Metallurgical coal miner Walter Energy (WLT.N) has come under fire from a top shareholder who urged the company to sell itself after the recent resignation of its chief executive. Audley Capital Advisors, a hedge fund that holds around 1.5 percent of Walter's shares, said it had already spoken to parties who indicated an interest in a partial or outright acquisition of the roughly $7 billion company. Walter shares rose more than 6.5 percent on Monday after Audley made its request to Walter public. "We are concerned that the company now lacks the strong leadership needed to deliver confidently on its plans," Audley Managing Partner Julian Treger wrote to Walter chairman Michael Tokarz.
Walter Energy, Inc. is a producer and exporter of metallurgical coal for the global steel industry and also produces steam coal, coal bed methane gas (natural gas), metallurgical coke and other related products. Shares of WLT traded higher by 6.56% or $7.28/share to $118.22. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $62.00 and as high as $143.76. On average, 2209810 shares of WLT exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 3443032.
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