Merger: Packaging giant Smurfit Kappa yesterday confirmed the tie-up with WestRock
Smurfit Kappa will join forces with a US rival in a £15billionn merger that will see it switch its main listing to New York.
The London-listed packaging giant yesterday confirmed the tie-up with WestRock to create the world’s biggest listed packaging firm, with combined revenues of around £27billion last year.
The merged company will be called Smurfit WestRock and will list in New York, with a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange, in another setback for the capital.
Shares in Smurfit Kappa, which is based in Ireland, fell 9.8 per cent yesterday as investors reacted to the terms of the merger.
WestRock shareholders will receive one new share and £4.01 in cash for each existing share, which works out at £34.89 per share.
Meanwhile, Smurfit Kappa shareholders will receive one new share for each they already own.
The firm will retain a secondary listing in London.
But it is a blow for ‘another major company to retreat from its premier position on the FTSE 100’, said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown.