The companies said late Thursday that, with final court approval of the proposed plan of arrangement received, the deal now depended on other conditions, including approval under the Investment Canada Act.

The review process for that approval has commenced and should be completed prior to the anticipated April 1 acquisition closing date.

The federally mandated waiting period required under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act expired January 12, with the Canadian Competition Bureau issuing a “no action” letter January 14 indicating it did not intend to oppose the transaction.

First announced in November, the $C3.3 billion acquisition will create a North American and global steelmaking coal giant, making the combined company the top publicly traded pure-play metallurgical coal producer in the world and providing it with access to the Pacific and Atlantic seaborne markets.

In total, the producer will own 385 million tons of reserves, 20Mt or more of which it expects to mine annually by 2012.

The combined company’s growing production profile will be balanced between Walter's high-productivity assets and Western Coal's high-growth assets in Canada, the US and the UK. It will be the only producer with cost-advantaged transportation access to the Asian and South American seaborne metallurgical coal markets.