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Text and cover papers and envelopes are used in applications such as corporate brochures, pocket folders, corporate annual reports, advertising inserts, direct mail, business cards, hang tags, scrapbooks, and a variety of other uses where colors, textured finishes or heavier weight papers are desired. Our brands in this category include CLASSIC®CLASSIC^®, CLASSIC CREST®CREST^®, ESSE® ENVIRONMENT®ESSE^® ENVIRONMENT^® and ROYAL SUNDANCE®SUNDANCE^®. We also sell a variety of custom colors, paper finishes, and duplex/laminated papers.

Bright papers are used in applications such as direct mail, advertising inserts, scrapbooks and marketing collateral. Our brands in this category include ASTROBRIGHTS®ASTROBRIGHTS^® and EXACT BRIGHTS®

On January 31, 2013 we purchased certain premium business paper brands from Southworth. These brands, including Southworth®, which is the leading writing, text and cover brand sold in the retail channel, are sold largely to major retail customers.BRIGHTS^®.

The fine paper business also produces and sells other specialty papers; including envelopes, premium label base stock for applications such as wine labels, luxury packaging, and specialty paper products that address a consumer's need for enhanced image such as translucent papers, art papers, papers for optical scanning and other specialized applications.

Markets and Customers

Technical Products. The technical products business sells its products globally into product categories generally used as base materials in the following applications: filtration, specialty tape, component materials for manufactured products such as tape and abrasives, and other specialized product uses such as graphics and identification.

Several products (filtration media, wall coverings, abrasives, specialty tapes, labels) are used in markets that are directly affected by economic business cycles. Other market segments such as image transfer papers used in small/home office and consumer applications are relatively stable. Most products are performance-based and require qualification at customers; however, certain categories may also be subject to price competition and the substitution of lower cost substrates in some less demanding applications.

The technical products business relies on a team of direct sales representatives and customer service representatives to market and sell approximately 95 percent of its sales volume directly to customers and converters.

The technical products business has over 500 customers worldwide. The distribution of sales in 20122013 was approximately 6055 percent in Europe, 25 percent in North America and 1520 percent in Latin America and Asia. Customers typically convert and transform base papers and film into finished rolls and sheets by adding adhesives, coatings, and finishes. These transformed products are then sold to end-users.

Sales to the technical products business's three largest customers represented approximately 2530 percent of its total sales in 2012.2013. Although a complete loss of any of these customers would cause a temporary decline in the business's sales volume, the decline could be partially offset by expanding sales to existing customers, and further offset over a several month period with the addition of new customers.

Fine Paper. We believe our fine paper business is the leading supplier of premium writing, text and cover papers, bright papers and specialty papers in North America. The stationery segment of the premium fine papers market is divided into cotton and sulfite grades and includes writing papers and envelopes. The text and cover paper segment of the market, used in corporate identification applications, is split between smooth papers and textured papers. Text papers have traditionally been utilized for special, high end collateral material such as corporate brochures, annual reports and special edition books. Cover papers are primarily used for business cards, pocket folders, brochures and report covers including corporate annual reports. Bright papers are generally used by consumers for flyers, direct mail and packaging. In addition, our fine paper business includes other products such as food and beverage labels and high-end packaging materials such as specialty boxes used for luxury retail goods.

The fine paper business has historically sold its products through our sales and marketing organizations primarily in three channels: authorized paper distributors, converters and direct sales. With the purchase of Wausau brands, products are also sold into the retail channel through major national retailers. Sales to distributors, including distributor owned paper stores, account for approximately 60 to 65 percent of revenue in the fine paper business.

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During 2012,2013, approximately eight percent of the sales of our fine paper business were exported to markets outside North America.the United States.

Sales to the three largest customers of the fine paper business represented approximately 30 percent of its total sales in 2012.2013. We practice selective sales distribution to improve our ability to control the marketing of our products. Although a complete loss of any of these customers would cause a temporary decline in the business's sales volume, the decline could be partially offset by expanding sales to existing customers, and further offset over a several month period with the addition of new customers.

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Concentration. For the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 2011 and 2010,2011, no customer accounted for more than 10 percent of our consolidated net sales.

The following tables present further information about our businesses by geographic area (dollars in millions):

Net sales and total assets are attributed to geographic areas based on the physical location of the selling entities and the physical location of the assets. See Note 13 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements "Business Segment and Geographic Information" for information with respect to net sales, profits and total assets by business segment.

Raw Materials

Technical Products. Softwood pulp, specialty pulp and latex are the primary raw materials consumed by our technical products business. The technical products business purchases softwood pulp, specialty pulp and latex from various suppliers. The technical products business purchases substantially all of its raw material requirements externally. We believe that all of the raw materials for our technical products operations, except for certain specialty latex grades and specialty softwood pulp, are readily available from several sources and that the loss of a single supplier would not cause a shutdown of our manufacturing operations.

Our technical products business acquires all of its specialized pulp requirements from two global suppliers and certain critical specialty latex grades from four suppliers. In general, these supply arrangements are not covered by formal contracts, but represent multi-year business relationships that have historically been sufficient to meet our needs. We expect these relationships to continue to operate in a satisfactory manner in the future. In the event of an interruption of production at any one supplier, we believe that each of these suppliers individually would be able to satisfy our short-term requirements for specialized pulp or specialty latex. In the event of a long-term disruption in our supply of specialized pulp or specialty latex, we believe we would be able to substitute other pulp grades or other latex grades that would allow us to meet required product performance characteristics and incur only a limited disruption in our production. As a result, we do not believe that the substitution of such alternative pulp or latex grades would have a material effect on our operations.

