Verso to shift from Memphis to Ohio

Paper maker set to move 60-employee head office to Dayton site in January

Memphis will lose one of its 12 public companies when paper maker Verso Corp. moves its 60-employee head office to suburban Dayton, Ohio.

Verso, a former unit of International Paper Co., last year bought larger rival NewPage Holdings of Miamisburg, Ohio, and next year will consolidate its offices in the former NewPage headquarters.

The move will begin in January, Verso announced earlier in November.

Verso employs about 4,000 throughout the nation and ranks among the two dozen largest companies based in the Mid-South with annual sales exceeding $1 billion, although the turbulent papermaking industry wracked the business, which lost $700 million between 2010 and 2015.

Sales of Verso’s quality paper shrank as catalog and magazine publishers moved more content online. Similarly affected, NewPage filed for bankruptcy and merged with Verso, which later fol-

lowed with a Chapter 11 filing.

Memphis-based International Paper sold Verso in 2006 for $1.4 billion to New York investor Apollo Global Management. The sale was part of a larger reorganization. IP sold its forest lands and relied on producing corrugated packaging, a robust market serving manufacturers and retailers who box their goods.

New York investor Cerberus Capital Management formed NewPage in 2005 out of remnants of better-known paper companies including Mead Corp. of Dayton, Ohio, which originated in 1846; West Virginia Pulp and Paper; and Consolidated Paper in Wisconsin.

In a statement, Verso said it would reorganize “its business into two strategic business units — graphic paper and specialty paper; consolidate its corporate offices in Memphis, Tennessee, and Miamisburg, Ohio, into a single headquarters to be located in Miamisburg; and improve the delivery of its support services with the objective of reducing overhead expenses by at least 10 percent on an annual basis. Planning for each of these initiatives is underway, with implementation set to begin in January 2017.”

Verso’s departure will leave Memphis with 11 public companies based in the city. Public refers to companies whose shares of stock are traded on stock exchanges. Public companies are often considered stronger financially than private companies, and better able to weather setbacks. Public firms also tend to be in the news more and draw attention to their hometown.

“We expect that the strategic initiatives announced today will enable Verso to be more agile in adapting to an evolving marketplace, more responsive to our customers, more efficient and cost-effective in our operations, and ultimately more financially successful,” said Verso chairman Robert Amen in a statement released by the company.

Amen became a NewPage Investment director in December 2012 and joined the Verso board following the merger. He was named chairman in August.

Amen was president of International Paper from November 2003 until March 2006, when he became chairman and chief executive of New York-based International Flavors & Fragrances Inc.

The public companies based in Memphis in order of market capitalization are FedEx, AutoZone, International Paper, Mid-America Apartments, ServiceMaster, First Horizon, Education Realty Trust, Mueller Industries, Jernigan Capital, Fred’s and GTx.

Wright Medical and Thomas & Betts were public Memphis companies and continue to have sizeable operations in Memphis but Wright’s seat of incorporation was recently moved to the Netherlands and Swiss conglomerate ABB bought Thomas & Betts.

ABB is fending off European activist investor Cevian’s efforts to break up the conglomerate.