NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) May 18, 2004--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today it assigned its 'BB' bank loan rating and its recovery rating of '3' to specialty paper producer Appleton Papers Inc.'s proposed $375 million senior secured credit facility. The rating is the same as the corporate credit rating; this and the '3' recovery rating indicate that bank lenders can expect meaningful recovery of principal (50% to 80%) in the event of a default. At the same time, Standard&Poor's assigned its 'BB-' senior unsecured debt rating to the company's $150 million senior unsecured notes due 2011, and its 'B+' subordinated debt rating to the company's $200 million subordinated notes due 2014, both to be issued under
