BANGOR (AP) – A potential buyer has agreed in principle to purchase the abandoned Eastern Pulp and Paper Corp. for an undisclosed price, Gov. John Baldacci said.

“I’m optimistic, cautiously,” Baldacci told the Bangor Daily News on Tuesday. He said the deal with Fisher International of South Norwalk, Conn., should be ready to be filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court by late Friday.

Baldacci would not disclose the actual names of the buyers or their lenders. He confirmed earlier that the state had been negotiating with John Wissmann, managing partner at Fisher International, and Keith Van Scotter, a former manager at the Fraser Papers mill in Edmundston, New Brunswick.

Eastern Pulp’s assets include mills in Lincoln and Brewer which had a combined work force of 750.

Eastern Pulp shut down operations Jan. 16 after 3 years under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors. On March 12, a bankruptcy judge ordered that the mills be abandoned and returned to their Massachusetts owner. Since the abandonment, the state has been paying to maintain the mills, a bill that has exceeded $400,000.

AP-ES-03-31-04 0956EST