Fine Paper. Hardwood pulp is the primary fiber used to produce products of the fine paper business. Other significant raw material inputs in the production of fine paper products include softwood pulp, recycled fiber, cotton fiber, dyes and fillers. The fine paper business purchases all of its raw materials externally. We believe that

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The operating results at each of our businesses are influenced by the timing of our annual maintenance downs, which are generally scheduled in the third quarter.

Employee and Labor Relations

As of December 31, 2012,2013, we had approximately 1,8701,875 regular full-time employees of whom 725735 hourly and 345360 salaried employees were located in the United States and 495 hourly and 305285 salaried employees were located in Germany.

Hourly employees at the Whiting, Neenah, Munising and Appletonour U.S. paper mills are represented by the United Steelworkers Union (the "USW"). The collective bargaining agreement between the Whiting, paper mill and the USW expired on January 31, 2013. The collective bargaining agreements between the Neenah, Munising and Appleton paper mills and the USW expire on January 31, 2018, June 30, 2013,2018, July 14, 20132018 and May 31, 2014,2019, respectively. Separately, the Whiting, Neenah, Munising and AppletonOn pension matters our U.S. paper mills have bargained jointly with the union on pension matters.USW. The current agreement on pension matters with the USW will remain in effect until September 2019.

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Approximately 50 percent of salaried employees and 80 percent of hourly employees of Neenah Germany are eligible to be represented by the Mining, Chemicals and Energy Trade Union, Industriegewerkschaft Bergbau, Chemie and Energie (the "IG BCE"). In December 2011,June 2013, the IG BCE and a national trade association representing all employers in the industry signed a new collective bargaining agreement covering union employees of Neenah Germany that expires in May 2013.June 2015.

We believe we have satisfactory relations with our employees covered by collective bargaining agreements. In February 2013, we reached agreement withagreements and do not expect the USW onnegotiation of new collective bargaining agreements for allto have a material effect on our results of our U.S. paper mills. The new agreements between the Whiting, Neenah, Munising and Appleton paper mills and the USW expire on January 31, 2018, June 30, 2018, July 14, 2018 and May 31, 2019, respectively.operations or cash flows.

Environmental, Health and Safety Matters

Our operations are subject to federal, state and local laws, regulations and ordinances relating to various environmental, health and safety matters. Our operations are in compliance with, or we are taking actions designed to ensure compliance with, these laws, regulations and ordinances. However, the nature of our operations exposes us to the risk of claims concerning non-compliance with environmental, health and safety laws or standards, and there can be no assurance that material costs or liabilities will not be incurred in connection with those claims. Except for certain orders issued by environmental, health and safety regulatory agencies with which we believe we are in compliance and which we believe are immaterial to our financial condition, results of operations and liquidity, we are not currently named as a party in any judicial or administrative proceeding relating to environmental, health and safety matters.

Greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions have increasingly become the subject of political and regulatory focus. Concern over potential climate change, including global warming, has led to legislative and regulatory initiatives directed at limiting GHG emissions. AllIn addition to certain federal proposals in the United States to regulate GHG emissions, Germany and all the states in which we operate have adopted or are currently considering GHG legislation or regulations, either individually and/or as part of regional initiatives, that are independent of any federal proposals.initiatives. While not all are likely to become law it is reasonably possible that additional climate change related mandates will be forthcoming, and it is expected that they may adversely impact our costs by increasing energy costs and raw material prices, requiring operational or equipmentsequipment modifications to reduce emissions and creating costs to comply with regulations or to mitigate the financial consequences of such compliance.

While we have incurred in the past several years, and will continue to incur, capital and operating expenditures in order to comply with environmental, health and safety laws, regulations and ordinances, we believe that our future cost of compliance with environmental, health and safety laws, regulations and ordinances, and our exposure to liability for environmental, health and safety claims will not have a material effect on our financial condition, results of operations or liquidity. However, future events, such as changes in existing laws and regulations, new legislation to limit GHG emissions or contamination of sites owned, operated or used for waste disposal by us (including currently unknown contamination and contamination caused by prior owners and operators of such sites or other waste generators) may give rise to additional costs which could have a material effect on our financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.

We have planned capital expenditures to comply with environmental, health and safety laws, regulations and ordinances during the period 20132014 through 20152016 of approximately $1 million to $2 million annually. Our anticipated capital expenditures for environmental projects are not expected to have a material effect on our financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.

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AVAILABLE INFORMATION

We are subject to the reporting requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. As such, we file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Our SEC filings are available to the public on the SEC's web site at www.sec.gov. You may also read and copy any document we file at the SEC's Public Reference Room located at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the Public Reference Room. Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NP. You may inspect the reports, proxy statements and other information concerning us at the offices of the New York Stock Exchange, 20 Broad Street, New York, New York 10005.

Our web site is www.neenah.com. Information on our web site is not incorporated by reference in this document. Our reports on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K, as well as amendments to those reports, are and will be available free of charge on our web site as soon as reasonably practicable after we file or furnish such reports with the SEC. In addition, you may request a copy of any of these reports

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(excluding (excluding exhibits) at no cost upon written request to us at: Investor Relations, Neenah Paper, Inc., 3460 Preston Ridge Road, Suite 600, Alpharetta, Georgia 30005.

