Smurfit Kappa confident going it alone as International Paper drops bid

Smurfit Kappa Group responded to the announcement by International Paper Company that it no longer intended to make an offer for Smurfit Kappa on Wednesday morning, and that it was now bound by the restrictions under Rule 2.8 of the Irish Takeover Rules.

The FTSE 100 packaging company’s board said it believed that it had “superior prospects” as a standalone business, and remained “excited” about its prospects in the short, medium and long-term.

Its board said it was implementing its medium-term plan, which would enhance its operating platform for sustained growth and deliver “superior performance” against all operating and financial measures.

“We continue to see the benefits from our investments in recent years and we are now executing a central element of our medium term plan with the acquisition of Reparenco,” said CEO Tony Smurfit.

“The acquisition of Reparenco will have a positive impact on our integrated model and we are targeting delivery in excess of €30 million of synergy benefits.”

Smurfit said strong business conditions and a positive operating environment, together with significant and early progress against its medium term plan, reaffirmed the board’s confidence that 2018 EBITDA would be materially better than 2017.

“We expect the second quarter to represent another strong performance and we will provide a further update at the time of our half year results on 1 August.”