Miamisburg, Ohio, USA, 23 April  2009 – NewPage announced today that it has engaged an investment banking firm, Sanabe & Associates, LLC, to support NewPage with the marketing and sales process for the Kimberly, Wisconsin, facility. This is the same firm that helped NewPage market the Niagara, Wisconsin, facility.  

 
“Before the sharp downturn in the coated paper markets, we had near-term hopes of restarting one or more of the machines at Kimberly on coated paper,” said Mark Suwyn, executive chairman of NewPage. “We have kept the mill operational to be able to restart fairly quickly. The extended economic downturn has eroded coated paper demand further to where we have to more actively consider the utilization of the Kimberly site for other purposes. We will be working with the Kimberly and state officials as well as the former employees to develop the marketing materials,” he said.

“We couldn’t be more pleased that NewPage is considering a buyer for the Kimberly mill. We fully support their efforts and are working closely with them to help our former union members get back to work,” said Jon Geenen, international vice president of the United Steel Workers (USW).

Sanabe & Associates will focus on companies who are interested in manufacturing noncoated products that do not directly compete with the current portfolio of printing papers offered by NewPage, and potential other uses for all or portions of the site.

About NewPage Corporation

Headquartered in Miamisburg, Ohio, NewPage Corporation is the largest coated paper manufacturer in North America, based on production capacity, with USD 4.4 billion in net sales for the year ended 31 December 2008. The company’s product portfolio is the broadest in North America and includes coated freesheet, coated groundwood, supercalendered, newsprint, and specialty papers. These papers are used for corporate collateral, commercial printing, magazines, catalogs, books, coupons, inserts, newspapers, packaging applications, and direct mail advertising.

NewPage owns paper mills in Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota,  and Wisconsin in the United States, and in Nova Scotia, Canada. These mills have a total annual production capacity of approximately 4.4 million tons of paper, including approximately 3.2 million tons of coated paper, approximately 1.0 million tons of uncoated paper, and approximately 200,000 tons of specialty paper.

For more information, visit www.NewPageCorp.com.

About Sanabe & Associates, LLC

Sanabe & Associates, LLC, is an investment banking boutique providing merger and acquisition, merchant banking, restructuring, and consulting advice to the North American paper, packaging, and forest products industry.