Asset Impairment

The Company’s mining and exploration assets and mining-related investments may be adversely affected by numerous uncertain factors that may cause the Company to be unable to recover all or a portion of the carrying value of those assets. The Company generally does not view short-term declines in thermal and metallurgical coal prices as an indicator of impairment. However, the Company generally views a sustained trend (for example, over periods exceeding one year) of adverse coal pricing or unfavorable changes thereto as a potential indicator of impairment. Because of the volatile and cyclical nature of coal prices and demand, it is reasonably possible that coal prices may decrease and/or fail to improve in the near term, which, absent sufficient mitigation such as an offsetting reduction in the Company’s operating costs, may result in the need for future adjustments to the carrying value of the Company’s long-lived mining assets and mining-related investments.

Successor Period April 2 through December 31, 2017

As described in Note 2. “Emergence from the Chapter 11 Cases and Fresh Start Reporting,” the Company adjusted the book values of its property, plant, equipment and mine development assets to estimated fair value in connection with fresh start reporting. During the Successor period April 2 through December 31, 2017, the Company recognized no impairment charges.

Predecessor Period January 1 through April 1, 2017

During the Predecessor period January 1 through April 1, 2017, the Company recognized impairment charges of $30.5 million related to terminated coal lease contracts in the Midwestern United States.

Year Ended December 31, 2016

The following costs are reflected in “Asset impairment” in the consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2016:



	Predecessor
	Reportable Segment
	Australian Metallurgical Mining		Corporate and Other		Consolidated
	(Dollars in millions)
Asset impairment charges	$	193.2	$	54.7	$	247.9

Australian Metallurgical Mining

On November 3, 2016, Peabody Australia Mining Pty Ltd, one of the Company’s Australian subsidiaries, entered into a definitive share sale and purchase agreement (SPA) for the sale of all of its equity interest in Metropolitan Collieries Pty Ltd, the entity that owns the Metropolitan mine in New South Wales, Australia and the associated interest in the Port Kembla Coal Terminal, to a subsidiary of South32 Limited (South32). The SPA provided for a cash purchase price of $200.0 million and certain contingent consideration, subject to a customary working capital adjustment. The Company determined that, as a result of entering into the transaction, and the approval of the Company’s Board of Directors of such a transaction in October 2016, the Metropolitan mine was deemed to meet held-for-sale accounting criteria in the fourth quarter of 2016. Accordingly, the Company recorded an after-tax impairment charge of $193.2 million to write down the assets to their estimated selling price, which is the best estimate of fair value under a held-for-sale accounting model. South32 terminated the agreement in April 2017 after it was unable to obtain necessary approvals from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission within the timeframe required under the SPA.

Corporate and Other

During a 2016 review of its asset portfolio and prepetition leases, the Company identified certain non-strategic Midwestern coal reserves held under lease that were determined to be uneconomical to be mined in the future. As a result, the Company rejected certain leases and recognized an aggregate impairment charge of $37.5 million. The Company also recognized a $17.2 million impairment charge to record at fair value certain non-strategic Australian metallurgical assets classified as held for sale. For additional information regarding those divested assets, refer to Note 21. “Resource Management, Acquisitions and Other Commercial Events”.

Year Ended December 31, 2015

The following costs are reflected in “Asset impairment” in the consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2015:



	Predecessor
	Reportable Segment
	Australian Metallurgical Mining		Australian Thermal Mining		Midwestern U.S. Mining		Corporate and Other		Consolidated
	(Dollars in millions)
Asset impairment charges:
Long-lived assets	$	675.2	$	17.5	$	40.2	$	268.4	$	1,001.3
Equity method investment	—		—		—		276.5		276.5
Total	$	675.2	$	17.5	$	40.2	$	544.9	$	1,277.8

Australian Metallurgical and Thermal Mining

Due to the severity of the decline in seaborne metallurgical and thermal coal pricing observed during 2015 and other adverse supply and demand conditions noted during the year that drove an unfavorable change in the expected timing of eventual seaborne supply and demand rebalancing, the Company concluded that indicators of impairment existed surrounding its Australian mining platform as of June 30, 2015 and December 31, 2015. Accordingly, the Company reviewed its Australian mining assets for recoverability at those dates and determined that the carrying values of three of its active mines that produce metallurgical coal were not recoverable and recognized impairment charges of $230.5 million and $144.5 million during the three-month periods ended June 30, 2015 and December 31, 2015, respectively, to write those assets down to their estimated fair value.

