EVERETT – Kimberly-Clark Corp. completed a spinoff of its pulp and paper operations earlier this week, leaving the Everett pulp mill as the only one the corporation still operates.
The new company, Neenah Paper Inc., announced Tuesday that the spinoff was complete. Kimberly-Clark shareholders will receive one Neenah Paper share for every 33 shares they own of Kimberly-Clark. Neenah will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NP.
Based in Georgia, Neenah will make and sell the paper and bleached pulp used in tissue and writing paper. The company owns mills in Canada, Wisconsin and Michigan.
In filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Kimberly-Clark said it spun off the pulp and paper operations to concentrate on its health and hygiene products.
Scott Helker, manager of Kimberly-Clark’s pulp mill and tissue mill in Everett, said the local pulp mill was not part of the spinoff because it is integrated with the tissue mill.
Asked if the company was planning to sell or shut down the Everett pulp operation, which employs about 200 people, Helker said it wasn’t.
“At this point, we’re continuing right along here, and there is no plan for a shutdown,” he said.
He did say the spinoff of the other mills puts pressure on the Everett facility “to continue be competitive.”
“It puts us more on edge,” he said. “But there is not a plan to either spin this off or shut it down.”
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