet as of September 30, 2017 and unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated statements of income for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014 are derived from and should be read in conjunction with CNX Resources Corporation’s (CNX Resources) audited consolidated financial statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2016 and the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements in CNX Resources’ Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2017 and accompanying notes, in each case, which are available on the United States Security Exchange Commissions website at www.sec.gov and CNX Resources’ website at www.cnx.com.

In accordance with rule 11-02(b)(5) of Regulation S-X amounts related to discontinued operations have been excluded from the accompanying unaudited proforma condensed consolidated statements of income for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014.

The accompanying unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated statements of income for the nine month ended September 30, 2017 and years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014 assume the spin-off closed on January 1, 2014. The accompanying unaudited pro forma condensed balance sheet as of September 30, 2017, assumes the spin-off transaction occurred on September 30, 2017 and excludes certain assets and liabilities as defined in the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

The unaudited pro forma condensed consolidated financial statements are presented for informational purposes only and are not intended to be indicative of our consolidated results of operations or financial positions that would have been reported had the spin-off been completed as of the dates presented, and should not be taken as a representation of our future consolidated results of operations or financial condition. The pro forma adjustments are based upon available information and assumptions that management believes are reasonable under the circumstances. The pro forma adjustments may differ from those that will be calculated for purposes of reported discontinued operations in future filings.

 

2. Pro forma Adjustments and Assumptions

The adjustments are based on currently available information for certain estimates and assumptions and, therefore, the actual effects of these transactions may differ from the pro forma adjustments. A general description of these transactions and adjustments is provided as follows:

(a) Reflects the elimination of the results of operations of CONSOL Mining Corporation.

(b) Represents the tax effect of temporary differences between the tax basis of assets and liabilities of various corporate and other assets and liabilities to be transferred to / from CONSOL Mining Corporation and their reported amounts in the combined financial statements, as well as reflecting the associated income tax benefit (expense) for all of the adjustments noted above. The income tax provision was based on the estimated federal and state statutory rate of 38.65% for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively. We expect our effective rate in future years, however, to vary from these estimated statutory reserves.

(c) Reflects the elimination of the historical assets and liabilities attributable to CONSOL Mining Corporation.

(d) Reflects the accrual of $7 million of transaction costs attributable to the spin-off that are not already included in accrued expenses as of September 30, 2017. This brings the total transaction costs to $32 million, of which $15 million are attributable to CONSOL Mining Corporation. These are factually supportable because such amounts are based on reliable, documented evidence such as invoices for costs incurred to date and estimates from third-parties for additional costs to be incurred in connection with the spin-off. Such costs are non-recurring in nature and directly related to the separation and, therefore, are reflected as a reduction to equity and not included in the unaudited pro forma condensed combined statements of income.

(e) Represents the removal of non-recurring separation costs of $20 million incurred during the nine months ended September 30, 2017 that are directly related to the spin-off.

(f) Represents the cash distributions paid to CNX Resources by CONSOL Mining Corporation, in accordance with the Separation and Distribution Agreement.

(g) Selling, general and administrative expenses are expected to increase by approximately $18 million due to expenses that were historically allocated to CONSOL Mining Corporation now being the responsibility of CNX Resources. This amount has not been included as a pro forma adjustment due to this expense being an allocated expense that is not considered factually supportable.