Glatfelter paper has deal to sell, but promises no plans to close mills

(York) — Glatfelter appears likely to have new ownership by the end of 2018.

The global specialty paper manufacturer, headquartered in York and with a manufacturing facility in Spring Grove, announced this week that is entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Specialty Papers division to Lindsay Goldberg LLC, a private investment firm.

The sale price is $360 million, with $320 million of that in cash proceeds and the other $40 million with Lindsay Goldberg assuming retiree healthcare liabilities, Glatfelter’s news release said.

Glatfelter spokesperson Eileen Beck told a York Daily Record sister paper, the Chillicothe Gazette in Ohio, that mill operations are expected to continue under the new ownership. Chillicothe is home to another manufacturing facility.

“I can confirm that Lindsay Goldberg has no plans to close the mills, and they will be issuing their own public statement on Thursday,” Beck told The Gazette.

The agreement was signed late Tuesday, with Beck saying employees were told beginning Wednesday morning.

The release from Glatfelter stated that the net cash proceeds from the sale will be used “to pay down debt, to fund the previously announced acquisition of Georgia-Pacific’s European nonwovens business, and for general corporate purposes.”

It also stated that the transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2018.

According to its website, Glatfelter employs approximately 4,200 people and serves customers in over 100 countries. The company celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2014, having purchased its first paper mill in 1864 in Spring Grove.

This story comes to us through a partnership between WITF and The York Daily Record.