Catalyst Paper Completes Its Acquisition of Former NewPage, Rumford Mills in Wisconsin and Maine

RICHMOND, BC—January 8, 2015—Catalyst Paper has announced that it has completed the acquisition of the Biron paper mill located in Wisconsin and the Rumford pulp and paper mill located in Maine, that was previously announced on Oct. 30, 2014, from NewPage Corp., NewPage Wisconsin System, and Rumford Paper. The cash payment made on closing was US$62.4 million, after giving effect to an adjustment under the purchase agreement based on estimated working capital at closing, and the final purchase price is subject to certain additional post-closing adjustments.

"This acquisition represents a new chapter in the history of Catalyst Paper," said Joe Nemeth, president and CEO. "With the addition of the Rumford and Biron mills, Catalyst becomes a larger and stronger company with five facilities across North America and an estimated production capacity of 2.1 million tons of paper and 500 thousand tons of pulp. Catalyst is now the only producer in North America with manufacturing facilities in the West, Midwest and East, and has an enhanced product suite to effectively meet global customer needs."

On closing of the Acquisition Catalyst, through its subsidiary, also acquired from the Sellers certain properties and assets used to operate the two mills. Catalyst and its subsidiaries also entered into various ancillary agreements with the Sellers providing for, among other things, the purchase and sale of certain raw materials to and from the mills, transition of certain customer orders and accounts, license or transfer of certain intellectual property rights, treatment and disposal of waste and wastewater and certain transitional services.

Catalyst will commence reporting operating and production information for the Rumford and Biron mills with its First Quarter Report.

The acquisition was financed through advances under Catalyst's ABL Credit Facility. As previously announced, Catalyst entered into an amendment to its ABL Credit Facility to increase the maximum amount of credit available thereunder from CDN$175.0 million to CDN$225.0 million.

Catalyst has also closed its previously announced US$25.0 million (principal amount) offering (the "Offering") of PIK Toggle Senior Secured Notes ("Offered Notes"). The Offered Notes are on substantially the same terms and form part of the same series as Catalyst's existing PIK Toggle Senior Secured Notes. The Offered Notes were issued at a 20 percent discount to face value with Catalyst receiving gross proceeds under the Offering of US$20 million. The proceeds of the Offering are intended to provide additional working capital and to pay down a portion of the balance under the ABL Credit Facility. As a result of the Offering, Catalyst now has US$260.5 million principal amount of outstanding PIK Toggle Senior Secured Notes.

About Catalyst Paper
Catalyst manufactures diverse specialty mechanical printing papers, newsprint and pulp. Its customers include retailers, publishers and commercial printers in North America, Latin America, the Pacific Rim and Europe. With five mills across North America, Catalyst has annual production capacity of 2.1 million tonnes. Catalyst is headquartered in Richmond, BC, Canada, and is ranked by Corporate Knights magazine as one of the 50 Best Corporate Citizens in Canada.

Source: Catalyst Paper.