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RELATED COVERAGE <br />• Arch Coal's Bankruptcy Drags Down Mining Stocks (http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2016/01/11/arch-coals- <br />bankruptcy-drags-down-mining-stocks/) (Jan. 11) <br />• Miners Bury Dividends Amid Commodity Price Slump (http://www.wsj.com/articles/miners-bury-dividends- <br />amid-commodity-price-fall-1449608331) (Dec. 8, 2015) <br />• Coal Miners Feel the Burn (http://www.wsj.com/articles/coal-miners-feel-the-burn-1448582905) (Nov. 26, <br />2015) <br />• Peabody Energy to Sell New Mexico, Colorado Assets for $358 Million (http://www.wsj.com/articles/peabody- <br />energy-to-sell-new-mexico-colorado-assets-for-358-million-1448066961) (Nov. 20, 2015) <br />Companies typically use revolving loans to fund small or infrequent expenses they <br />expect to repay with cash or long-term debt like bonds. Fully drawing down on a <br />revolving loan can signal a company is building up its cash reserves ahead of a <br />bankruptcy filing or that it is worried lenders may at some point cut off access to credit. <br />Last summer, Peabody rival Alpha Natural Resources Inc. drew the balance of its <br />revolver a little more than a month before filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. A <br />handful of heavily indebted oil -and -gas producers also have tapped their credit lines in <br />recent weeks. <br />Peabody hasn't abandoned efforts to avoid bankruptcy and is still trying to reach a deal <br />with creditors out of court, according to people familiar with the matter. The company <br />has been working with restructuring advisers from Lazard Ltd. and Jones Day since last <br />year, some of the people said. <br />Peabody and other coal companies are struggling as power plants opt for less expensive <br />natural gas and demand falls for the type of coal used in steelmaking. The industry slide <br />has driven several coal companies, including Alpha, Arch Coal Inc. and Patriot Coal <br />Corp., into bankruptcy over the past year. <br />Peabody's shares have fallen 97% over the past year, closing Wednesday at $3.36. The <br />company's market value currently stands at around $63 million, according to FactSet, <br />and much of its debt trades at distressed levels. Some $1 billion of bonds Peabody sold in <br />March 2015 recently traded at less than 10 cents on the dollar, according to <br />MarketAxess. <br />The company, which is scheduled to release fourth-quarter financial results Thursday, <br />had $334.3 million in cash as of Sept. 30. <br />