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KPS Capital Partners, LP ("KPS")
announced today that its portfolio company Expera Specialty Solutions, LLC
("Expera" or the "Company") has acquired certain assets related to the Old
Town Fuel & Fiber pulp mill ("Old Town"). Expera acquired the assets free and
clear of substantially all liens, claims, encumbrances and interests through
an auction conducted as part of a sale process under Section 363 of the United
States Bankruptcy Code. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maine
formally approved the transaction on December 5, 2014.
KPS formed Expera in May 2013 as a platform for investments serving the
specialty paper products for the food packaging, industrial and
pressure-sensitive release liner segments. At that time, KPS also announced
Expera's first two acquisitions, the specialty paper business of Wausau Paper
Corp.
and Thilmany, the specialty paper business of Packaging
Dynamics Corporation.
Founded more than a century ago and located in Old Town, ME, Old Town is a
high-quality pulp mill with the capacity to produce annually 200,000 tons of
Northern Bleached Kraft pulp. The mill closed indefinitely in August 2014.
Expera intends to invest significant capital and resources into Old Town to
restart the mill and ensure the highest level of production quality and
capacity.
Raquel Palmer, a Partner of KPS, said, "KPS created Expera to consolidate the
specialty paper industry. In only a brief 18 month period, the new,
integrated Expera is the largest specialty paper company in North America.
The Company's growth trajectory and financial performance has exceeded our
expectations. The acquisition of Old Town demonstrates the Company's
commitment to leading the specialty paper industry. We are thrilled that
Expera's acquisition of the assets of Old Town and restart of the mill will
save more than 150 premium manufacturing jobs that were lost, and provides the
community with a stable and profitable employer. Expera's conservative
capital structure, coupled with its access to KPS' material capital resources,
positions the company to grow aggressively both organically and through
acquisitions."
Russ Wanke, Chief Executive Officer of Expera said, "I'm excited to welcome
the Old Town employees back to work and to the Expera family. Expera is a
financially strong enterprise with an excellent platform positioned for
expansion and growth. Under Expera, Old Town will have significant top-line
stability and will benefit from our commitment to continuous improvement and
manufacturing excellence. Old Town provides Expera with added internal
capabilities, allowing us to deliver to our customers more product innovation
and even better service."
Critical to the success of this acquisition was the support of the United
Steelworkers.
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison LLP and Pierce Atwood LLP served as
legal counsel to Expera and KPS.
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