TORONTO—Baldwin Paper has been bought out after more than 50 years in business, and a new company has risen from the ashes led by former high-ranking staff of the Mississauga-based company.

A court decision on April 16 gave the green light for a management buyout of the former company, said Ron Moore, who was previously chief financial officer of Baldwin and will now serve as president of Cutting Edge Paper, the new entity operating out of the same location.

On Feb. 14, Baldwin Paper lodged a Notice of Intention to file a Proposal with BDO Canada Limited under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. At that time it had creditor claims totaling slightly more than $7.4 million, according to a BDO Canada statement. Moore said following the court decision, one secured creditor was paid.

Cutting Edge, which is also headed by Ivo Marinella, previously operations manager at Baldwin, along with a silent partner, bought all of the assets of Baldwin Paper and its Montreal operation (Papiers Baldwin), explained Moore. "We did an analysis of the Montreal operation, and said it didn't make a lot of sense to keep it running, because we can ship to Montreal from here," he said. "We ended up closing down Montreal and laying off surplus staff. Now we're down to a core staff we can grow with this and focus in Ontario." He didn't offer how many employees were laid off.

"This decision has been a long time coming, and now it's a matter of growing a business rather than struggling all the time," said Moore. "Yesterday we bought a lot of inventory, so we're going to have the inventory we haven't had in a long time."

A statement from Cutting Edge notes, "With this acquisition, (our) expertise and passion for progress, Cutting Edge will offer customers the benefit of MeadWestvaco and other quality packaging solutions."

Bruce Baldwin, formerly president of Baldwin Paper, is not involved in the new operation, confirmed Moore.