Chesapeake Corporation Agrees to Sell All Business Operations

International supplier of value-added specialty paperboard and plastic packaging Chesapeake Corporation today announced that it has reached an agreement to sell all of its operating businesses to a group of investors. This group includes affiliates of Irving Place Capital Management, L.P. and Oaktree Capital Management, L.P., who intend to continue operating these businesses as a going concern.

To consummate this sale, Chesapeake Corporation and its U.S. operating subsidiaries filed voluntary Chapter 11 petitions today in the Eastern District of Virginia in Richmond.

All of the Company's operations -- including all of its manufacturing and distribution facilities in the U.S. and around the world -- are open and operating on normal schedules, fulfilling customer orders as usual and providing uninterrupted customer service. The Company's non-U.S. subsidiaries were not included in the Chapter 11 filing and there are no plans to place them in administration.

"After exploring a range of possible alternatives to improve our balance sheet and maintain the liquidity we need to operate our businesses in an extremely difficult economic environment, the management and Board of Directors of Chesapeake concluded that a court-supervised sale of our business operations is in the best interest of the Company and its stakeholders," said Andrew J. Kohut, President and Chief Executive Officer of Chesapeake Corporation.

The transaction is subject to the approval of the Bankruptcy Court under Section 363(b) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and the satisfaction of specified closing conditions, including the purchasers reaching definitive agreement on exit financing. Following the completion of a court-supervised competitive auction process, a final sale hearing and closing are anticipated to take place during the first quarter of 2009.

Source: Chesapeake Corporation

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