Item 1A.    Risk Factors

You should carefully consider each of the following risks and all of the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Some of the risks described below relate principally to our business and the industry in which we operate, while others relate principally to our indebtedness. The remaining risks relate principally to the securities markets generally and ownership of our common stock.

Our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity could be materially affected by any of these risks, and, as a result, the trading price of our common stock could decline. The risks described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also impair our business operations.

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

Our business will suffer if we are unable to effectively respond to decreased demand for some of our products due to conditions in the global economy or secular decline of some markets.

We have experienced and may experience in the future decreased demand for some of our products due to slowing or negative global economic growth, uncertainty in credit markets, declining consumer and business confidence, fluctuating commodity prices, increased unemployment and other challenges affecting the global economy. The North American uncoated free sheet market has been declining two to four percent annually due to the increasing use of electronic media for communication. For 2012,2013, the Pulp and Paper Products Council (the "PPPC") reported a 4.72.5 percent year-over-year industry decline in the uncoated free sheet paper category. Premium fine papers represent approximately two and a half to three percent of the North American uncoated free sheet market. In addition, our customers may experience deterioration of their businesses, cash flow shortages, and difficulty obtaining financing. If we are unable to implement business strategies to effectively respond to decreased demand for our products, our financial position, cash flows and results of operations would be adversely affected.

Changes in international conditions generally, and particularly in Germany, could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Our operating results and business prospects could be adversely affected by risks related to the countries outside the United States in which we have manufacturing facilities or sell our products, including Germany, the Eurozone and elsewhere. Downturns in economic activity, adverse tax consequences, fluctuations in the value of local currency versus the U.S. dollar, or any change in social, political or labor conditions in any of these countries or regions could negatively affect our financial results.

For example, the European sovereign debt crisis has negatively affected economic conditions in Europe and globally. We have significant operations and financial relationships based in Europe.Europe and in Germany in particular. Europe has historically accounted for over 40 percent of our net revenues. If the European sovereign debt crisis continues or deepens, economic conditions in Europe may further deteriorate. In that case, our business in Europe and elsewhere, as well as the businesses of our customers and suppliers, may be adversely affected.

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Our businesses are significantly dependent on sales to their largest customers.

Sales to the three largest customers of each of the fine paper business and the technical products business represented approximately 30 percent of such segment's total sales for 2013. A significant loss of business from any of our major fine paper or technical products customers may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and liquidity. We are also subject to credit risk associated with our customer concentration. If one or more of our largest fine paper or technical products customers were to become bankrupt, insolvent or otherwise were unable to pay for services provided, we may incur significant write-offs of accounts receivable.

The availability of and prices for raw materials and energy will significantly impact our business.

We purchase a substantial portion of the raw materials and energy necessary to produce our products on the open market, and, as a result, the price and other terms of those purchases are subject to change based on factors such as worldwide supply and demand and government regulation. We do not have significant influence over our raw material or energy prices and our ability to pass increases in those prices along to purchasers of our products may be challenged, unless those increases coincide with increased demand for the product. Therefore, raw material or energy prices could increase at the same time that prices for our products are steady or decreasing. In addition, we may not be able to recoup other cost increases we may experience, such as those resulting from inflation or from increases in wages or salaries or increases in health care, pension or other employee benefits costs, insurance costs or other costs.

Our technical products business acquires all of its specialized pulp requirements from two global suppliers and certain critical specialty latex grades from four suppliers. In general, these supply arrangements are not covered by

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formal contracts, but represent multi-year business relationships that have historically been sufficient to meet our needs. We expect these relationships to continue to operate in a satisfactory manner in the future. In the event of an interruption of production at any one supplier, we believe that each of these suppliers individually would be able to satisfy our short-term requirements for specialized pulp or specialty latex. In the event of a long-term disruption in our supply of specialized pulp or specialty latex, we believe we would be able to substitute other pulp grades or other latex grades that would allow us to meet required product performance characteristics and incur only a limited disruption in our production.

Our fine paper business acquires a substantial majority of the cotton fiber used in the production of certain branded bond paper products pursuant to annual agreements with two North American producers. The balance of our cotton fiber requirements are acquired through "spot market" purchases from a variety of other producers. We believe that a partial or total disruption in the production of cotton fibers at our two primary suppliers would increase our reliance on "spot market" purchases with a likely corresponding increase in cost.

Our operating results are likely to fluctuate.

Our operating results are subject to substantial quarterly and annual fluctuations due to a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control. Operating results could be adversely affected by general economic conditions causing a downturn in the market for paper products. Additional factors that could affect our results include, among others, changes in the market price of pulp, the effects of competitive pricing pressures, production capacity levels and manufacturing yields, availability and cost of products from our suppliers, the gain or loss of significant customers, our ability to develop, introduce and market new products and technologies on a timely basis, changes in the mix of products produced and sold, seasonal customer demand, the relative strength of the Euro versus the U.S. dollar, increasing interest rates and environmental costs. The timing and effect of the foregoing factors are difficult to predict, and these or other factors could materially adversely affect our quarterly or annual operating results.

We face many competitors, several of which have greater financial and other resources.

