Monday, November 16, 2015 2:00 pm

MEMPHIS, Tennessee (From The Commercial Appeal) -- Memphis-based Verso Corp. is facing bankruptcy as the paper company struggles with mounting losses amid a decline in demand and rising imports.

Verso said Monday that it lost $111 million on sales of $782 million in the third quarter.

Verso said it could pursue an out-of-court restructuring or possibly a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company is also exploring opportunities to raise funds by selling certain mills or other assets.

"Based on Verso's current liquidity position and our projections of operating results and cash flows for the remainder of 2015 and 2016, we anticipate that we will not have sufficient resources to fund our most significant future cash obligations and,
therefore, we believe that there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern in the absence of a restructuring of our balance sheet," the company wrote in its third-quarter release. "As a result of our cash flow and liquidity concerns, we have begun evaluating potential restructuring alternatives."

Verso has hired PJT Partners L.P. to provide restructuring and transactional services and O'Melveny & Myers LLP to provide legal advice and assistance.

The company faced $118 million in interest payments in the third quarter, a major factor that drove the company's liquidity down from $187 million to $72 million in the three-month period.

Verso employs abotu 5,000 workers throughout the nation, including about 100 in Memphis, all at the head office.