Twin Rivers Paper Co. announced the sale of its Pine Bluff unbleached kraft paper mill to American Kraft Paper Industries on its website earlier this week.
The mill, located at 1701 Jefferson Parkway, has taken on the American Kraft Paper Industries name, according to the news release. The acquiring company is an affiliate of American Industrial Acquisition Corp., a global industrial group that has offices in New York, Dallas and Houston, among other locations. The terms of AIAC’s transaction with Twin Rivers were not disclosed, but Twin Rivers said it used Citizens M&A Advisory as a financial adviser.
“The decision to sell the Pine Bluff mill furthers Twin Rivers’ strategy of prioritizing the growth of our core specialty papers business,” Tyler Rajeski, Twin Rivers president, said in the news release. “With AIAC’s founding principle of investing in the assets it acquires, we are confident the Pine Bluff business and its dedicated managers and employees will realize long-term success.”
It was not immediately revealed how exactly the acquisition will affect jobs at the Pine Bluff mill, but Rajeski said: “We are working with AIAC to ensure a seamless transition experience for our Pine Bluff employees, customers and suppliers.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Messages have been left for a Twin Rivers spokesperson at its Pine Bluff location and an AIAC public relations official in New York.
Since acquiring the mill from Mondi Group in 2018, Twin Rivers says, it invested substantially in the facility to enhance production efficiency and capacity while expanding its product offering.
Twin Rivers was launched in 2010 with headquarters in Madawaska, Maine, and locations in the Canadian province of New Brunswick.
AIAC Chairman L.M. Levie called the sale “highly strategic” in the release, adding the company can substantially expand production and distribution of a broad range of unbleached kraft paper.
“The Pine Bluff business, now known as American Kraft Paper Industries, will collaborate with AIAC’s Canadian Kraft Paper Industries, located in The Pas, Manitoba, permitting us to better serve our domestic and international packaging industry customers with superior speed, quality, reliability and efficiency. We are committed to meeting our customers’ needs, 24-7-365.”
Twin Rivers Paper Co. is now known as American Kraft Paper Industries, according to a news release. (Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)