NEW YORK - The New York Stock Exchange suspended trading in Verso common stock Tuesday after its price fell to 15 cents a share. The company owns a paper mill in Jay that employs more than 800 workers.
The NYSE said the trading price of the company's stock is "abnormally low" and a reason to suspend trading and begin delisting proceedings. In a press release, Verso officials say the company's common stock will begin trading immediately in over-the-counter markets. Officials say the exchange's actions "do not constitute a default under any of Verso's credit agreements and debt securities."
Last month, Verso announced that it would lay off 300 workers at the Jay mill, and another 316 at a mill in Kentucky. Last year, it shut down its other Maine mill, in Bucksport, idling another 570 workers.
Verso has blamed the cutbacks on declining demand for North American coated paper and increased foreign competition. The company has said that in Maine high energy costs and property taxes were factors.