Smurfit Kappa has welcomed yesterday’s (May 16th) announcement from the Irish Takeover Panel setting a deadline for International Paper (IP) to announce another offer for the Irish packaging company.
The Irish packaging company also noted IP’s announcement that it would not pursue a hostile takeover of the Irish group, unless it is recommended by Smurfit’s board of directors, saying that it ‘welcomed the certainty this provides for the group and all its stakeholders’.
Going It Alone
IP made the announcement yesterday after the Irish regulators told the US packaging company that it had until June 6 to approach its Irish rivals or announce that it will not proceed with another offer.
Smurfit’s board has repeatedly stated throughout this process that, in the interest of its stakeholders, the group is best served by pursuing its future as an independent company in the paper-based packaging category.
Smurfit initially announced that it had rejected an approach from IP in March, and then spurned the second offer three weeks later that valued the Irish group at €8.9 billion at the time.
International Paper said that it was disappointed it has not been able to engage with Smurfit since it rejected the raised bid.
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
