LINCOLN, Maine (From the Press Herald) -- A Boston-based investment firm has completed its purchase of the Lincoln Paper and Tissue mill and said it's open to selling the facility to a company that will restart the facility.

Gordon Brothers Group said it completed the purchase Wednesday and will keep the mill in a "warm idle" in the hope that an operator will purchase the facility.

The mill was auctioned off as part of the bankruptcy of Lincoln Paper and Tissue in September. No operator stepped forward to buy the mill during the bankruptcy process, which Gordon Brothers said was caused by the loss of a major customer following a boiler explosion in 2013 and competition from foreign manufacturers.

In a statement issued Thursday morning, Gordon Brothers said it hoped an operator would buy and restart the mill, but "in the event an operator does not materialize, we will provide buyers with the chance to purchase some highly desirable, late model paper and tissue equipment."