Also during 2015, the Company reviewed its portfolio of mining tenements and surface lands to identify non-strategic assets that could be monetized. In connection with that review, certain of such assets were deemed to meet held-for-sale accounting criteria or were otherwise deemed more likely to generate cash flows through divestiture rather than development, with the long-term plans for certain adjacent assets also consequently affected. Accordingly, the Company recognized an aggregate impairment charge of $317.7 million to write down the targeted divestiture assets and abandoned assets to their estimated fair value.

Midwestern U.S. Mining

The Company identified indicators of impairment to be present for one of its inactive surface mines due to the property no longer being part of the Company’s long-term mining plan as a result of the decline in thermal coal prices and a lack of observed interest from potential buyers in acquiring the asset. Accordingly, the Company recognized an impairment charge of $30.5 million to write down the asset to its estimated fair value.

Due to the severity of the decline in thermal coal pricing observed during 2015 and other adverse market conditions noted during 2015, the Company identified indicators of impairment to be present for one of its Midwestern U.S. Mining assets. Due to the adverse conditions, the Company’s long-term mining plan changed and the asset was no longer part of the long-term mining plan. Accordingly, the Company recognized an impairment charge of $9.7 million to write down the asset to its estimated fair value.

Corporate and Other

Long-lived Assets. In connection with a similar review of the Company’s asset portfolio conducted during 2015 to identify non-strategic domestic assets that could be monetized, the Company identified non-strategic, non-coal-supplying assets as held-for-sale rather than held-for-use as of December 31, 2015. Accordingly, the Company recognized an impairment charge of $182.2 million to write the assets down to estimated fair value.

The Company also identified indicators of impairment to be present for several of its non-strategic undeveloped coal properties that are no longer part of the Company’s long-term mining plan as a result of the decline in thermal coal prices and a lack of observed interest from potential buyers in acquiring those assets. Accordingly, the Company recognized an aggregate impairment charge of $86.2 million to write down the assets to their estimated fair value.

Equity Method Investment. Due to the impairment indicators noted above surrounding the Company’s Australian platform, the Company similarly reviewed its total investment in Middlemount, which owns the Middlemount Mine in Queensland, Australia, as of December 31, 2015. As a result of that review, the Company determined that the carrying value of its equity investment in Middlemount was other-than-temporarily impaired and recorded a charge of $46.6 million to write-off the investment.

The Company, along with the other equity interest holder, also periodically makes loans to Middlemount (Subordinated Loans) pursuant to the related stockholders’ agreement for purposes of funding capital expenditures and working capital requirements. The Company reviewed the loans for impairment and recorded a charge of $229.9 million to write down the full carrying value of the Subordinated Loans. The Subordinated Loans are provided on an equal and shared basis with the other equity interest holder, and the Company’s and the other equity interest holder’s claims under the Subordinated Loans are on equal footing. The Company also has priority loans to Middlemount (Priority Loans) which have seniority over the fully impaired Subordinated Loans. The Priority Loans amounted to $84.8 million and $65.2 million at December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively, and were not impaired as of December 31, 2016 as the Company had the intent and ability to hold the loans to payoff and Middlemount had sufficient assets to settle.

The fair value estimates made during the Company’s impairment assessments were determined in accordance with the methods outlined in Note 1. “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies”, except in certain instances where indicative bids were received related to non-strategic assets being marketed for divestiture. In those instances, the indicative bids were also considered in estimating fair value.