Verso Settles With Department Of Justice Over Pending Acquisition Of NewPage

(RTTNews) - Verso Paper Corp (VRS), a producer of printing and specialty papers and pulp, on Wednesday reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice that will permit Verso to proceed with its about $1.4 billion acquisition of NewPage Holdings Inc (NPGW). The deal with NewPage was announced in January 2014.

Upon the completion of the NewPage acquisition, Verso will have about $3.5 billion in annual sales and about 5,800 employees in eight mills across six states.

As part of the settlement process, the U.S. today filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that Verso's proposed acquisition of NewPage would violate the antitrust laws. At the same time, the U.S. filed a proposed settlement that, if approved by the court, will resolve the lawsuit and enable the transaction to proceed. The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions.

The proposed settlement requires the divestiture of NewPage's paper mills in Biron, Wisconsin, and Rumford, Maine, as previously announced in October. The proposed settlement will be published in the Federal Register and will be subject to public comment, as required by the Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act (known as the Tunney Act).

Verso expects to complete the NewPage acquisition in early January 2015. NewPage is expected to complete the divestiture of the Biron and Rumford mills to a subsidiary of Catalyst Paper Corp in connection with Verso's acquisition of NewPage.