Marcal Paper Mills, Inc. Receives Loan Commitment for up to USD 84.5 Million

Elmwood Park, New Jersey, USA, 19 December 2006 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Marcal Paper Mills, Inc., announced today that, subject to court approval, the company has secured a loan commitment for up to USD 84.5 million Debtor-in-Possession (DIP) financing from HFC with immediate availability of up to USD 20 million.

This financing package will allow the company to use all of its cash balances and provide it with greater liquidity to fund normal business operations during the restructuring process.

Nicholas Marcalus, company chairman and CEO, said, "This is an important step in the restructuring process. Our core business is strong, and with this financing in place, we expect to emerge from the reorganization as a stronger and healthier company and to forge even better business relationships with our customers, vendors, and employees."

About Marcal Paper Mills

Marcal, founded in 1932, is a privately-held, fourth-generation family business. It employs more than 900 people in its Elmwood Park, New Jersey, and Chicago, Illinois, manufacturing operations. The company produces more than 160,000 tons of finished paper products, including bath tissue, kitchen towels, napkins, and facial tissue. Its products are distributed to retail outlets for home consumption and to distributors for away-from-home use in hotels, restaurants, hospitals, offices, and factories.

For more than 50 years, Marcal has been a leader in recycling recovered paper as a source of high-grade cellulose fiber for manufacturing tissue products. Each year, Marcal recycles more than 200,000 tons of recovered paper. Marcal's slogan, "Paper from paper, not from trees,"(R) symbolizes the commitment of the company to sustainable manufacturing.

Source: Marcal Paper Mills, Inc.