Appleton Coated filed for receivership today.
Senior Vice President of Marketing and Customer Service Ann Whalen says the company’s traditional businesses, such as commercial printing and publishing, have been in decline due to the increasingly digital market.
She says the company diversified their products when owner Virtus Holdings bought the company in 2014, but it wasn’t enough.
Whalen says they are optimistic about the future. She says the paper machines are well suited to be converted for other packaging materials, and their current products should be attractive to a new owner.
Appleton Coated opened in Combined Locks in 1889. Whalen says over the 128 years the company has gone through a lot of transition and renewal, and this is just another step in that process.
She says the company’s bank will finance mill operations during the transition.
The company has 620 employees.
A receiver will be appointed by the Outagamie County Circuit Court.
