Under the revised deal Murray will pay $US1.37 billion ($A1.78 billion) cash to gain a 50% stake in Foresight. Under the previous deal it was seeking to take a controlling stake for $1.4 billion.

Murray said it expected to avoid taking on $150 million of debt due to the changes. However, the new structure will give Foresight founder Christopher Cline a 66% stake and a chairman board role in one of the two key Foresight companies and a 36% stake in the other one.

The deal is still expected to be transformational.

“Murray Energy and Foresight Energy believe this new business partnership will lead to significant synergies as previously disclosed, which will, in turn, lead to even lower mining costs and safer operations, and will provide for future growth of both companies through integrations and future drop-downs of other assets into the public partnership,” Murray said.

“Upon consummation of the transaction, it is expected that Robert D. Moore, the chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Murray Energy, will also become the chief executive officer of Foresight Energy and join its Board of Directors.”

Timeframes on when the deal would close were not revealed.