Deutsche Bank Sticks Out Among Financiers of Peabody’s Coal Loan

When Peabody Energy Corp. agreed to buy the coal assets of Anglo American Plc, only one European lender joined the US investment bankers and private credit specialists financing the deal: Deutsche Bank AG.

Peabody obtained a $2.1 billion bridge loan to help it pay for the acquisition, according to a Nov. 25 filing. Behind that loan are divisions of KKR & Co., a unit of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. and Deutsche Bank. Of the firms providing financing, only Deutsche Bank has published an explicit policy on coal.

At issue is the extent to which the ...