WCC said the court gave the green light to the deal without any modifications.

Effective today, all Cambrian shares will be cancelled and 0.75 new Western shares will be issued to Cambrian shareholders for every one “scheme share” held as of July 9 at 6pm UK time.

WCC noted that Cambrian had applied for the cancellation of its Alternative Investment Market share trading on July 14. As for the introduction of new Western shares to the Toronto Stock Exchange and AIM, WCC said documentation had been submitted and trading should commence when markets opened on July 14.

In May, WCC announced its $US103.2 million ($C120 million) deal to acquire Cambrian. In late June, WCC shareholders approved the deal.

“With the coal assets in Western Canada, West Virginia and South Wales [UK], the company now has positioned itself as a global mid-tier coal producer that has the built-in capacity to produce over 7 million tonnes of metallurgical and thermal coal per year," WCC president John Hogg said last month.

The Canadian producer’s coal reserves are expected to jump by 39% and its resource base by 50%, while production levels would spike 100% to about 3.5Mt.

"This transaction is demonstrably beneficial to shareholders for both companies – it simplifies the corporate structure and provides a solid foundation for growth,” Western chairman John Byrne said at the time of the merger announcement.

“From the Western shareholders’ perspective, Western will acquire 100 per cent of low-cost metallurgical and thermal coal mines in West Virginia, 50.6 per cent of a thermal coal mine in the UK, 45 per cent of Xtract Energy and 100 per cent of AGD Mining.”

Once the transaction closes, John Brodie, John Byrne, Robert Chase, John Conlon, Charles Pitcher and Julian Treger will remain on Western’s board, as well as John Hogg, who will continue on as the company’s president.