BUCKSPORT, Maine - A federal judge will hold a hearing Tuesday to consider additional offers by paper manufacturers to buy the the now dormant Verso Paper mill in Bucksport.
The International Association of Machinists union sued to block Verso from selling the shuttered plant to a Canadian metal recycler. But the Canadian company questions the authenticity of at least one of the additional offers.
The offer to buy the Bucksport mill came in a letter to the judge from Rahul Kejriwal of Kejriwal Singapore International, which describes itself as the world's largest manufacturer of ruled recycled paper products.
In the letter, Kejriwal says his company has the financial resources to buy the Bucksport mill, hire back hundreds of workers and resume making paper.
Herb Black, who runs American Iron and Metal, already has an agreement with Verso to buy the mill for $60 million, but says he's willing to sell it, if he can make something on his investment.
But Black says his meetings with Kejriwal have raised red flags. "So I said, 'OK, put down $1 million, good faith, to show you're serious. And I'll reserve it for you for one month,' " he recalls. " 'Oh no. I can't do that. I haven't got my money yet.' "
Black says he went with Kejriwal to see a prominent banker on Park Avenue in New York City. "And the broker said, 'As long as you get the guarantee from the state, we'll lend you the money,' " Black says. "Well, that's not lending him the money, that's lending the state the money."
Kejriwal did not return a call for comment by airtime. Neither did a spokesperson for Maine Gov. Paul LePage. But in his own letter to the federal judge, LePage notes that several firms have told his office of their interest in acquiring the mill, only to be ignored by Verso.
LePage does not say whether the state has promised to chip in any money to a potential sale to another paper maker.