Orient Paper, Inc. Announces Temporary Suspension of Production Due to Mandated Restriction on Natural Gas Supply

The board of directors and management of Norske Skog are pleased to announce that it has managed to broker a consensual solution between the Unsecured Committee, the Senior Secured Noteholder Committee and major shareholders. The two bondholder committees and the major shareholders have agreed on a split of the equity ownership of Norske Skogindustrier ASA, following the recapitalization transaction that these groups will support. With this development, over 80% of the senior secured noteholders and more than 50% of the unsecured noteholders have now indicated their willingness to support such an adjusted recapitalization proposal. Therefore, the relevant boards in the Norske Skog group have resolved to revise the terms of the ongoing consent solicitation in accordance with the split agreed. The formal consent solicitation deadline is extended until Wednesday 25 October at 17:00 CET to allow adequate time for the group's noteholders to submit their formal consents. Click Read More below for additional information.

American paper companies have imposed a 20% duty on coated paper from the Port Hawkesbury Mill in Nova Scotia, while Irving Paper in New Brunswick and Catalyst Paper of Britsh Columbia have had a 18% tariff imposed. North Pacific Papers of Washington State has also filed for countervailing duties on Canadian uncoated groundwood paper from Canada. The Hawkesbury mill won on appeal in its first round with the NAFTA panel. The U.S. has until mid-summer to appeal that decision, while other cases are being appealed by both the Canadian Federal and Provincial governments. During a recent rally in Phoenix Arizona, U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. will “probably” terminate NAFTA because he doesn’t think a deal can be made. His comments come about a week after re-negotiation talks began. The U.S. has also formally demanded that the Chapter 19 dispute resolution panels favoured by Canada be scrapped. In the past, the majority of its decisions have been won by Canada. Ottawa has promised to walk away from the talks before it accepts a NAFTA without these panels. The first round of NAFTA talks held recently failed to bridge the differences between Canada, the USA and Mexico, and left little signs of any real compromises. Next month, Mexico will host the second round of talks from September 1-5. Talks will then move to Canada later in September and return to the United States in October.

The board of Directors of Norske Skogindustrier ASA has decided to file for bankruptcy at Oslo skifterett (Oslo bankruptcy court) today, Tuesday 19 December 2017. The board's decision is unanimous and is due to the fact that there is no longer a realistic opportunity to achieve a voluntary recapitalization solution for the Norske Skog group. The group's largest secured creditor, Oceanwood Capital Management Ltd (Oceanwood), has informed the board that it is not willing to support any such solution. The group's operational activities will continue in Norske Skog AS as normal with as little impact as possible from the bankruptcy proceedings of the listed Norske Skogindustrier ASA. The non-listed Norske Skog AS will be the new operating parent company of the Norske Skog group, and will continue the head office function that has been performed by Norske Skogindustrier ASA. The board and management of Norske Skogindustrier ASA have over an extended period worked hard to achieve a consensual recapitalization of the Norske Skog group and thereby avoid bankruptcy proceedings for the parent company. This work was well advanced and had broad support from the capital structure in October and November 2017. The board's decision to file for bankruptcy is therefore made with great disappointment that this goal was not achieved, said Christen Sveaas, Chairman of the board of Norske Skogindustrier ASA. Click Read More below for additional information.