News
Package deal: RockTenn buys Smurfit-Stone Container, including Canadian mills

RockTenn, a Georgia-based manufacturer of corrugated and consumer packaging, completed its acquisition of Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. in late May and immediately moved to close three U.S. facilities.

RockTenn, a Georgia-based manufacturer of corrugated and consumer packaging, completed its acquisition of Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. in late May and immediately moved to close three U.S. facilities.

Three former Smurfit-Stone corrugated container plants will be closed in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2011. The plants are located in Birmingham, Ala., Jonesboro, Ark., and Santa Fe Springs, Calif. Existing business will be transitioned to nearby RockTenn facilities.

“This action is a necessary first step in realigning the box plant system of RockTenn following the acquisition of Smurfit-Stone. We plan to take many actions in the next year to maximize the efficiency of our manufacturing processes as well as to reduce costs and eliminate redundancies throughout our operations as we move forward to achieve the operating synergy that we anticipate from the Smurfit-Stone acquisition,” stated Jim Rubright, chairman and CEO.

In Canada, Smurfit-Stone owns a linerboard mill in La Tuque, Que., a corrugating mill in Matane, Que. (temporarily shut down), and various converting facilities across the country. Smurfit-Stone emerged from bankruptcy protection about one year ago.

With the addition of Smurfit- Stone’s facilities, RockTenn is now the second largest producer of containerboard and the second largest producer of coated recycled board in North America.