NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Nov. 28, 2001--Standard&Poor's today assigned its single-'B'-plus rating to Appleton Papers Inc.'s $250 million senior subordinated notes due 2008 to be issued under Rule 144A with registration rights. At the same time, Standard&Poor's existing ratings on the company are affirmed (see list below). The outlook is stable. Proceeds from the debt issue, together with available cash, will be used to redeem in full a senior subordinated note due 2008 issued to Arjo Wiggins Appleton (AWA) when the company was recently acquired by its employees. AWA still retains a $140 million payment-in-kind seller note that accretes to $305 million over eight years. The ratings reflect Appleton's leading positions in niche specialty paper
