Topic: How To Invest

Spinoffs, Takeovers and Special Situations Hotline – Friday, May 3, 2019

Article Excerpt

WESTROCK CO., $39.29, symbol WRK on New York, is a leading provider of packaging materials and systems. It operates through roughly 300 locations across North America, South America, Europe and Asia. The company took its current form on July 1, 2015, when it merged with two other firms: Rock-Tenn Company and Mead-Westvaco Corporation. In May 2016, it spun off its specialty chemicals business as Ingevity Corp. (New York symbol NGVT). About a year and a half later, as a more-focused company, WestRock completed its $4.9 billion acquisition of Illinois-based KapStone Paper and Packaging Corp. on November 2, 2018. KapStone, based in Northbrook, Illinois, makes specialty containerboard, corrugated boxes and specialty papers. The deal added to WestRock’s operations in the western U.S. and to its specialty-paper offerings. The company also gained control over KapStone’s mills. Those kinds of facilities are capital-intensive and increasingly scarce because of environmental concerns. In the three months ended March 31, 2019, WestRock’s revenues increased 18.2%, to $4.6 billion from $3.9…