Smurfit Kappa and WestRock merge. Visit project officially presented just a few days ago has now been confirmed: the two giants of cardboard packaging manufacturing are to create Smurfit WestRock, "a global leader in sustainable packaging with unrivalled scale, quality, products and geographic diversity" they state. The combination of Ireland's Smurfit and America's WestRock is expected to be finalized in the second quarter of 2024.
Smurfit Kappa has over 350 corrugated and containerboard plants, located mainly in 23 European countries, but with a significant presence in the Americas with almost 100 plants.
WestRock operates 145 corrugated and consumer packaging plants, mainly in the Americas, notably in the United States, but also in Brazil and Mexico.
Smurfit WestRock, the world's largest listed packaging group
The combined sales of the two groups, each of which employs around 50,000 people, peak at around $34 billion (June 2022 to June 2023), making Smurfit WestRock the world's largest listed packaging group in terms of sales. Together, they will post earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $5.5 billion.
This combination would save over $400 million a year before tax from the end of the first year following the transaction.
Smurfit WestRock will be domiciled in Ireland, with a listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and a standard listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). They would like to be included in a US stock market index as soon as possible.
The group will be led by Tony Smurfit, current CEO of Smurfit Kappa, as CEO and by Irial Finan, Chairman of Smurfit Kappa, as President of the new group.
