Wausau Paper Sells Niche Business, 2 Mills

MOSINEE, Wis. (AP) — Wausau Paper is selling its specialty paper business and two mills in northern Wisconsin to a private equity firm for $130 million.

KPS Capital Partners, of New York, plans to acquire another company that will be combined with the specialty paper business. The Rhinelander and Mosinee paper mills employ about 900 workers.

Wausau Paper put its specialty paper business up for sale earlier this year while in a proxy fight with a New York-based hedge fund. Employees have been anxiously awaiting the outcome of the sale.

The deal with KPS requires United Steelworkers to ratify collective bargaining agreements with the new company. The transaction does not include Wausau Paper's mill in Brainerd, Minn., where about 130 workers will lose their jobs when it closes early in the next quarter.

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