Clearwater Paper Corp. has announced the sale of its specialty products division, including five North American mill facilities, to Dunn Paper Inc. As part of the sale, nearly 500 Clearwater employees at mills in Connecticut, Michigan, New York, Mississippi and Ontario will become employed by Dunn. Clearwater plans to use proceeds from the sale to invest in capital projects in its Consumer Products Division, which CEO Linda Massman says will allow the company to focus more on its core retail operations and improve efficiencies to better meet customer expectations and increase earnings.

Corporate & Securities partner Justin Hovey led a team of Pillsbury lawyers advising Clearwater on the sale, including Corporate & Securities partner Blair White and associate Blair Markovic; Environmental, Land Use & Natural Resources partner Michael McDonough and senior counsel Chuca Meyer; Executive Compensation & Benefits partners Peter Hunt and Christine Richardson with associate Matthew Ryan; Real Estate partner Glenn Snyder, senior associate Noa Clark and associate Daniel McLeod; and Tax partner Julie Divola.