US-based coal producer Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. has announced that it has entered into an agreement to exchange its 50 percent interest in its Alpha Shale Resources Joint Venture with the natural gas producer Rice Energy for $200 million of Rice common stock in Rice Energy's planned initial public offering and $100 million in cash, i.e., for a total consideration of $300 million.
The transaction is expected to close concurrently with, and is contingent upon, the closing of the Rice Energy IPO.
Alpha and Rice Energy entered into the 50/50 joint venture in 2010 to develop a portion of Alpha's Marcellus natural gas holdings in Greene County, Pennsylvania.