Paper packaging group Smurfit Kappa will become the fifth Irish-based component of the blue-chip FTSE 100 index next month, in a move that will force fund managers to buy tens of millions of euros worth of the stock.
Index provider FTSE Russell confirmed on Wednesday evening that the Dublin-based company be promoted to the coveted slot on December alongside medical products and technologies group Convatec, which only floated on the London market last month.
Analysts had widely predicted the move, based on Smurfit Kappa’s market valuation of £4.25 billion (€5 billion) at the close of trading in London on Tuesday, the cut-off point ahead of the FTSE quarterly review.
Builders' merchant Travis Perkins and precious metals mining company Polymetal International will be relegated to the FTSE 250 index at the same time, it said.
The elevation of Smurfit Kappa, led by Tony Smurfit, leaves it among five Irish-based groups on the prestigious index. The others are building materials group CRH, drugmaker Shire, fuel distribution and business support services conglomerate DCC, and bookmaker Paddy Power Betfair.
