Arch Coal Files Chapter 11 Reorganization

Arch Coal, Inc. ("Arch" or the "company")

today announced that it has reached an agreement with a majority of the lenders under its $1.9 billion first lien financing facility to significantly restructure the company's debt load. Arch has entered into a restructuring support agreement with the members of an ad hoc group of lenders that hold more than 50% of the company's first lien debt. Under the terms of the agreement, the lenders have agreed to support a restructuring transaction that will eliminate more than $4.5 billion in debt from Arch's balance sheet and position the company for long-term success.  In order to facilitate this financial restructuring, Arch and substantially all of its wholly-owned domestic subsidiaries have today filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. The company and the ad hoc group have agreed to the principal terms of a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization, which will be subject to