Alliance Resource Partners LP and Alliance Holdings GP LP announced an agreement to complete their planned merger through a series of transactions expected to close during the second or third quarter of 2018.

The simplification transactions would result in a single publicly traded entity, which according to Alliance would be accomplished through a distribution of Alliance Resource common units held by Alliance Holdings to Alliance Holdings unitholders in exchange for their common units.

Alliance Resource is expected to issue common units in exchange for the 1.0001% general partner interest in Alliance Resource Operating Partners LP and the 0.001% managing membership interest in Alliance Coal LLC. Based on its last quarterly distribution of 51 cents per common unit, Alliance would issue in exchange for these interests approximately 1,320,377 common units upon closing of the transactions, according to a Feb. 23 release.