We face competition in each of our business segments from companies that produce the same type of products that we produce or that produce lower priced alternative products that customers may use instead of our products. Some of our competitors have greater financial, sales and marketing, or research and development resources than we do. Greater financial resources and product development capabilities may also allow our competitors to respond more quickly to new opportunities or changes in customer requirements.

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We cannot be certain that our tax planning strategies will be effective and that our net operating losses ("NOLs") will continue to be available to offset our tax liability.

We are continuously undergoing examination by the Internal Revenue Service (the "IRS") as well as taxing authorities in various state and foreign jurisdictions in which we operate. The IRS and other taxing authorities routinely challenge certain deductions and credits reported on our income tax returns.

In November 2010, we received a tax examination report from the German tax authorities challenging the validity of certain interest expense deductions claimed on ourthe Company's tax returns for the years 2006 and 2007. We are indemnified by FiberMark, Inc. for any tax liabilities arising from the operations of Neenah Germany prior to October 2006. In August 2011,2012, we received tax assessments totaling €3.7 million from the German tax authorities and submitted an appeal challenging these assessments. We believe that the finding which invalidates the deductibility of certain interest expense deductions is improper and are vigorously contesting the finding. As of December 31, 2011, no amounts were reserved related to these issues. In November 2011 and January 2012, we paid a total of €1.9 million against the August 2011 tax assessments. Weassessments and reflected these payments as assets ($2.5 million in(in "Income taxes receivable" on the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2012)) in recognition that such amounts would be treated as prepayments against any assessments ultimately owed. During 2012,the first quarter of 2013, we submitted additional information toreached a settlement with the German tax authorities for all issues related to support the validitytax examination. The settlement resulted in a revised tax assessment of €0.5 million, which was approximately equal to our interest expense deductions; however, as ofliability for uncertain tax positions related to this issue at December 31, 2012, they had not rendered a decision on our appeal.

In2012. For the fourth quarter of 2012, legislation was proposed in the German legislature that would eliminate certain previously allowable interest expense deductions on a prospective and retroactive basis. The legislation was subsequently enacted in the first quarter of 2013. We believe the retroactive applicationyear ended December 31, 2013, we received refunds of the legislation is unconstitutional and the likelihoodabove tax prepayments of it being sustained is remote. €1.4 million.

As of December 31, 2012,2013, we recordedreflected a liability for uncertain incomeunrecognized tax positionsbenefits based on an assessment of the likelihood of alternative outcomes including, the possibility of a potential compromise related to this issue for the 2006 and 2007 tax years and for

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subsequent periodscertain ongoing interest expense deductions through 2012. We believeDecember 31, 2013. Management believes it is remote that our liability for unrecognized tax benefits related to these matters will significantly increase within the next 12 months. While we believe that retroactive application of this legislation is remote, should retroactive application of the legislation be sustained, the outcome could have a material effect on our results of operations, cash flows and financial position.

As of December 31, 2012,2013, we had approximately $65.9$32.9 million of U.S. Federal and $76.9$51.5 million of U.S. State tax NOLs which may be used to offset taxable income in the future. In order to utilize the NOLs, we must generate consolidated taxable income. If not used, substantially all of the NOLs will expire in various amounts between 2028 and 2030. The availability of NOLs to offset taxable income could also be substantially reduced if we were to undergo an "ownership change" within the meaning of Section 382(g)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code. We will be treated as having had an "ownership change" if there is more than a 50% increase in stock ownership during a three-year "testing period" by "5% stockholders."

In accordance with Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 740,Income Taxes ("ASC Topic 740"), as of December 31, 2012,2013, we have recorded a liability of $4.8$4.3 million for uncertain tax positions where we believe it is "more likely than not" that the benefit reported on our income tax return will not be realized. There can be no assurance, however, that the actual amount of unrealized deductions will not exceed the amounts we have recognized for uncertain tax positions.

We have significant obligations for pension and other postretirement benefits.

We have significant obligations for pension and other postretirement benefits which could require future funding beyond that which we have funded in the past or which we currently anticipate. At December 31, 2012,2013, our projected pension benefit obligations were $325.3$320.4 million and exceeded the fair value of pension plan assets by approximately $86.0$59.1 million. In 2012,2013, we made total contributions to qualified pension trusts of $15.3$18.1 million. In addition, during 20122013 we paid pension benefits for unfunded qualified and supplemental retirement plans of $8.9$2.2 million. At December 31, 2012,2013, our projected other postretirement benefit obligations were $46.7$41.0 million. No assets have been set aside to satisfy our other postretirement benefit obligations. In 2012,2013, we made payments for postretirement benefits other than pensions of $3.0$3.7 million. A material increase in funding requirements or benefit payments could have a material effect on our cash flows.

The outcome of legal actions and claims may adversely affect us.

We are involved in legal actions and claims arising in the ordinary course of our business. The outcome of such legal actions and claims against us cannot be predicted with certainty. The legalLegal actions and claims against us could have a material effect on our financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.

Labor interruptions would adversely affect our business.

Substantially all of our hourly employees are unionized. In addition, some key customers and suppliers are also unionized. Strikes, lockouts or other work stoppages or slow downs involving our unionized employees could have a material effect on us. As

Table of December 31, 2012, 645 hourly employees in the United States were covered by collective bargaining agreements that have expired or will expire within the next 12-months. Under German law union membership is voluntary and does not need to be disclosed to us. As a result, the number of employees covered by the collective bargaining agreement with the IG BCE that expires in May 2013 cannot be determined. For the current status of our U.S. collective bargaining agreements see "Part I Item 1 — Business, Employee and Labor Relations."Contents

Future dividends on our common stock may be restricted or eliminated.

