By Sarah Chaney, Dow Jones Newswires

Arch Coal Inc. emerged from bankruptcy Wednesday after winning court approval on a turnaround plan that clears nearly $5 billion in debt from the coal producer’s books.

CEO John W. Eaves said Wednesday that the restructuring has repositioned Arch, the owner of the West Elk Mine near Somerset, to succeed in a recovering energy market. Arch has struggled against market pressures and federal regulations that led to the loss of 150 jobs on Colorado’s Western Slope since 2009.

“We are particularly pleased to be emerging in a resurgent metallurgical market, and look forward to similar strengthening in thermal coal markets in the months ahead,” Eaves said.

The reorganized company resumed trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ARCH. Shares closed at $63.

Equity in the old Arch was wiped out under the company’s Chapter 11 plan.

Arch exits Chapter 11 protection with more than $300 million of cash on its balance sheet and a debt level that is 7 percent of what it was before the reorganization.

Arch filed for Chapter 11 protection in January after a failed effort to restructure its debts outside of bankruptcy court. At the time, over a quarter of U.S. coal production was in bankruptcy, trying to reorganize to cope with prices that had fallen 50% since 2011, battered by competition from natural gas and new environmental rules.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in St. Louis confirmed Arch’s reorganization plan in September.

The plan, a product of settlement talks with junior creditors, reduces Arch’s debt load by about $4.7 billion and ensures that the company will be a “lean, mean, fighting machine for the coming era, which will remain challenging and complicated for the U.S. coal industry,” Arch bankruptcy lawyer Marshall Huebner said in court last month.

Unsecured creditors including bondholders are slated to receive $30 million in cash and 6 percent of the new shares, according to court papers. Bondholders also get to choose between warrants to buy up to 12 percent of Arch’s new common shares or $25 million in additional cash. All of the stock distributions are subject to dilution by the warrants and a management incentive program.

Arch’s exit follows SandRidge Energy Inc.’s announcement Tuesday that it has emerged from Chapter 11 protection. The oil and gas driller received approval to relist on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “SD.”

SandRidge’s restructuring plan slashed $3.7 billion from its books and put the company in the hands of a group of bondholders.

Jacqueline Palank contributed to this article.