LePage seeks to stop Verso mill sale
Gov. Paul LePage is seeking to stop the sale of Verso Paper’s Bucksport mill to a Canadian scrap metal company, but it’s currently unclear how that could be accomplished.
LePage’s press secretary, Adrienne Bennett, told the Bangor Daily News that the governor “is now looking into whatever operations may be available to him.” She added, “the governor is concerned about the decision-making by Verso leadership, and the state will assess its options with regard to intervening in this process.”
The BDN noted that LePage could intervene in the sale if Verso had taken out a loan from the state, but added that it doesn’t appear to have received a loan from the Finance Authority of Maine or the Maine Technology Institute.
Verso reached an agreement last week to sell the mill to the subsidiary of American Iron and Metal for about $60 million. AIM, which focuses on “scrap metal recuperation,” is reportedly planning to keep running the mill’s electricity-generation plant, which employs about 60 workers, but has not stated its plan for the paper mill, which employed more than 500 workers.
The sale announcement has left Maine papermakers feeling uneasy about the mill's future.
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