Severstal to buy U.S. coal miner PBS for $1.3 bln

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Severstal (CHMFq.L), Russia's largest steel maker, said on Friday its mining division intends to acquire U.S. coal miner PBS Coals Corp for $8.30 Canadian dollars ($7.97) per share, implying an enterprise value of $1.3 billion.

The all-cash deal will be made by way of an acquisition of Penfold Capital Acquisition Corp following the combination of PBS and Penfold, Severstal Resurs, the company's mining division, said in a statement.

"Securing the supply of raw materials is a critical piece to maximizing the full potential of our U.S. business," Gregory Mason, Severstal Chief Operating Officer and chief executive of the company's international division, said in the statement.

"The acquisition of PBS will help ensure that Severstal controls its operating costs by providing a guaranteed supply of metallurgical coal for our coke making operations in the U.S."

PBS Coals mines and processes coal in Pennsylvania and has capacity to produce over 4 million tonnes a year of metallurgical coal, Severstal said.

(Reporting by Robin Paxton; Editing by David Cowell)