NewPage Corp.

The recent bankruptcy court filings by NewPage have been blessings for some and curses for others. Here's a look at the scorecard two weeks after the big U.S. paper company went Chapter 11: Loser #1) Port Hawkesbury employees: NewPage has basically deep-sixed its money-losing Canadian mill, walking away from severance obligations and an underfunded pension plan, not using any of its debtor-in-possession funds to keep the mill running, and leaving many suppliers holding the bag.

NewPage has put the mill up for sale but also revealed that it loses $4 million per month on the operation. Unless the muscle-bound Canadian

MIAMISBURG, OH—The parent company of NewPage Corp. and some of its U.S. subsidiaries have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to facilitate an orderly debt restructuring and position the overall business for long-term success. NewPage's product portfolio includes coated freesheet, coated groundwood, supercalendered, newsprint and specialty paper.

NewPage expects to continue operating its U.S. businesses as usual throughout the Chapter 11 process and has obtained a commitment led by J.P. Morgan for up to $600 million in Debtor in Possession (DIP) financing. “We strongly believe that the court-supervised restructuring we began today is the most effective means of strengthening our financial position and enhancing our standing as the leading producer of printing and specialty paper in North America,” said George F. Martin, president and CEO of NewPage.

MIAMISBURG, OH—Based on its assessment of current market and economic conditions, NewPage Corp. has decided to take downtime on both paper machines at its Port Hawkesbury mill in Nova Scotia, Canada. The downtime will begin Sept. 10 for the mill’s PM1 newsprint machine and Sept. 16 for the PM2 supercalendered machine.

Downtime will begin Sept. 10 for the PM1 newsprint machine and Sept. 16 for the PM2 supercalendered machine at NewPage’s mill in Nova Scotia, Canada. The company expects to fulfill certain pre-existing orders for supercalendered papers from its mill in Duluth, MN, but does not produce newsprint from any other mill location and therefore will be unable to serve these customers during the downtime.

North America’s largest manufacturer of coated paper acknowledged that it may be forced to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization because of its crushing debt load. NewPage made no reference to reorganization in the news release announcing another quarter of losses. But the 10-Q quarterly financial report it filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission later in the day contained this statement:

“If we are unable to refinance our debt or generate sufficient cash flow to service our obligations, we will be required to seek to restructure our existing debt or to voluntarily seek...protection under the Chapter 11

Commercial printing industry supplier company and personnel news from Printing Impressions’ August 2011 edition

PITTSBURGH—Printing Industries of America (PIA) has announced the recipients of its 2011 InterTech Technology Awards. The technologies receiving this recognition have been judged as truly innovative and are expected to have a major impact on the graphic communications industry.

Entries in Printing Industries of America’s 2011 InterTech Technology Award program demonstrated great strides in technology for packaging software, inkjet printing, workflow automation, offset press efficiency, UV curing and variable-data printing. Eight innovative technologies were selected to receive the award.

If you like gambling, forget blackjack, horses or the lottery. The debt of NewPage Corp. is the hot item these days at that grand casino known as Wall Street, as speculators wager on whether the big paper manufacturer will be able to make its bond payments and stay out of bankruptcy court.

On several days recently, the company’s bonds have been the most heavily traded debt instruments in the U.S.

The betting turned sour this week as the company’s bond prices hit their lowest level in more than two years “on concern that the junk-rated coated-paper maker owned by Cerberus Capital Management