By Rapids City Times staff

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – Catalyst Paper was agreed to a $175 million deal to sell its Biron Paper Mill, along with its Rumford, ME mill and Dayton, OH operations center, to Hong Kong’s Nine Dragons Paper.

Catalyst Paper President and CEO Ned Dwyer said in a released statement, “We’re proud of what our employees have accomplished at the Biron and Rumford mills and the Dayton operations center. Their hard work and dedication have vastly improved these operations.

“Despite these improvements, Catalyst has made the business decision to sell these assets. This will allow us to re-pay a significant portion of our outstanding debt, and focus on our Canadian operations.

“I want to thank all our employees for the contribution they’ve made during the time they have been part of the Catalyst family.”

Catalyst Paper is the manufacturer of coated freesheet, coated one side, flexible and industrial packaging, coated and uncoated groundwood, newsprint, directory, as well as market pulp.

Customers include retailers, publishers, and commercial printers in North America, Latin America, the Pacific Rim, and Europe.

Catalyst is headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada.

The sale affects almost 400 employees in the Wisconsin Rapids area. The sale is set to be completed by the end of June.