Company Profile
Smurfit Stone Container Corp.
Company Overview
Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation is the industry’s premier integrated paperboard and paper-based packaging manufacturer. Smurfit-Stone is a leading producer of containerboard, including white top linerboard and recycled medium, kraft paper, corrugated containers, and point-of-purchase displays. The company is one of the world’s largest collectors and marketers of recovered fiber. Smurfit-Stone operates approximately 180 facilities located primarily in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and employs approximately 25,200 people.
Company History
Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation was formed November 18, 1998, when St. Louis- based Jefferson Smurfit Corporation (JSC) merged with Chicago-based Stone Container Corporation. The company acquired St. Laurent Paperboard Inc. in May 2000 and MeadWestvaco’s Stevenson, AL, containerboard mill and related assets in September 2002. Smurfit-Stone acquired the remaining 50 percent of Smurfit-MBI in March 2003 in an asset exchange with Jefferson Smurfit Group plc.
JSC’s roots go back to 1974, when Dublin, Ireland-based Jefferson Smurfit Group plc (JS Group) — founded in 1935 — acquired partial interest in Time Industries, a Chicago-based paper and packaging company. JS Group established a major presence in the U.S. with the 1981 acquisitions of the Alton Boxboard Company and Diamond International’s packaging operations, which were incorporated into JSC.
JSC firmly established its own leadership position in the North American paper and packaging business in 1986 when it acquired 50 percent of Container Corporation of America (CCA) from Mobil Corporation. Morgan Stanley Leveraged Equity Fund purchased the other half of CCA. JSC restructured as a privately held company in 1989, jointly owned by JS Group and Morgan Stanley Leveraged Equity Fund II. As part of the restructuring, JSC acquired the remainder of CCA. In 1994, JSC recapitalized as a publicly traded company.
JS Group was a major stakeholder in JSC and, subsequently, Smurfit-Stone until September 2002. As part of JS Group’s privatization, it distributed its stake in Smurfit-Stone.
Stone Container was founded in 1926 as J.H. Stone and Company and incorporated under the name Stone Container Corporation in 1945. In the 1950s, Stone expanded outside of its Chicago home base, buying and building corrugated container plants in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. The company grew significantly in the 1980s, acquiring three mills, 15 corrugated plants, and five bag plants from Continental Group in 1983 and three mills and 50 corrugating plants from Champion International in 1986. In the 1990s, Stone established an international manufacturing presence in Latin America, Asia, and Europe.
In the second quarter of 2000, Smurfit-Stone finalized the acquisition of Montreal-based St. Laurent Paperboard Inc. This acquisition gave Smurfit-Stone the broadest product range of any paper-based packaging producer, while significantly improving its ability to meet the growing demand for value-added packaging. St. Laurent was a major manufacturer, supplier, and converter of high-quality, value-added paperboard products, serving a diverse customer base in North America and selected international markets.
In September 2002, Smurfit-Stone acquired MeadWestvaco’s Stevenson, AL, corrugating medium mill and related assets. The acquisition allowed Smurfit-Stone to improve its overall containerboard and corrugated container system efficiency and broadened the company’s high-quality containerboard offerings.
In March 2003, Smurfit-Stone completed its transaction with JS Group, involving the exchange of Smurfit-Stone’s European operations for JS Group’s 50 percent ownership in Smurfit-MBI, a Canadian packaging business, and a payment from JS Group of approximately US$190 million. As a result, Smurfit-Stone now owns 100 percent of Smurfit-MBI and ended its manufacturing presence in Europe. The transaction allowed Smurfit-Stone to sharpen its North American focus and broaden its ability to serve customers.