Employees at Appleton Papers in the US are in discussions with Arjo Wiggins Appleton (AWA) about an employee-sponsored buyout of the carbonless and thermal paper manufacturing operation.


"The opportunity for employees to become the owners of Appleton Papers and share in the benefits of our future success would be a huge boost to our growth process," said Appleton Papers chief executive Doug Buth, who is fronting the bid.


Appleton Papers would set up an employee stock ownership plan or ESOP in which employees would be able to invest.


Investment and borrowings from financial institutions would be used along with employee investments to fund the purchase.


"Although we have a common board, this move does not have any implications for the UK operation," said Jes Jarvis, chief executive carbonless paper operations Europe.


"The state of their business and their market is different to ours, with a very strong market position and sales figures that I would love to have," he added.


Appleton Papers is one of the worlds largest producers of carbonless paper and a leading producer of direct thermal and speciality coated paper products, with a turnover of 694m in 1999.


The companys headquarters are in Appleton, Wisconsin and it employs around 2,900 people.


Story by Andy Scott