Here is what is likely to change at the former Great Northern Paper mills in Millinocket and East Millinocket if Fraser Papers Inc. succeeds with plans to buy both operations for at least $80 million:

Nothing.

“All that will change is that we are going from being managers to owners,” Fraser Papers President Peter Gordon said Wednesday. “I wouldn’t anticipate any changes in our strategy or style.”

Toronto-based Fraser, which already operates the mills on behalf of Katahdin Paper Co. LLC, expects to close the deal in April with Brookfield Asset Management, the mills’ present owner. Brookfield bought the mills out of bankruptcy in 2003.

Fraser Papers shareholders, portions of its board of directors and Canadian regulatory agencies must approve the deal. Shareholders will receive details of the transaction, and their approval will be sought at a meeting in late April, Gordon said.

Under the agreement, Fraser will pay $50 million plus working capital of about $30 million and royalty payments based on the performance of the supercalendered paper line from Millinocket’s mill, officials said.

They announced the deal Tuesday evening.

Fraser plans to continue to upgrade and streamline operations at the Millinocket and East Millinocket mills, which employ about 600 people, Gordon said.

No new hires or layoffs are expected.

The upgrades include spending $3 million to $5 million over the next year on operational enhancements, including refurbishing an old groundwood and pulping operation and pipeline connecting East Millinocket’s pulping works to Millinocket’s mill. This will increase pulp production from 400 to 500 tons daily, Gordon said.

“These are not substantive changes,” Gordon said.

Still, they signal the company’s commitment to both mills, Gordon said.

“If there is any uncertainty over our commitment to the business, certainly we hope that the purchase by Fraser will provide confidence and a better understanding of our commitment to the operations,” he said. “We look forward to a very bright and prosperous future of making directory and supercalendered paper from those two mills.

“We think very highly of the people who work there and we are confident that we can continue to be successful,” Gordon added.

This was good news to Katahdin area officials, as the mills are the largest employers in East Millinocket, Medway, Millinocket and unincorporated regions surrounding those towns.

“I think it’s a good thing,” said Medway Selectman Greig Barker, a former Great Northern employee. “I think it will probably work. They [Fraser] must be doing something right if they want to buy it out.”

The East Millinocket mill, with two machines and 450 workers, produces directory paper while the Millinocket mill, with one machine and 150 workers, makes a specialty paper – supercalendered – used in retail inserts, catalogs and magazines, officials said.

Of the two, East Millinocket’s mill is healthier, producing a leading share in the directory market, Gordon said earlier this month. Millinocket’s mill is less profitable because of operational problems and worldwide competition and is not running at full capacity.

“It’s good that Fraser is coming in,” said Mark Scally, chairman of the East Millinocket Board of Selectmen. “Now you have a paper company running paper companies.”

Both mills have been reduced from about a dozen paper machines to three as company officials have torn out old or unused equipment, raising fears that mill operations were tenuous. The pending purchase allayed those fears with Katahdin area officials on Wednesday.

“It’s a positive move because we have known that it was not Brookfield’s intent to hold onto [both mills] for long, and we also knew that Fraser was a likely candidate to take over. It appears that this is now happening,” Millinocket Town Manager Eugene Conlogue said.

“It settles the ownership issue for the long-term. We now have a highly reputable company with a long-standing presence in Maine as the owner. That’s a very positive thing for the Millinocket area,” Conlogue added.

Fraser owns mills in Madawaska, where it has 780 employees, and in Edmundston, New Brunswick, where about 400 people are employed.

“Having had discussions with officials from Katahdin Paper, I believe they are committed to making a world-class product and to continue the fine heritage of manufacturing in the region,” Millinocket Town Council Chairman David Nelson said.

“It’s good for this area,” Medway Administrative Assistant Kathy Lee said.