Ropes & Gray has advised Smurfit Kappa Group – Europe’s leading corrugated packaging company and one of the leading paper-based packaging companies in the world – on the financing aspects of its proposed combination with WestRock, an American corrugated packaging company. The deal will create Smurfit WestRock, the world’s largest listed paper and packaging company.

The proposed combination will enhance Smurfit Kappa and WestRock’s existing offerings by creating the global “Go-To” packaging partner of choice and bringing together Smurfit Kappa’s industry-leading operational execution and innovation as a European leader in corrugated and containerboard along with its large-scale pan-regional Americas presence, and WestRock’s leadership in the United States, across corrugated and consumer packaging delivering a broad portfolio of packaging solutions serving diverse, growing end-markets.

The Ropes & Gray team was led by partners Samuel Norris and Michael Kazakevich with support from associates Felipe Lima, Mohammed Al Rasheed, Priyambada Das, Shabdita Gupta, Sonali Kapoor, Facundo Nazur, Alma Yasin, Sean Darling and Toby Morris in the finance team.