NewLead Holdings Ltd. Closes Acquisition of Coal Excavation Rights

PIRAEUS, GREECE, April 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- NewLead Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: NEWL) ("NewLead") today announced that the Company has renegotiated previously announced agreements to acquire title and coal excavation rights in 5,000 acres of land in Kentucky containing 18.6 million tons of estimated coal reserves and ownership and leasehold interests in 18,335 acres of land in Tennessee containing 143.1 million tons of estimated coal, natural gas and other natural resource reserves. The agreements have also been modified to permit NewLead to extract coal and collect royalties.

Under the amended agreements, NewLead is not required to now fund the $66 million aggregate acquisition price of the two properties. Instead, NewLead must pay $850,000 per month through May 2013, which payments will be credited against the $66 million aggregate acquisition price. At that time, the remainder of approximately $40 million of the initial aggregate acquisition price will become payable in nine monthly installments, with a payment of approximately $23 million due a year after the last installment is due. NewLead is currently seeking financing for the $66 million aggregate acquisition price. While NewLead has signed a preliminary term sheet with a lending party to enable it to fund this transaction, no assurance can be provided that this or any other party will be able to provide the financing required in the timeline required, or at all.

NewLead is also pleased to announce that it has hired coal mining executives to lead its efforts in managing NewLead's commitment in the development of mineral interests in the United States. These executives shall be responsible for managing the daily operations of the coal mines and the excavation of coal from the properties.

Michael Zolotas, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NewLead, stated, "We continue to develop our commodity arm by hiring experienced professionals to help exploit this opportunity. In addition, by amending the agreements to allow NewLead to extract minerals from the coal mines, we are in a position to leverage these assets and commence supplying coal to our growing customer base. As previously announced, we have signed coal supply agreements expected to generate $873.5 million of revenue over a three year period."

The estimated reserves stated above are as determined by independent appraisals. The methodology used by the independent appraisers was not compliant with the methodology required by the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") in reserve reports and, accordingly, should not be relied upon. Such reserve information is only provided to give the best currently available information. NewLead is undertaking to obtain reserve reports that comply with SEC methodology. Such reports may differ materially from the information provided herein.

About NewLead Holdings Ltd.

NewLead Holdings Ltd. is an international, vertically integrated shipping and commodity company that manages product tankers and dry bulk vessels. NewLead currently controls four vessels, two tankers and two dry bulk vessels. NewLead's common shares are traded under the symbol "NEWL" on the NASDAQ Global Select Market. To learn more about NewLead Holdings Ltd., please visit the new website at http://www.newleadholdings.com/.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

This press release includes assumptions, expectations, projections, intentions and beliefs about future events. These statements, as well as words such as "anticipate," "estimate," "project," "plan," and "expect," are intended to be ''forward-looking" statements. We caution that assumptions, expectations, projections, intentions and beliefs about future events may vary from actual results and the differences can be material. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, such matters as the creditworthiness of our counterparties, the reliability of the reserve reports, our ability to extract or acquire coal to fulfill contracts, future operating or financial results; our liquidity position and cash flows, our ability to borrow additional amounts under our revolving credit facility and, if needed, to obtain waivers from our lenders and restructure our debt, and our ability to continue as a going concern; statements about planned, pending or recent vessel disposals and/or acquisitions, business strategy, future dividend payments and expected capital spending or operating expenses, including dry-docking and insurance costs; statements about trends in the product tanker and dry bulk vessel shipping segments, including charter rates and factors affecting supply and demand; expectations regarding the availability of vessel acquisitions; completion of repairs; length of off-hire; availability of charters; and anticipated developments with respect to any pending litigation. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, management's examination of historical operating trends, data contained in our records and other data available from third parties. Although NewLead believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond our control, NewLead cannot assure you that it will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections described in the forward looking statements. Important factors that, in our view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions, including changes in charter rates and vessel values, failure of a seller to deliver one or more vessels, and other factors discussed in NewLead's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. NewLead expressly disclaims any obligations or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in NewLead's expectations with respect thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based.

Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission limits disclosure for reporting purposes to mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. We use certain terms on this press release, such as "reserves," "resources," "geologic resources," "proven," or "probable," which may not be consistent with the reserve definitions established by the SEC. U.S. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted into SEC Industry Guide 7 reserves. U.S. investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our SEC filings to be filed in the future. You can review and obtain copies of these filings from our website or at http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.

Investor and Media Relations:
Elisa Gerouki
NewLead Holdings Ltd.                                                             
Telephone: + 30 213 014 8023
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE NewLead Holdings Ltd.