For the year ended December 31, 2012, we paid cash dividends of $0.48 per common share or approximately $7.8 million. In November 2012, our Board of Directors approved a 25 percent increase in the annual dividend on our common stock to $0.60 per share. The dividend will be paid in four equal quarterly installments beginning in March 2013. Dividends are declared at the discretion of our Board of Directors, and future dividends will depend on our future earnings, cash flow, financial requirements and other factors. Our ability to pay cash dividends on our common stock is limited under the terms of both our bank credit agreement and the indenture for our $90$175 million of ten-yeareight-year senior notes due November 20142021 (the "Senior"2021 Senior Notes"). As of December 31, 2012,2013, under the most restrictive terms of the indenture for the 2021 Senior Notes, our ability to pay cash dividends on our common stock is limited to a total of $8$25 million in a 12-month period. However, we can pay dividends in excess of $8 million in a 12-month period by making restricted payments as defined in the indenture for the Senior Notes. There can be no assurance that we will continue to pay dividends in the future.

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If we have a catastrophic loss or unforeseen or recurring operational problems at any of our facilities, we could suffer significant lost production and/or cost increases.

Our technical products and fine paper businesses may suffer catastrophic loss due to fire, flood, terrorism, mechanical failure, or other natural or man-made events. If any of our facilities were to experience a catastrophic loss, it could disrupt our operations, delay production, delay or reduce shipments, reduce revenue, and result in significant expenses to repair or replace the facility. These expenses and losses may not be adequately covered by property or business interruption insurance. Even if covered by insurance, our inability to deliver our products to customers, even on a short-term basis, may cause us to lose market share on a more permanent basis.

Fluctuations in currency exchange rates could adversely affect our results.

Exchange rate fluctuations for the Euro do not have a material effect on the operations or cash flows of our German technical products business. Our German technical products business incurs most of its costs and sells most of its production in Europe and, therefore, its operations and cash flows are not materially affected by changes in the exchange rate of the Euro relative to the U.S. dollar. Changes in the Euro exchange rate relative to the U.S. dollar will, however, have an effect on our balance sheet and reported results of operations. See "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk — Foreign Currency Risk."

In addition, because we transact business in other foreign countries, some of our revenues and expenses are denominated in a currency other than the local currency of our operations. As a result, changes in exchange rates between the currency in which the transaction is denominated and the local currency of our operations into which the transaction is being recorded can impact the amount of local currency recorded for such transaction. This can result in more or less local currency revenues or costs related to such transaction, and thus have an effect on our reported sales and income before income taxes.

Our activities are subject to extensive government regulation, which could increase our costs, cause us to incur liabilities and adversely affect the manufacturing and marketing of our products.

Our operations are subject to federal, state and local laws, regulations and ordinances in the United States and Germany relating to various environmental, health and safety matters. The nature of our operations requires that we invest capital and incur operating costs to comply with those laws, regulations and ordinances and exposes us to the risk of claims concerning non-compliance with environmental, health and safety laws or standards. We cannot assure that significant additional expenditures will not be required to maintain compliance with, or satisfy potential claims arising from, such laws, regulations and ordinances. Future events, such as changes in existing laws and regulations or contamination of sites owned, operated or used for waste disposal by us (including currently unknown contamination and contamination caused by prior owners and operators of such sites or other waste generators) may give rise to additional costs that could require significantly higher capital expenditures and operating costs, which would reduce the funds otherwise available for operations, capital expenditures, future business opportunities or other purposes.

We are subject to risks associated with possible climate change legislation and various cost and manufacturing issues associated with such legislation.

GHG emissions have increasingly become the subject of political and regulatory focus. Concern over potential climate change, including global warming, has led to legislative and regulatory initiatives directed at limiting GHG emissions. AllIn addition to certain federal proposals in the United States to regulate GHG emissions, Germany and all the states in which we operate have adopted or are currently considering GHG legislation or regulations, either individually and/or as part of regional initiatives, that are independent of any federal proposals.initiatives. While not all are likely to become law it is reasonably possible that additional climate change related mandates will be forthcoming, and it is expected that they may adversely

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impact our costs by increasing energy costs and raw material prices, requiring operational or equipmentsequipment modifications to reduce emissions and creating costs to comply with regulations or to mitigate the financial consequences of compliance.

Risks Relating to Our Indebtedness

We may not be able to fund our future capital requirements internally or obtain third-party financing.

We may be required or choose to obtain additional debt or equity financing to meet our future working capital requirements, as well as to fund capital expenditures and acquisitions. To the extent we must obtain financing from external sources to fund our capital requirements, we cannot guarantee financing will be available on

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favorable terms, if at all. As of December 31, 2012,2013, we have required debt payments of $94.6$21.4 million during the year ending December 31, 2014. Such required debt payments include $90 million on our Senior Notes.

We may not be able to generate sufficient cash flow to meet our debt obligations, including the 2021 Senior Notes.

