Business Management - Finance/Financial

The Canadian papermaker has worked out a proposed deal with many of its bondholders that would enable it to avoid bankruptcy, but would turn up to 99.5 percent of its stock over to the bondholders in exchange for debt reduction. The announcement didn’t mention that Catalyst would file a Chapter 15 case in U.S. Bankruptcy Court asking that Canadian courts have jurisdiction over its recapitalization.

Catalyst is still in business and has not repudiated debts owed to vendors, employees, or retirees, but isn’t it splitting hairs to claim that a case filed in bankruptcy court is not a bankruptcy proceeding?

Contrary to certain media reports, this is not a bankruptcy proceeding. Catalyst Paper will continue to operate and satisfy its obligations to trade creditors, customers, employees and retirees in the ordinary course of business during this restructuring process.

St. Marys Paper is in receivership after the papermaker’s longtime insurer pulled its coverage. With the mill unable to find another carrier, its first secured party, International Forest Products, petitioned to have St. Marys put into receivership, said CEO Dennis Bunnell.

“I really believe this mill could be revived and operate,” said Bunnell.

St. Marys went bankrupt in 2007 and was purchased months later by a local group of investors.

Equipment problems and difficult market conditions have meant little work for the super-calendar producer’s more than 300 employees. St. Marys has only been operational four months in the last two years.

Catalyst Paper posted a net loss of $205.7 million on sales of $340.3 million during the third quarter of 2011. The loss was largely due to a $151.0 million impairment charge for the write-down of its Snowflake facility.

The recent bankruptcy court filings by NewPage have been blessings for some and curses for others. Here's a look at the scorecard two weeks after the big U.S. paper company went Chapter 11: Loser #1) Port Hawkesbury employees: NewPage has basically deep-sixed its money-losing Canadian mill, walking away from severance obligations and an underfunded pension plan, not using any of its debtor-in-possession funds to keep the mill running, and leaving many suppliers holding the bag.

NewPage has put the mill up for sale but also revealed that it loses $4 million per month on the operation. Unless the muscle-bound Canadian

Cascades executives recently inaugurated the addition of $3.7 million in new deinking equipment at the Cascades Fine Papers Group, Breakey Fibres mill. Focused on producing deinked kraft pulp of the highest quality, this strategic investment will drive improvements in the quality of Cascades’ fine papers, while also protecting jobs.

North America’s largest manufacturer of coated paper acknowledged that it may be forced to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization because of its crushing debt load. NewPage made no reference to reorganization in the news release announcing another quarter of losses. But the 10-Q quarterly financial report it filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission later in the day contained this statement:

“If we are unable to refinance our debt or generate sufficient cash flow to service our obligations, we will be required to seek to restructure our existing debt or to voluntarily seek...protection under the Chapter 11

If you like gambling, forget blackjack, horses or the lottery. The debt of NewPage Corp. is the hot item these days at that grand casino known as Wall Street, as speculators wager on whether the big paper manufacturer will be able to make its bond payments and stay out of bankruptcy court.

On several days recently, the company’s bonds have been the most heavily traded debt instruments in the U.S.

The betting turned sour this week as the company’s bond prices hit their lowest level in more than two years “on concern that the junk-rated coated-paper maker owned by Cerberus Capital Management

SUSSEX, WI—Quad/Graphics Inc. reported results for its fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, 2010, which reflect the July 2, 2010, acquisition of Worldcolor. For the sake of comparisons, references to pro forma measures assume that the acquisition of Worldcolor was completed on Jan. 1, 2009.

CHICAGO—RR Donnelley reported fourth-quarter net earnings attributable to common shareholders of $27 million on net sales of $2.7 billion, compared to a net loss attributable to common shareholders of $79.5 million on net sales of $2.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009.