Bankrolled by $2.35 billion in exit financing, Atlanta-based Mirant Corp. announced Tuesday it has successfully emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, completing the court-approved steps needed to put its reorganization plan in effect. Under the plan, Mirant will convert more than $6 billion of debt and liabilities into equity in the reorganized company, while cutting in half its overall debt.

The company has applied for relisting with the New York Stock Exchange, and it said it expects to begin trading Jan. 11 under the ticker symbol “MIR.”

“This is a major milestone,” said Mirant CEO Edward R. Muller. “After 30 months in the bankruptcy process, we have successfully restructured Mirant to provide it with the financial flexibility necessary to be a leader in the industry.” Muller said the Mirant workforce will create “tremendous value” for shareholders through what he called their “discipline, creativity and operational excellence.”

Under the reorganization plan, Mirant plans to issue 300 million shares of common stock to its creditors and existing equity holders. Additional shares will be reserved for issuance as part of employee stock programs, and for issuance in connection with Series A and Series B warrants that are being distributed as part of the reorganization plan.

“Mirant has begun its initial distributions of common stock and cash provided for in its Plan of Reorganization, and expects to complete these initial distributions by the middle of January 2006,” a company spokesperson said.

Miran’s units in the United States and Canada filed for bankruptcy protection July 14, 2003; the company’s other international operations did not. Mirant said subsidiaries owning generating facilities and other assets in New York state will remain in Chapter 11 proceedings, pending the resolution of certain matters with local authorities — “including property tax settlements and the capital expenditures required for those facilities to continue to operate in future years,” according to the company spokesperson.

Overseeing the company is a new nine-member board, including Muller, who chairs the board. Mirant bills itself as a competitive energy company that produces and sells electricity in the United States, the Caribbean and the Philippines. It owns or leases more than 18,000 MW of electric generating capacity globally. The company operates an asset management and energy marketing organization from its headquarters in Atlanta.

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