KRONENWETTER, Wis. — The chief executive at Wausau Paper Corp. has resigned and will be replaced by a CEO favored by investors interested in selling the company.

President and CEO Henry “Hank” Newell will also step down from the board. Wausau Paper says board chairman Thomas Howatt will retire.

Wausau Paper has been under pressure from a New York hedge fund, Starboard Value LP, which has repeatedly sent letters to other shareholders expressing a lack of confidence in management.

An interim CEO, Michael Burandt, has been appointed. He has the backing of Starboard and will become chairman of the board.

The once dominant employer in central Wisconsin has shut down its mills in Brokaw and Brainerd, Minn., in recent years and has sold facilities in Rhinelander and Mosinee.