NewPage Corp., a producer of printing and specialty papers, says it has rejected a proposal to merge with Memphis, Tenn.-based Verso Paper Corp. The news comes as NewPage works with creditors to finalize its Chapter 11 restructuring plan.
The Ohio-based papermaker, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year, employs about 1,700 people at its facilities in Wisconsin Rapids, Biron and Stevens Point.
In a company press rlease, NewPage said it has determined the merger plan “posed significant downside risks to its stakeholders, employees and business.”
Earlier, Verso said it would provide NewPage’s primary creditors with more than $1.4 billion, including nearly $1.1 billion in new Verso first-lien notes, $150 million in common stock and $200 million in cash, according to a report in the Wausau Daily Herald.
