Topic: Spinoffs

Spinoffs & Takeovers Hotline – Friday, July 15, 2022

Article Excerpt

WESTROCK CO., $39.39, symbol WRK on New York, is a leading provider of packaging materials and systems. It operates through 320 locations spread 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 then spun off its specialty chemicals business as Ingevity Corp. (New York symbol NGVT). 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 and paper, and corrugated boxes. 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 to build and increasingly scarce because of environmental concerns. WestRock continues to buy back shares: In the first six months of 2022, it repurchased 7.2 million shares for $332.1 million. In the three months ended…