HALIFAX - The court-appointed monitor looking after the sale of an idled paper mill in Cape Breton expects to narrow a list of bidders to two or three finalists by Friday, but their names will not be released.
Mathew Harris, a managing partner with Ernst & Young, says he plans to first file a report on Wednesday with the Nova Scotia Supreme Court indicating how many offers have been received for the NewPage mill.
He said the final bidders will be selected from the firms who have made offers and submitted a deposit for the Port Hawkesbury factory.
About 1,000 people lost their jobs when the mill was placed under creditor protection last month after the company said it was losing money due to declining demand for their product and a strong Canadian dollar.
Harris said the original process had anticipated a pair of finalists, but his firm has discretion to add another final bidder.
The finalists will continue talks with the province, the company and the union that represents workers at the plant.
"The process this week is we're going through and evaluating the offers and we're trying to decide which ones can get into that intense, final negotiation stage," Harris said.
He also said the monitor's report will establish the rules on which firms will receive payments from special funds set up for silviculture and wood harvesting companies that are owed money by NewPage.
The rules for the funds will be presented in Nova Scotia Supreme Court next Tuesday.
"Various creditors will be there and they'll argue for and against who should be included," said Harris.
