Judge OKs Arch's purchase of Triton's Wyoming mines

Arch Coal Inc.'s $364 million purchase of Triton Coal Co.'s Wyoming mines was permitted by a U.S. judge Friday who rejected government arguments the takeover would lead to higher prices for low-sulfur coal used to generate electricity.

Arch also has operations in Utah.

U.S. District Judge John Bates in Washington rebuffed a challenge to the transaction by the Federal Trade Commission and six states where almost half the low-sulfur coal is consumed. The judge did not release the opinion accompanying his order denying the government's bid for a preliminary injunction. The government can appeal Bates's ruling to a federal appeals court.

In its complaint, the FTC said the acquisition would result in more than 80 percent of production of Wyoming's Southern Powder River Basin being controlled by three companies. About a third of the 1.1 billion tons of coal produced annually in the United States comes from the basin, the FTC said.

The top three producers of coal in the region are Rio Tinto Plc's Kennecott Energy & Coal Co., Peabody Energy Corp., the largest U.S. coal producer, and Arch, according to 2000 production figures on the American Coal Council's Web site.

"We are disappointed that the district court's order does not enjoin Arch from acquiring Triton," FTC spokeswoman Nancy Ness Judy said in a statement. The FTC "will be evaluating our options" to protect consumers while also pursuing its challenge to the transaction before an agency administrative-law judge, she said.