International Paper has completed its acquisition of DS Smith, in a deal that is estimated to be worth $7.2 billion.
The new company’s headquarters is in Memphis, Tennessee, IP’s hometown. It will also establish a European headquarters in London, DS Smith’s previous home base. The companies expect to achieve at least $514 million in synergies, according an International Paper securities filing Friday.
Legacy International Paper shareholders will own 65.9% of the company’s stock, and legacy DS Smith shareholders will own approximately 34.1%. The company primarily will list on the New York Stock Exchange and secondarily on the London Stock Exchange.
DS Smith is slated to suspend trading of its shares on the London Stock Exchange Monday, and its shares would be delisted Tuesday. Shares of the new company are expected to be issued Monday after close of business, Eastern time. Trading of those shares on both the New York Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange is scheduled for Tuesday.
“The combination of International Paper and DS Smith will create the world’s leading sustainable packaging company,” said IP CEO Andrew Silvernail in a Friday statement. “With a differentiated geographic footprint and an unparallelled suite of sustainable packaging products and services, we will accelerate growth, improve profitability and serve our customers even better.”
Silvernail will lead the new company, and much of IP’s existing leadership team will stay in place, according to securities filings. DS Smith CEO Miles Roberts will remain with the company in a consulting capacity for up to two years.
IP and DS Smith first announced the formal deal in April 2024 and expected it to close last year, but it got pushed to this quarter due to ongoing regulatory reviews. The European Commission approved the deal in January, as long as IP agreed to divest five box plants in Europe to alleviate competition concerns.
This deal endured a rather convoluted path to completion, with IP’s interest in DS Smith surprising many industry observers and coming after Mondi expressed interest. A bidding war for DS Smith ensued, but Mondi eventually stepped back. Adding to the complexity, Brazilian pulp company Suzano made a move for IP, but dropped it shortly after when IP did not engage.
Silvernail joined International Paper in May 2024 and soon after launched a turnaround plan to remedy what he described as a decade-long performance deterioration. The company announced a series of facility closures last autumn, accompanied by about 1,000 layoffs. Silvernail described progress on the strategy during the company’s Jan. 30 earnings call, including upcoming significant investments in the box plant network.
The close of this deal bumps International Paper to one of the world’s largest packaging companies, akin to Smurfit Westrock. The latter kicked off a period of multibillion-dollar international megadeals in the packaging space when Smurfit Kappa announced in 2023 that it would purchase WestRock; that trend continues into 2025.
International Paper disclosed in a securities filing last year how the deal pursuit and sale process occurred.
