European Commission gives green light for SCA Packaging takeover by DS Smith

The formation of Europe’s second-largest recycled corrugated packaging producer is coming closer. The European Commission accepted the transaction under certain conditions. DS Smith will have to divest three production plants in France and the UK.

The European Commission has today, 25 May 2012, approved DS Smith’s acquisition of SCA's packaging operations, excluding the company’s two kraftliner mills in Sweden. “The most important condition for finalizing the deal has now been fulfilled”, said Jan Johansson, President and CEO of SCA. As announced before, the purchase price amounts to €1.7bn on a debt free basis.

The Commissions said its decision was conditional upon the divestment of a number of production plants in the UK and France. It added that the merging parties offered to divest one of their two plants producing heavy duty corrugated packaging and one litho-laminated corrugated packaging plant in the UK as well as one of their three corrugated packaging plants in the French Brittany region. The Commission explained that the transaction, as initially notified, would have endangered competition for these types of packaging in the UK and France.

The planned acquisition of SCA’s packaging operations by DS Smith had been announced by the two companies on 17 January. DS Smith’s shareholders have already approved the transaction, as have representatives of SCA Packaging France’s workforce.

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