Our ability to make scheduled payments or to refinance our obligations with respect to the 2021 Senior Notes, our other debt and our other liabilities will depend on our financial and operating performance, which, in turn, is subject to prevailing economic conditions and to certain financial, business and other factors beyond our control. If our cash flow and capital resources are insufficient to fund our debt obligations and other liabilities, we could face substantial liquidity problems and may be forced to reduce or delay scheduled expansions and capital expenditures, sell material assets or operations, obtain additional capital or restructure our debt. We cannot assure that our operating performance, cash flow and capital resources will be sufficient to repay our debt in the future. In the event that we are required to dispose of material assets or operations or restructure our debt to meet our debt and other obligations, we can make no assurances as to the terms of any such transaction or how quickly any such transaction could be completed.

If we cannot make scheduled payments on our debt, we will be in default and, as a result:

•

our debt holders could declare all outstanding principal and interest to be due and payable;



•

our senior secured lenders could terminate their commitments and commence foreclosure proceedings against our assets; and



•

we could be forced into bankruptcy or liquidation.

If our operating performance declines in the future or we breach our covenants under the revolving credit facility, we may need to obtain waivers from the lenders under our revolving credit facility to avoid being in default. We may not be able to obtain these waivers. If this occurs, we would be in default under our revolving credit facility.

We have significant indebtedness which subjects us to restrictive covenants relating to the operation of our business.

As of December 31, 2012,2013, we had $90$175 million of 2021 Senior Notes, $55.7$19.3 million in senior secured revolverrevolving credit borrowings $30.0 million in Term Loan borrowingsat our wholly-owned German subsidiary ("Neenah Germany") and $6.6$17.6 million of project financing outstanding. In addition, availability under our bank credit agreement was approximately $48.6$104 million. Our leverage could have important consequences. For example, it could:

•

make it difficult for us to satisfy our financial obligations, including making scheduled principal and interest payments on the 2021 Senior Notes and our other indebtedness;



•

place us at a disadvantage to our competitors;



•

require us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to service payments on our indebtedness, thereby reducing funds available for other purposes;



•

increase our vulnerability to a downturn in general economic conditions or the industry in which we operate;



•

limit our ability to obtain additional financing for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions and general corporate and other purposes; and



•

limit our ability to plan for and react to changes in our business and the industry in which we operate.

The terms of our indebtedness, including our bank credit agreement and the indenture governing the 2021 Senior Notes, contain covenants restricting our ability to, among other things, incur certain additional debt, make

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specified restricted payments, pay dividends, authorize or issue capital stock, enter into transactions with our affiliates, consolidate or merge with or acquire another business, sell certain of our assets or liquidate, dissolve or wind-up our company. As of December 31, 2012,2013, under the most restrictive terms of the indenture for the Senior Notes,debt agreements, our ability to pay cash dividends on our common stock is limited to a total of $8$25 million in a 12-month period. However, we can pay dividends in excess of $8 million in a 12-month period by making restricted payments as defined in the indenture for the Senior Notes.

In addition, the Credit Agreementour bank credit agreement contains covenants with which we must comply during the term of the agreement. Among other things, such covenants restrict our ability to incur certain additional debt, make specified restricted payments, authorize or issue capital stock, enter into transactions with affiliates, consolidate or merge with or acquire another business, sell certain of its assets, or dissolve or wind up. In addition, if we have

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outstanding borrowings under the Term Loanour term loan or if borrowing availability under the Second Amended and Restated Credit Agreementour bank credit agreement is less than $20 million, we are required to achieve a fixed charge coverage ratio (as defined in the Second Amended and Restated Credit Agreement)our bank credit agreement) of not less than 1.1 to 1.0 for the preceding 12-month period, tested as of the end of such quarter. As of December 31, 2012,2013, we were in compliance with all terms of the Second Amended and Restated Credit Agreement.our bank credit agreement.

Our Term Loan and revolving credit facilities accrue interest at variable rates. As of December 31, 2012,2013, we had 55.719.3 million of senior secured revolver borrowings outstanding and $30.0 million in Term Loanrevolving credit borrowings outstanding. We may reduce our exposure to rising interest rates by entering into interest rate hedging arrangements, although those arrangements may result in us incurring higher interest expenses than we would incur without the arrangements. If interest rates increase in the absence of such arrangements, we will need to dedicate more of our cash flow from operations to make payments on our debt. For more information on our liquidity, see "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Liquidity and Capital Resources."

Our failure to comply with the covenants contained in our revolving credit facility or the indenture governing the 2021 Senior Notes could result in an event of default that could cause acceleration of our indebtedness.

Our failure to comply with the covenants and other requirements contained in the indenture governing the 2021 Senior Notes, our revolving credit facility or our other debt instruments could cause an event of default under the relevant debt instrument. The occurrence of an event of default could trigger a default under our other debt instruments, prohibit us from accessing additional borrowings and permit the holders of the defaulted debt to declare amounts outstanding with respect to that debt to be immediately due and payable. Our assets or cash flows may not be sufficient to fully repay borrowings under our outstanding debt instruments, and we may be unable to refinance or restructure the payments on indebtedness on favorable terms, or at all.

Despite our indebtedness levels, we and our subsidiaries may be able to incur substantially more indebtedness, which may increase the risks created by our substantial indebtedness.

Because the terms of our bank credit agreement and the indenture governing the 2021 Senior Notes do not fully prohibit us or our subsidiaries from incurring additional indebtedness, we and our subsidiaries may be able to incur substantial additional indebtedness in the future, some of which may be secured. If we or any of our subsidiaries incur additional indebtedness, the related risks that we and they now face may intensify.

