A private, New York-based investment firm is buying International Paper's entire coated paper division. No layoffs at either plant are anticipated.
The two mills together employ about 1,800 people and represent about 60% of IP's coated paper division. As part of the $1.4 billion deal, which must be approved by regulators, Apollo is also acquiring two plants in Michigan and Minnesota. A spokesperson for International Paper said the sale is part of IP's strategy to focus on its uncoated paper business globally. IP's coated paper division produces 2 million tons of coated paper annually for magazines, catalogs and newspaper inserts. The division employs about 3,000 people and last year generated $1.6 billion in sales.Eric Kingsley, a forest industry analyst based in Portland, said the Jay mill is one of North America's most efficient mills for producing magazine-grade coated paper, and the Bucksport plant is in the middle range for the same product. Lance Raymond, president of the IBEW Local 1777 in Bucksport, one of five unions at the plant, said workers appear evenly split on whether the new owner is good news for them. Union leaders and plant managers had a teleconference yesterday with L.H. Puckett, who heads the coated paper division for IP. Raymond said it appears the sale won't change operations much. The mill employs about 800 people. The Jay mill has no unionized labor, as a result of the failed strike that ended in 1988.