Appleton Coated Update
Yesterday, October 10, 2017, Industrial Assets Corp. completed the purchase of Appleton Coated LLC. Industrial Assets Corp. is a California-based corporation specializing in capital financing acquisition and sale of distressed manufacturing companies.
Going forward, Appleton Coated will continue limited operations while working with Industrial Assets to secure a strategic buyer that plans to operate at full capacity. To that end, Appleton Coated will be taking/processing orders and has stock of its Utopia, C1S, Reincarnation and Ethos products.
Our Customer Service area is available from 7:00 AM CST to 5:30 PM CST to accept inquiries and orders. We look forward to continuing to work with you and thank you for your support and loyalty to Appleton Coated.
Attached please find the press release regarding the sale.
Appleton Coated LLC, a manufacturer of coated, uncoated, and specialty papers, as well containerboard medium, liner, white top and coated white top has reached an agreement to sell substantially all of its assets to Industrial Assets Corp., a California-based corporation specializing in capital financing acquisition and sale of distressed manufacturing companies. Judge Gregory Gill, Jr. of the Circuit Court of Outagamie County, Wisconsin, who is currently presiding over Appleton Coated’s receivership proceeding, approved the sale on Thursday, October 5, 2017. The purchase closed on October 10, 2017.
Michael Polsky, the court-appointed receiver for Appleton Coated, said that the deal with Industrial Assets Corp. marks the end of a successful sale process and, in his view, represents the best possible outcome that could have occurred. “We are tremendously excited to have reached this agreement with Industrial Assets,” Polsky said following the sale closing. Critically, said Polsky, the deal allows the Company’s manufacturing facility in Combined Locks—which had been shut down—to resume limited operations and for the company to bring employees back to work. The deal also provides for the company to be marketed for an extended period during which Industrial Assets will work to find a strategic buyer to conduct operations long into the future. “Appleton Coated has long been a valued part of this community and a great job creator. We are thrilled that Industrial Assets shares our vision of protecting the long term viability of the company and I, along with the company’s management team, are very grateful that the parties were able to come together to make this happen,” said Polsky.
Steven Mattes, CEO of Industrial Assets Corp., echoed Polsky’s sentiments. “We are very happy to have reached this deal, which required a huge amount of effort and collaboration from all sides, including the receivership court and the union. Industrial Assets and its partner Maynards Industries are uniquely suited to find the perfect strategic buyer, most likely in the growing packaging grade sector, that will keep the paper mill running and employing members of this community for years to come.” Mattes continued, “This mill’s infrastructure is one of the most desirable that we have seen with a 50 MW Cogeneration system which will provide low cost energy, on site rail service, landfill, water treatment and all permits in place for an immediate restart for a domestic or foreign buyer. We have been approached by several large corporations seeking to operate the manufacturing site including a new tissue machine project. We believe the site is also ideal for a co-operative arrangement sharing facilities running noncompetitive grades of paper on this 55-acre site with 1.2 million sq. ft. under roof. Our company’s internal financing programs and leasing opportunities will provide the wherewithal for both large and small manufacture(s) to take advantage of this unique situation.”
Taso Sofikitis, CEO/President of Maynards Industries added “We have worked with Industrial Assets Corp. on many large-scale projects in the Paper sector including having sold papers mills in their entirety. The trim widths of the three paper machines are ideal to serve the corrugating and packaging industry and the Jagenberg offmachine coater-laminator is especially distinct to produce linerboard for the high-end graphics segment of commodity packaging. Once again we are excited to be working with Industrial Assets and we are optimistic that we will have similar success with this project.”
“We are pleased that the sale process has concluded and we have a clear direction,” said Doug Osterberg, President and CEO of Appleton Coated LLC. “We look forward to continuing to work closely with Industrial Assets and their partners to secure a strategic buyer for this mill and to reemploy as many people in Combined Locks as possible. I also want to thank the Court, the union and Industrial Assets whose collective effort has afforded this mill another opportunity. The mill has been here for almost 130 years and is well suited for many, many more years.”
http://www.appletoncoated.com/index.php?GroupID=11