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Mill deal ’almost there‘
JIM KELLY
December 4, 2007, 8:37 pm

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Thunder Bay Fine Papers will close the purchase agreement for the mothballed Cascades mill by the end of next week, a spokesman said Tuesday.

“It‘s almost there now,” said Andre Nicol. “I‘m going to tell you the truth now. The financing is almost all in place.‘‘

Shortly after the deal is finalized, Nicol said, 20-25 employees will be on site turning the heat on and doing other startup work.

He said some construction work is required, primarily on the roof and boiler.

Nicol said Cascades head office has been pushing the local group to close the deal and they‘ve set a Dec. 14 date.

“If we don‘t have a deal done by the 14th, we fail. But we‘re this close and we think we‘re not going to fail,” he said.

Millions of dollars from local investors, the provincial government and even former mill operator Cascades Inc. contributed to the purchase deal of the plant by the local group.

Between 25 and 30 local business owners have committed almost $5 million.

Cascades closed the mill in February 2006.

The province increased a previous loan guarantee to Thunder Bay Fine Papers by about $6 million to a total of $12.7 million, and has kicked in a $1.5-million grant for capital improvements. The money comes from the Forest Sector Prosperity Fund.

Nicol said only one paper machine would be activated by March, and he conceded a profit can‘t be made with only one machine operating.

The second machine would be put into operation by May with the third to follow in the fall.

Cascades will produce high-end coated paper for colour, glossy advertising and sales promotion materials along with digital printing paper.

Nicol said the market is strong for this type of paper, adding calls have been coming from the United States and across Canada.
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