Our bank credit agreement is secured by a majority of our North American assets.

Our bank credit agreement as amended, is secured by a majority of our North American assets, including the capital stock of our subsidiaries. Neenah Germany is not a borrower or guarantor with respect to the bank credit agreement.

Availability under our bank credit agreement will fluctuate over time depending on the value of our inventory, receivables and various capital assets. An extended work stoppage or decline in sales volumes would result in a decrease in the value of the assets securing the bank credit agreement. A reduction in availability under the bank credit agreement could have a material effect on our liquidity.

Changes in credit ratings issued by nationally recognized statistical rating organizations could adversely affect our cost of financing and have an adverse effect on the market price of our securities.

Our debt currently has a non-investment grade rating, and there can be no assurance that any rating assigned by the rating agencies will remain for any given period of time or that a rating will not be lowered or withdrawn entirely by a rating agency if, in that rating agency's judgment, future circumstances relating to the basis of the rating, such as adverse changes, so warrant. A downgradelowering or withdrawal of the ratings assigned to our credit ratings below current levels (Moody's Investors Service — Ba3, Standard & Poor's — BB- as of December 31, 2012)debt securities by rating agencies may increase our future borrowing costs and reduce our access to the capital, markets,which could have ana material adverse effectimpact on the market priceour financial condition and results of our securities and increase our costoperations.

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We depend on our subsidiaries to generate cash flow to meet our debt service obligations, including payments on the 2021 Senior Notes.

We conduct a substantial portion of our business through our subsidiaries. Consequently, our cash flow and ability to service our debt obligations, including the 2021 Senior Notes, depend upon the earnings of our subsidiaries and the distribution of those earnings to us, or upon loans, advances or other payments made by these entities to us. The ability of these entities to pay dividends or make other payments or advances to us will be subject to applicable laws and contractual restrictions contained in the instruments governing their debt, including our revolving credit

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facility and the indenture governing the 2021 Senior Notes. These limitations are also subject to important exceptions and qualifications.

The ability of our subsidiaries to generate sufficient cash flow from operations to allow us to make scheduled payments on our debt, including the 2021 Senior Notes, will depend upon their future financial performance, which will be affected by a range of economic, competitive and business factors, many of which are outside of our control.control as well as their ability to repatriate cash to us. If our subsidiaries do not generate sufficient cash flow from operations to help us satisfy our debt obligations, including payments on the 2021 Senior Notes or if they are unable to distribute sufficient cash flow to us, we may have to undertake alternative financing plans, such as refinancing or restructuring our debt, selling assets, reducing or delaying capital expenditures or seeking to raise additional capital. Refinancing may not be possible, and any assets may not be saleable, or, if sold, we may not realize sufficient amounts from those sales. Additional financing may not be available on acceptable terms, if at all, or we may be prohibited from incurring it, if available, under the terms of our various debt instruments then in effect. Our inability to generate sufficient cash flow to satisfy our debt obligations or to refinance our obligations on commercially reasonable terms would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, as well as on our ability to satisfy our obligations on the 2021 Senior Notes. The amount of earnings that our operating subsidiaries are able to distribute to us as dividends, or otherwise, may not be adequate for us to service our debt obligations.

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K may constitute "forward-looking" statements as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act"), Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act"), the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "PSLRA"), or in releases made by the SEC, all as may be amended from time to time. Statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K that are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the PSLRA. Any such forward-looking statements reflect our beliefs and assumptions and are based on information currently available to us. Forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These cautionary statements are being made pursuant to the Securities Act, the Exchange Act and the PSLRA with the intention of obtaining the benefits of the "safe harbor" provisions of such laws. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements we make are not guarantees or indicative of future performance. For additional information regarding factors that may cause our results of operations to differ materially from those presented herein, please see "Risk Factors" contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and as are detailed from time to time in other reports we file with the SEC.

You can identify forward-looking statements as those that are not historical in nature, particularly those that use terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expect," "anticipate," "contemplate," "estimate," "believe," "plan," "project," "predict," "potential" or "continue," or the negative of these, or similar terms. In evaluating these forward-looking statements, you should consider the following factors, as well as others contained in our public filings from time to time, which may cause our actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement:

•

changes in market demand for our products due to global economic conditions;

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fluctuations in (i) exchange rates (in particular changes in the U.S. dollar/Euro currency exchange rates) and (ii) interest rates;

•

increases in commodity prices, (particularly for pulp, energy and latex) due to constrained global supplies or unexpected supply disruptions;

•

the availability of raw materials and energy;

•

the competitive environment;

•

capital and credit market volatility and fluctuations in global equity and fixed-income markets;

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•

unanticipated expenditures related to the cost of compliance with environmental and other governmental regulations;

•

our ability to control costs and implement measures designed to enhance operating efficiencies;

•

the loss of current customers or the inability to obtain new customers;

•

increases in the funding requirements for our pension and postretirement liabilities;

•

changes in asset valuations including write-downs of assets including property, plant and equipment; inventory, accounts receivable, deferred tax assets or other assets for impairment or other reasons;

•

our existing and future indebtedness;

•

our net operating losses may not be available to offset our tax liability and other tax planning strategies may not be effective;

•

strikes, labor stoppages and changes in our collective bargaining agreements and relations with our employees and unions; and

•

other risks that are detailed from time to time in reports we file with the SEC.SEC; and

•

other factors described under "Risk Factors".

