Canadian firm buying PBS Coals Inc., merging it with another southwestern Pennsylvania company

A Canadian company is buying PBS Coals Inc. and plans to merge it with another subsidiary the Canadian company already has in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Corsa Coal Corp. of Toronto plans to merge PBS with its Wilson Creek Energy, based in Somerset.

PBS had about 600 employees when it was purchased by Russian steel company OAO Severstal for $177 million in 2008. Although PBS eventually grew to 1,000 employees, the company never wound up producing much coal for Severstal's operations and layoffs have cut its workforce to under 500.

Corsa board member George Dethlefsen says the Corsa deal, set to close in August, "is a return to local leadership." Corsa plans to "grow" and "stabilize" the company and build PBS "into a large producer."

The deal includes $60 million in cash and assumed liabilities of up to $60 million.