Businessman Michael Smurfit is preparing to retire from the Smurfit packaging empire in advance of a partial flotation of the business on the Dublin and London stock exchanges in the second quarter of the year, The Irish Timeshas learned. Arthur Beesley, Senior Business Correspondent, reports.
Seán FitzPatrick, chairman of Anglo Irish Bank, is likely to succeed him as chairman of Smurfit Kappa, but this appointment might not be announced for some time.
Dr Smurfit (70) joined his father's firm, Jefferson Smurfit, in 1955. For decades he was the dominant force in that business and the chief architect of its international expansion. A former chairman of Telecom Éireann, now Eircom, his most recent claim to fame was persuading the Ryder Cup organisation to hold the golf competition in Co Kildare last year.
There was no comment yesterday from Smurfit Kappa on its intentions or Dr Smurfit's plans.
Preparations to float one of the largest Irish industrial groups come less than two years after Jefferson Smurfit merged with Dutch firm Kappa Packaging. The business now has 42,000 staff in 33 countries.
Smurfit Kappa is owned by its management and private equity groups Cinven Ltd, CVC Capital Partners and Madison Dearborn, which took the Smurfit business off the stock exchange in 2002. The number of shares to be listed and their valuation is not known, but each current owner is likely to retain a stake in the group.
There are strong connections between Smurfit Kappa and Anglo Irish Bank, where Smurfit Kappa chief executive Gary McGann is a director. The bank said yesterday that former Smurfit executive Paddy Wright will retire from its board next month after seven years.