A shift in ownership With the sale complete, Tennessee-based Verso Paper takes over mill operations at the former IP facility in Bucksport

BUCKSPORT – The paper mill has a new owner and a new name.

Verso Paper took over operation of the mill here Tuesday after the terms of the previously announced sale by International Paper Co. were completed. The sale transfers IP’s coated and supercalendered paper business, which includes mills in Bucksport and Jay, to the newly created company.

“This is Day One,” said mill spokesman Bill Cohen. “We are no longer owned by IP.”

The new sign bearing the Verso logo had been installed on Monday, but the mill had to wait for the final details of the agreement to be completed. It was officially unveiled at about 4 a.m. Tuesday, in time to greet the morning shift.

The sale closing did not disrupt operations at the mill and did not result in any changes in the mill operations, Cohen said. IP had recently announced management changes at the mill, including a new mill manager, but that did not affect the operation of the mill and no immediate changes are anticipated, he said.

Technically, IP sold the business to CMP Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Verso Paper Holdings LLC, an affiliate of Apollo Management LP, a privately held investment company. The sale price was $1.4 billion, subject to certain post-closing adjustments. This includes approximately $30 million in the form of a 10 percent limited partnership interest in CMP Investments LP, the parent company of CMP Holdings.

In a separate transaction, International Paper has agreed to sell the Sartell Hybrid Poplar Farm to CMP Fiber Farm LLC, a subsidiary of CMP Investments.

With the sale complete, Verso takes over operation of IP’s coated and supercalendered papers business, which annually produces approximately 1.7 million tons of coated papers for the magazine, catalog and retail insert markets. In 2005, that division generated $1.6 billion in sales.

Verso, which will remain headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., now employs approximately 3,000 people, including the 800 or so workers at the Bucksport mill.

The IP team, which had managed the coated paper division, will form the management team for Verso Paper. L.H. Puckett, Verso’s president and CEO, said a “great opportunity” lies ahead for the company.

“Our brand is built around energetic people working together to provide great products and services to our core customers,” Puckett said in a press statement. “Verso Paper will build upon this considerable strength with an even sharper focus.”

In addition to Puckett, Verso’s senior management team includes Michael Weinhold, senior vice president, sales and marketing; Lyle Fellows, senior vice president, manufacturing; and Robert Mundy, chief financial officer. Each has had more than 20 years experience in the paper industry and held a leadership role in IP’s coated paper division.

Verso is a word in the print and publishing industry that means “the other side of the paper.”

“As we enter the other side of the transition to a stand-alone company, we build on a well-established foundation,” Puckett said. “Our experienced employees, great assets and commitment to delivering value-added solutions to our customers will make Verso the premier coated papers business in North America.”

The sale of the coated paper division is part of a restructuring plan that IP officials announced in July; that plan also included the closure of some mills and the sale of forestland.