MEMPHIS, Tennessee - Verso Paper Corp. announced that it has reached a settlement with the United States Department of Justice that will permit Verso to proceed with its acquisition of NewPage Holdings Inc. The transaction, valued at approximately $1.4 billion, originally was announced on 6 January 2014. Upon the completion of the NewPage acquisition, Verso will have approximately $3.5 billion in annual sales and approximately 5,800 employees in eight mills across six states.

As part of the settlement process, the United States today filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that Verso's proposed acquisition of NewPage would violate the antitrust laws. At the same time, the United States filed a proposed settlement that, if approved by the court, will resolve the lawsuit and enable the transaction to proceed. The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions.

The proposed settlement requires the divestiture of NewPage's paper mills in Biron, Wisconsin, and Rumford, Maine, as previously announced on 30 October 2014. The proposed settlement will be published in the Federal Register and will be subject to public comment, as required by the Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act (known as the Tunney Act).

Verso expects to complete the NewPage acquisition in early January 2015. NewPage is expected to complete the divestiture of the Biron and Rumford mills to a subsidiary of Catalyst Paper Corporation in connection with Verso's acquisition of NewPage.

"The combination of Verso and NewPage will create a stronger, more stable company that will be better positioned to serve our customers and compete in a competitive global marketplace," said David J. Paterson, Verso's president and chief executive officer. "We are pleased that we were able to address the concerns of the Justice Department while preserving the benefits of the transaction for our stockholders and customers."

"Although this transaction has been among the most challenging and complex, the resulting combination will create value for all of our constituents, particularly our shareholders," said Mark Angelson, the chairman of NewPage. "We would not have come this far without critical input from the Justice Department and the advisers, key shareholders and directors of both companies."

Following the completion of the NewPage acquisition, Verso's existing senior leadership team will continue to lead the combined company.