NewPage Corp., the largest U.S. coated-paper maker, won court approval of its plan to reorganize and exit bankruptcy in the hands of its first-lien noteholders, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The company will leave bankruptcy with about $500 million in debt after shedding about $2.7 billion in obligations, the company's chief executive officer, George F. Martin, said. NewPage, based in Miamisburg, Ohio, filed for bankruptcy in September 2011, listing $3.4 billion in assets and $4.2 billion in debt. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross said he planned to sign an order approving the reorganization plan after the company and a group of creditors work out final wording. The plan is based in part on a settlement with an official committee of unsecured creditors, who had disputed the company's claims that since its $2.7 billion in secured debt exceeded the value of its assets, it could pay lower-ranking creditors nothing. The case is In re NewPage Corp., 11-12804, U.S. Bankruptcy Court (D. Del.) (Wilmington).
