Simpson Thacher announced it represented Bank of Montreal and Deutsche Bank in connection with $325 million of acquisition financing for Westmoreland Coal’s announced acquisition of the Prairie and Mountain coal mining operations of Sherritt International for approximately $435 million.

Closing of the acquisition is expected to be completed during the Q1/14 and is subject to customary conditions, including the receipt of relevant regulatory approvals, including Investment Canada Act and Competition Act approval.

The Simpson Thacher team included Rhett Brandon, Roxane Reardon, Justin Cooke, Xavier Kowalski, Katerina Kousoula and Tony Rim (Capital Markets), Justin Lungstrum and Mike Vernace (Credit), Rob Holo and Adam Wells (Tax) and George Wang (OFAC).

Westmoreland, the oldest independent coal company in the U.S., has sub-bituminous coal mining operations in the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming, and lignite mining operations in Montana, North Dakota and Texas.

The Prairie operations of Sherritt consist of six operating surface mines within the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The Mountain operations of Sherritt consist of one operating surface mine in Alberta.