The chief executive of Smurfit Kappa, Europe's largest paper and packaging maker, has said the company would consider moving from Ireland to the UK in order to qualify for the FTSE 100 index. In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Gary McGann said Smurfit-Kappa would examine such a move if its market capitalisation increased from £3 billion (€3.9 billion) to between £3.5 billion and £4 billion, the level required for inclusion in Britain's top-tier index.

“In market capitalisation terms, we would be outside the FTSE 100,” Mr McGann said. Currently the company would hypothetically be ranked in 120th position. “I think we would have to consider it if we could get into the FTSE 100. There is no particular merit to us moving right now.

“There wouldn’t be many index funds that would necessarily pick up on us because they are already into us and we would lose out on some of the European funds,” Mr McGann added, “but the FTSE 100 is potentially a different scenario. We would have to at least consider it.”

He said being based in Ireland was considered “optimal” for tax reasons, but it was not a sufficient reason to prevent his company moving to a UK listing. “The factors that would cause us to change would not be tax. They would be about business.”

A spokesperson for the company told The Irish Times: "While it is purely hypothetical, Smurfit Kappa continually reviews all options to create and drive value for shareholders. If the company were of a size that would mean enduring membership of the FTSE 100, the merits of a sole London listing would clearly be considered. But at this point, it's purely hypothetical."

In its previous incarnation as the Jefferson Smurfit Group, the company first listed on the Irish Stock Exchange in 1964. It has been a stalwart of the exchange except for 2002 to 2007, when it was taken private and merged with the Kappa Group.

Smurfit Kappa already has a secondary listing in London.