Verso Paper Corp. has completed its $1.4 billion acquisition of NewPage, which sold its mills in Rumford and Biron, Wis., as a result of a settlement with federal antitrust regulators.
The Bangor Daily News reported that the deal, announced Wednesday, still requires final approval by U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
Verso had already reached an antitrust settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, agreeing to have NewPage sell two mills for $62.4 million to Canada-based Catalyst Paper, which will maintain the Rumford mill’s current employment levels and continue operations there.
The Justice Department required NewPage to sell two mills because of concerns that the merged company would control too much of the nation’s coated paper market.
The combined company, which will be renamed to Verso Corp. and led by Verso management, has been projected to save the company $175 million within 18 months. Combined with NewPage, it has about  $3.5 billion in sales and approximately 5,800 employees across eight mills in six states.
Verso still faces a legal challenge from a local chapter of the International Machinists and Aerospace Workers union over its plan to sell its shuttered Bucksport mill to a Canadian scrap metal company. The union, which seeks to preserve the mill, is accusing Verso and NewPage of conspiring to increase its control of the coated paper market, violating federal antitrust laws.
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