The merging pair said on Friday the Investment Canada Act approval was received when the Minister of Industry determined the transaction was of net benefit to Canada.

The transaction is still pending other customary approvals, but is expected to be completed on or about April 1.

Earlier this month, the companies announced the deal’s approval by the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

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

The $US3.2 billion acquisition, initially announced in November, will create a North American and global steelmaking coal giant and make the combined company the top publicly traded pure-play metallurgical coal producer in the world and provide 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 is 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.