You are cautioned not to unduly rely on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made, when evaluating the information presented in this information statement.

Item 1B.    Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

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Item 2.    Properties

Our principal executive offices are located in Alpharetta, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, and we operate a research and development laboratory in the nearby suburb of Roswell, Georgia. We own and operate four paper mills in the United States that produce printing and writing, text, cover, durable saturated and coated substrates and other specialty papers for a variety of end uses. We own and operate three paper mills in Germany that produce transportation and other filter media, wall coverings and durable and saturated substrates.

We believe that each of these facilities is adequately maintained and is suitable for conducting our operations and business. We manage machine operating schedules at our manufacturing locations to fulfill customer orders in a timely manner and control inventory levels.

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As of December 31, 2012,2013, following are the locations of our principal facilities and operating equipment and the products produced at each location. All the facilities are owned by us, except as otherwise noted:

See Note 6 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, "Debt" for a description of the material encumbrances attached to the properties described in the table above.

Capacity Utilization

Paper machines in our manufacturing facilities generally operate on a combination of five or seven-day schedules to meet demand. We are not constrained by input factors and the maximum operating capacity of our manufacturing facilities is calculated based on operating days to account for variations in mix and different units of measure between assets. Due to required maintenance downtime and contract holidays, the maximum number of operating days is defined as 350 days per year. We generally expect to utilize approximately 85 to 95 percent of our maximum operating capacity. The following table presents our percentage utilization of maximum operating capacity by segment:

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As of December 31, 2012,2013, following are the locations of our owned and leased office and laboratory space and the functions performed at each location.

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Item 3.    Legal Proceedings

See Note 11, "ContingenciesLitigation

We are involved in certain legal actions and Legal Matters"claims arising in the ordinary course of Notesbusiness. While the outcome of these legal actions and claims cannot be predicted with certainty, it is the opinion of management that the outcome of any such claim which is pending or threatened, either individually or on a combined basis, will not have a material effect on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.

Income Taxes

We are continuously undergoing examination by the IRS as well as various state and foreign jurisdictions. The IRS and other taxing authorities routinely challenge certain deductions and credits we report on our income tax returns.

German Tax Audits — Tax Years 2006 to Consolidated Financial Statements2007

In November 2010, the Company received a tax examination report from the German tax authorities challenging the validity of Part IV Item 15 — Exhibitscertain interest expense deductions claimed on the Company's tax returns for the years 2006 and Financial Statement Schedule.2007. In August 2011, the Company received tax assessments totaling €3.7 million from the German tax authorities and submitted an appeal challenging these assessments. The Company paid a total of €1.9 million against the August 2011 tax assessments and reflected these payments as assets (in "Income taxes receivable") in recognition that such amounts would be treated as prepayments against any assessments ultimately owed. During the first quarter of 2013, the Company reached a settlement with the German tax authorities for all issues related to the tax examination. The settlement resulted in a revised tax assessment of €0.5 million, which was approximately equal to the Company's liability for uncertain tax positions related to this issue at December 31, 2012. For the year ended December 31, 2013, the Company received refunds of the above tax prepayments of €1.4 million.

As of December 31, 2013, the Company reflected a liability for unrecognized tax benefits based on an assessment of the likelihood of alternative outcomes related to certain ongoing interest expense deductions through December 31, 2013. Management believes it is remote that the Company's liability for unrecognized tax benefits related to these matters will significantly increase within the next 12 months.

Item 4.    Mine Safety Disclosures

Not applicable.

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PART II

Item 5.    Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Neenah common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is traded under the ticker symbol NP. Trading, as reported on the New York Stock Exchange, Inc. Composite Transactions Tape, and dividend information follows:

Dividends are declared at the discretion of the Board of Directors, and future dividends will depend on our future earnings, cash flow, financial requirements and other factors. Our ability to pay cash dividends on our common stock is limited under the terms of both our bank credit agreement and our 2021 Senior Notes. As of December 31, 2012,2013, under the most restrictive terms of the indenture for the Senior Notes,our debt agreements, our ability to pay cash dividends on our common stock is limited to a total of $8$25 million in a 12-month period. However,For the year ended December 31, 2013 we can paypaid cash dividends in excess of $8 million in a 12-month period by making restricted payments as defined in the indenture for the Senior Notes.$0.70 per common share or $11.4 million. For the year ended December 31, 2012 we paid cash dividends of $0.48 per common share or approximately $7.8 million. For the year ended December 31, 2011 we paid cash dividends of $0.44 per common share or approximately $6.7 million. In November 2012,2013, our Board of Directors approved a twenty-fivetwenty percent increase in the annual dividend rate on our common stock to $0.60$0.96 per share. We expectThe dividend is scheduled to pay the dividendsbe paid in four equal quarterly installments beginning in March 2013.2014.

As of February 22, 2013,14, 2014, Neenah had approximately 2,0001,700 holders of record of its common stock. The closing price of Neenah's common stock on February 22, 201314, 2014 was $28.86.$44.80.

The following table sets forth information regarding purchases of our common stock during the fourth quarter of 2013.

Purchases of Equity Securities:

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Equity Compensation Plan Information

The following table summarizes information about outstanding options, share appreciation rights and restricted stock units and shares reserved for future issuance under our existing equity compensation plans as of December 31, 2013.