Smurfit-Stone to buy control of Calpine Corrugated

-- Converting Magazine, 4/29/2008

Chicago-based Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. (www.smurfit-stone.com) signs a letter of intent April 17 to take controlling interest in Calpine Corrugated LLC (www.calpinecorrugated.com), an independent corrugated-container maker located in Fresno, CA.

Calpine Corrugated has experienced start-up losses since it began operations in 2006. Smurfit-Stone is the primary containerboard supplier to Calpine Corrugated. Under the restructuring agreement, Smurfit-Stone will take a 90-percent ownership interest in Calpine Corrugated. The transaction is expected to close before summer.

Says Patrick J. Moore, Smurfit-Stone chairman and CEO, “Operating some of the best packaging assets on the West Coast, Calpine serves the important California agriculture market. As a result, the acquisition upgrades our production platform, accelerates optimization of our Northern California packaging system, and improves Smurfit-Stone's position in a key target market segment.”