Smurfit Kappa has closed its transaction to acquire WestRock. Smurfit Westrock now becomes one of the world’s largest packaging companies.

Smurfit Westrock is headquartered in Dublin, where Smurfit Kappa was based, and the North and South American headquarters is in Atlanta, where WestRock was based.

Smurfit Kappa shareholders will have 50.4% ownership of the new company. Smurfit Kappa’s final day of trading on Euronext Dublin was on Tuesday. July 5 was its final day on the London Stock Exchange. The deal was valued at nearly $12.7 billion in late April, based on exchange rates at the time.

Smurfit WestRock shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange July 8; shares also began trading on the LSE. Smurfit Westrock executives rang the opening bell at the NYSE on Monday, their first full business day as the new company.

“It is an incredible moment to see the fusion of two really great companies,” said CEO Tony Smurfit prior to the bell ringing. “We’ve got an immense, exciting future ... Smurfit Westrock is going to conquer the world of sustainable, paper-based packaging.”

After thanking those who assisted with the transaction and the large amount of work that went into it, Smurfit noted that the hard work isn’t over yet.

“There’s a heck of a lot of work to do, so please don’t think that it’s going to be easy — it’s not. But we’ll get it done like we’ve done in the past,” he said.

In securities filings, the companies projected a combined revenue of more than $32 billion with 100,000 employees. Smurfit Westrock will have more than 500 sites and 63 paper mills, spanning 40 countries and six continents.

Former Smurfit Kappa executives fill out the lion’s share of top executive positions at the new company. Tony Smurfit, previously the CEO of Smurfit Kappa, assumed the top spot. Similarly, Smurfit Kappa’s CFO Ken Bowles assumed the same position at the new company.

WestRock CEO David Sewell will depart. Sewell told Packaging Dive during a recent interview that he committed to not disclosing his next endeavor until after the deal closed.

Patrick Kivits, WestRock president of corrugated packaging, was slated to keep his position at the new company, but he announced his departure last month to become the new CEO at SEE, a position he assumed on July 1. Samuel Shoemaker, WestRock’s president of consumer packaging, and Tom Stigers, WestRock’s president of mill operations, were also cited in securities filings as moving over to the new company.

Initial discussions about a Smurfit Westrock business combination date back to June 2019. Rounds of back-and-forth occurred for years, in addition to an offer from a private equity firm to purchase WestRock and a re-exploration of 2016 discussions regarding a transaction with another paper and packaging manufacturer. International Paper made a play for Smurfit Kappa twice in 2018, but the latter company rejected the proposals.

The announcement kicked off a period of international megadeals between fiber packaging companies. London-based DS Smith in April agreed to be acquired by International Paper, after thwarting a proposed offer from Mondi. Weeks later, Brazilian pulp and paper company Suzano pursued International Paper, but discussions ended in June.

Smurfit Kappa and WestRock identified $750 million worth of businesses and assets to divest if necessary to achieve regulatory approval, but in the end no divestitures were required. Analysts had predicted early in the regulatory review process that the companies would not face major obstacles in advancing the deal. That’s largely due to the lack of footprint overlap between the two companies’ portfolios, which means the new company would not unduly stifle marketplace competition.