Only six weeks after its acquisition of the shuttered Old Town Fuel & Fiber pulp mill in Old Town, Maine, USA, Expera Specialty Solutions, Kaukauna, Wis., is preparing to restart pulp production by the end of this week. Expera acquired assets of the mill on December 5 following bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S. District Court in Bangor, Maine. 

 

The mill reportedly has brought some 180 employees back to work. Expera spokeswoman Addie Teeters said in local newspaper reports that "last week, we completed all of the maintenance we needed to do so that we could get things rolling. Production is on schedule to begin at the end of this week."

 

Expera Specialty Solutions created the company Expera Old Town LLC to purchase and run the facility. The newly formed company purchased from Patriarch Partners the buildings, mill equipment, personal property such as trucks and office equipment, and the land on which the mill is located.

 

Expera, which owns four mills in Wisconsin, was formed last year, when KPS Capital Partners purchased Thilmany Papers and Wausau Specialty Paper. The company makes bags for microwave popcorn, wine labels, candy wrappers, and other specialty paper grades.

 

The bankruptcy sale calls for Expera to pay $3.2 million in debts and another $7.3 million in cash that would be split among secured and unsecured creditors. The $10.5 million deal includes about $817,000 for employee vacation time and paid time-off claims and about $1.1 million in past due property taxes, which does not include what is owed in personal property taxes to the city.

As part of the sale agreement, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Louis Kornreich approved $300,000 for unsecured creditors and excused Patriarch for any additional debt liability.