Business

Smurfit-Stone Container Corp is selling all the assets of its consumer packaging segment to private equity group Texas Pacific Group for approximately US$1.04bn in cash.

The company said the businesses to be sold employed about 6,600 workers and included four coated recycled boxboard mills, 39 consumer packaging converting operations in the US and one in Ontario, Canada.

Texas Pacific has arranged fully committed financing for the deal, which it expects to close in the second quarter.

John Riconosciuto has resigned as Smurfit-Stone’s chief operating officer to run the consumer packaging business for Texas Pacific. Smurfit-Stone has appointed Steven Klinger, who recently served as Georgia-Pacific’s head of packaging, as its president and chief operating officer, effective immediately.