US unit of Rio Tinto files new plans for IPO

NEW YORK - London-based mining and metals giant Rio Tinto PLC said Wednesday its U.S. coal mining unit Cloud Peak Energy Inc. filed new plans for an initial public offering.

Cloud Peak Energy filed a new registration statement while simultaneously withdrawing a registration statement filed in October. Cloud Peak Energy, which says it is the third-largest coal producer in the U.S. and Powder River Basin based on 2008 coal production, operates three coal mines in Wyoming and Montana, and owns a 50 percent stake in a fourth mine in Montana.

The company has not yet said at what price it will sell the shares nor how many it intends to issue, though for purposes of calculating its registration fee, Cloud Peak estimated the offering's maximum value at $500 million. It's amended S-1 filing on Oct. 17 estimated the offering at $1 billion, but the market meltdown sent energy demand plunging soon after, hurting energy stocks.

Cloud Peak aims to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "CLD." The joint book-running managers for the offering are Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co. and RBC Capital Markets Corp.

For the year ended Dec. 31, 2008, Cloud Peak reported net income of $63.1 million on revenue of $1.24 billion, compared with profit of $32.3 million and revenue of $1.05 billion in 2007.

As the recession dampened steel production, demand for coal has been weak. But that has led to US producer supply cuts, which have helped prices and bolstered the sector's stocks. Further cuts will continue to push long-term contract coal prices higher. Some analysts say speculation that U.S. and global economies have bottomed and that industrial energy demand is recovering signals good news for coal stocks.

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