Smurfit Kappa shares are hammered as £16bn US merger agreed

Shares in London-listed Smurfit Kappa have plunged after it revealed a deal to create the world’s largest listed paper and packaging firm, value nearly $20bn (£16bn).

The FTSE 100 agency mentioned that underneath the phrases of the merger with WestRock, shareholders in its present US rival would obtain one share within the new firm, to be known as Smurfit WestRock, and $5 (£4) in money for every share they’ve.

It labored out to $43.51 (£34.89) per share, the assertion mentioned – a 36% premium to WestRock’s closing worth after information of negotiations was launched final week.

The phrases weren’t properly acquired when the market gave its response, with Smurfit’s shares down greater than 11% at one stage on Tuesday.

Smurfit Kappa chief government Tony Smurfit, chief monetary officer Ken Bowles and chair Irial Finan will all assume the identical roles within the new firm, it was introduced.

The mixed entity will likely be domiciled in Ireland with its international headquarters in Dublin. It will likely be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and now have an ordinary itemizing in London.

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Mr Smurfit advised Sky’s US associate CNBC: “We’ve always said we had a very big gap in our portfolio because we were not involved in the United States.

“We’ve been trying over a few years to determine a approach to get in there in a means that might reward our shareholders over the long run.

“We identified [WestRock] as an asset that we can develop with and combine with to be an even better asset. So after a series of negotiations, we finally got to an agreement at 7.15am this morning to finally close out this deal, which I think is going to be fantastic for our shareholders in the long-term, medium and short-term.”