National Coal Corp. Shareholders Approve Ranger Energy Investments Acquisition

National Coal Corp. NCOC announces that following a special shareholders' meeting held yesterday, the holders of a majority of its outstanding shares entitled to vote approved a merger agreement with Ranger Energy Investments, LLC, an acquisition vehicle for Jim Justice, a businessman and operator of Appalachian coal assets. The acquisition transaction is expected to be completed by December 15, 2010; at its conclusion National Coal will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ranger Energy and the Company's stock will cease trading. Under the terms of the agreement, upon the closing of the merger, Ranger Energy will pay $1.00 per share in cash for each share of National Coal common stock, including shares issuable upon exercise of options. The per share consideration represents a 54% premium to National Coal's closing price of $0.65 per share on September 27, 2010, the date the merger agreement was executed.