Xinergy Ltd. announces appointment of Todd Q. Swanson as Chairman of the Board and Matthew Goldfarb as Chief Executive Officer

Toronto Stock Exchange: XRG

KNOXVILLE, TN, May 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - The Board of Directors of Xinergy Ltd. ("Board"), (TSX:XRG) ("Xinergy" or the "Company"), a Central Appalachian coal producer, today announced that it has accepted the resignation of Jon E. Nix as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, and has named Todd Q. Swanson as Chairman of the Board and Matthew Goldfarb Interim CEO.   Mr. Nix, the Company's founder, is stepping down for personal reasons as he focuses on family matters requiring his full-time attention.

"The Company's asset portfolio and balance sheet position it well to navigate the significant challenges of our current operating environment.  As one of the Company's largest shareholders, I have every confidence that Matt and Todd will continue to lead with strategic direction toward the creation of long term shareholder value for all shareholders. Matt has been an instrumental part of our leadership team from the Company's inception, and together with Todd, will ensure a smooth transition given their deep familiarity with our operations and understanding of industry fundamentals.  Our strong executive management team, led by President Bernie Mason, remains in-tact and will dutifully continue to oversee the day to day operations of the organization as they have since we came public.  It's difficult for me to step away from full-time stewardship of the Company, though circumstances require that I shift my near-term focus to the challenges facing my family," said Jon E. Nix.

Matthew Goldfarb Xinergy's Interim CEO commented: "Jon has been key to Xinergy's success over the past several years, and leaves us with a highly-talented management team and an asset configuration that presents a very exciting growth platform from which to build significant shareholder value as our end markets recover.  While we will miss Jon's entrepreneurial and visionary spirit, we fully understand and support his decision to resign and focus his attention on personal matters."

Matthew Goldfarb - Mr. Goldfarb has served as Vice Chairman of Xinergy since July 2011, having previously served as lead independent director of the Company, Chairman of the Compensation Committee and a member of the Audit Committee and Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee since the Company came public in December 2009.  Mr. Goldfarb also served as Portfolio Manager of Fourth Street Holdings, L.L.C., a private investment firm, from June 2010 until July 2011.  From January 2009 until January 2010, Mr. Goldfarb managed leveraged loan trading businesses at Pali Capital, Inc., a boutique investment banking firm that offers financial advisory and brokerage services, and Tradition North America, Inc., a leading inter-dealer broker of money market instruments.  Previously, Mr. Goldfarb was a Director and Senior Investment Analyst of The Blackstone Group/GSO Capital Partners from January 2007 until December 2008 and a Director and Senior Investment Analyst at Pirate Capital LLC, an event-driven hedge fund, from January 2005 until September 2006.  Prior to that, Mr. Goldfarb was with Icahn Associates Corp. for approximately five years and prior to joining Icahn, was associated with the law firm of Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP.  Mr. Goldfarb currently serves as a director of Fisher Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSCI), and previously served on the boards of directors of CKE Restaurants, Inc., and James River Coal Company (NASDAQ: JRCC), a regional coal mining and processing business.

Todd Q. Swanson - Mr. Swanson has served as a director of the Company since July, 2011. Mr. Swanson is a private investor in public and private markets, with a focus on the natural resource sector.  His experience includes both public and private equity investing, most recently as a partner with Barclays Natural Resource Investments from 2009 to 2010, a natural resource focused private equity fund affiliated with Barclays Capital.  Previous experience includes Third Point LLC, an event-driven, special situations hedge fund, where he was responsible for a global energy portfolio and completed several activist investments from 2005 to 2009, Thoma Cressey Equity Partners (now Thoma Bravo), a private equity firm based in Chicago, and KPMG LLP, an international accounting firm where he held accounting and merger and acquisition roles from 1998 to 2001.  He is a former director of Massey Energy and several other public and private companies.

About Xinergy Ltd.

Headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, Xinergy Ltd., through its wholly owned subsidiary Xinergy Corp. and its subsidiaries, is engaged in coal mining in eastern Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia. Xinergy sells high quality thermal and metallurgical coal to electric utilities, steelmakers and industrial companies. For more information, please visit www.xinergycorp.com.

SOURCE Xinergy Ltd.