IN PROGRESS Sappi completes sale of Presumpscot River assets

Sappi North America Inc., a Boston-based company that operates paper mills in Skowhegan and Westbrook, has completed the sale of hydroelectric assets and a fishway on the Presumpscot River to a New York-based renewable energy company.

The sale, to Dichotomy Power LLC, was agreed upon in June, when a Sappi spokeswoman said no employees will be affected by the transaction.

Terms of the deal, completed nearly a year after the originally planned time frame, have not been disclosed.

“We are pleased to have found a strategic buyer in Dichotomy Power, a company with a wealth of expertise in this area, so Sappi can continue to focus on its core competencies,” Mike Haws, president and CEO of Sappi North America, said in Friday's announcement. “Today’s sale allows us to redeploy resources to further develop our growing businesses.”

Sappi previously said the deal to divest itself of energy generation facilities will allow the company to focus more closely on its core businesses. The facilities under new ownership include Eel Weir, in Standish; Dundee and Mallisson, in Gorham; and Gambo and Little Falls, in Windham.

The deal also included the sale of the Saccarappa Fishway in Westbrook.

Sappi recently announced a $418 million investment to upgrade its paper mill in Skowhegan.

Sappi North America is a subsidiary of Sappi Ltd. (JSE: SAP), a global wood-fiber company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. The company employs more than 12,000 people at manufacturing operations on three continents, and has customers in more than 150 countries.