HOUSTON, Nov. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Natural Resource Partners L.P.
(NYSE: NRP) and (NYSE: NSP) today announced that it has signed a definitive
agreement to acquire the D.D. Shepard property from a charitable organization
for $110 million in cash. The partnership expects to close the acquisition in
early December with an effective date of December 1, and will fund the
transaction through its credit facility.
The D.D. Shepard property consists of nearly 25,000 acres of land
containing in excess of 80 million tons of coal reserves. The property,
located in Boone County, West Virginia adjacent to other NRP property, has
both metallurgical and steam coal reserves, gas reserves and surface and
timber. Over 90% of the property is owned in fee most of which is contiguous.
Coal produced from the property can be shipped on the CSX and Norfolk Southern
railroads. The majority of the coal reserves are leased to Peabody Energy
while the majority of the gas reserves are leased to Dominion Exploration and
Production.
The property currently generates revenue and will be immediately accretive
to NRP. NRP anticipates the property to generate approximately $20 million in
coal royalty revenues in 2007, based on approximately 5.5 million tons of
production, and over $2 million in gas royalty and wheelage fees.
"When NRP went public, one of our goals was to acquire large tracts of
coal reserves from family held entities. This is one of the most attractive
blocks of currently producing coal in the country and we are very pleased to
be able to add it to our diverse portfolio of assets. This property is
particularly attractive since it adjoins property currently owned by NRP,"
said Nick Carter, President and Chief Operating Officer.
Natural Resource Partners L.P. is headquartered in Houston, TX, with its
operations headquarters in Huntington, WV. NRP is a master limited
partnership that is principally engaged in the business of owning and managing
coal properties in the three major coal producing regions of the United
States: Appalachia, the Illinois Basin and the Powder River Basin. The common
units are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol NRP
and the subordinated units are traded on the NYSE under the symbol NSP.
Further information about NRP is available on the partnership's website at
http://www.nrplp.com.
This press release may include "forward-looking statements" as defined by
the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such statements include the estimated
reserves, acreage, revenues, as well as the accretive nature of the
transaction. All statements, other than statements of historical facts,
included in this press release that address activities, events or developments
that the partnership expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the
future are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on certain
assumptions made by the partnership based on its experience and perception of
historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other
factors it believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Such statements are
subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are
beyond the control of the partnership. These risks include, but are not
limited to, decreases in demand for coal; changes in operating conditions and
costs; production cuts by our lessees; commodity prices; unanticipated
geologic problems; changes in the legislative or regulatory environment and
other factors detailed in Natural Resource Partners' Securities and Exchange
Commission filings. Natural Resource Partners L.P. has no obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result
of new information, future events or otherwise.
SOURCE Natural Resource Partners L.P.
CONTACT:
Kathy Hager of Natural Resource Partners L.P.,
+1-713-751-7555,
khager@nrplp.com
Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060109/NRPLOGO
Web site: http://www.nrplp.com