Smurfit Kappa

Smurfit Kappa was founded in the Dublin district of Rathmines as a maker of cardboard packing boxes, and is now led by CEO Anthony Smurfit. It was purchased by Jefferson Smurfit in 1938, and the company became the Jefferson Smurfit Group (JSG), which grew to become one of the main industrial enterprises in the newly founded Republic of Ireland. The company proceeded to expand globally, purchasing a 40% investment in Time Industries, a Chicago-based paper and packaging manufacturer, until obtaining 100% ownership in 1977.

Jefferson Smurfit died the following year, followed by his son Sir Michael Smurfit in 1977. JSG was ranked the number one firm in the world by profits growth by Forbes magazine eight years later. JSG was purchased out by Madison Dearborn, a Chicago-based private investment group, in 2002, with Sir Michael stepping down as CEO the same year. Three years later, the Irish company announced a merger with Kappa Packaging, a Dutch packaging company, to form Smurfit Kappa in December of that year.

The firm, which had $10.5 billion in revenue in 2019, employs 46,000 workers in 33 countries across the world.

Founded: December 2005

Headquarters: Dublin, Ireland
Revenue: 8.53 billion EUR (2020)
Website: https://www.smurfitkappa.com/