London-listed shares in Smurfit Kappa rose on Wednesday after Bloomberg News reported that Smurfit WestRock (NYSE:WRK), the company formed by a merger between the Irish packaging group and U.S. peer WestRock, will be included in S&P Dow Jones Indices’s averages.
Smurfit Kappa agreed to purchase Westrock for $11.15 billion last September, in a deal that created a massive player in global paper and packaging. The combined company has an estimated market value of almost $20 billion.
Under the agreement, the new firm would be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, while its primary listing in London and a separate listing on the Euronext Dublin exchange would be canceled. Smurfit WestRock would, however, keep its secondary listing in London.
In an emailed statement quoted by Bloomberg News, S&P Dow Jones Indices said that, for index implementation purposes, WestRock will be considered the surviving entity of the tie-up. Prior to the open of trading July 9, shares outstanding for Smurfit WestRock will be updated across all indices, according to Bloomberg.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley noted that the merged group will be included on the benchmark S&P 500 and blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average, as well as various ESG and natural resources indices.
