The Associated Press had the story yesterday out of St. Louis:

A federal bankruptcy court has approved Patriot Coal’s reorganization plan, clearing the way for it to emerge from 17 months of bankruptcy, the St. Louis-based company said Tuesday as it finished wrapping up its exit financing.

The story continued:

As part of its push to regain its financial footing since filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July of last year, Patriot Coal Corp. lined up $586 million in financing from Barclays and Deutsche Bank, having already obtained a $250 million infusion through a rights offering backstopped by Knighthead Capital Management LLC.

Key to Patriot’s strive to exit bankruptcy was its October settlement with former corporate parent Peabody Energy Corp. of months of legal tangling over retiree health benefits. Under that deal, Peabody, which spun off Patriot in 2007, will spend $310 million over four years to fund the benefits and provide about $140 million in letters of credit to Patriot.

In a press release, Patriot CEO Ben Hatfield said:

This marks the final step in Patriot’s financial restructuring.  We look forward to a new beginning as a well-capitalized company providing a competitive product to the electric utility and steel industries.