The European Commission (EC) has approved International Paper’s acquisition of British e-commerce packaging giant DS Smith. The EC’s clearance is conditional on International Paper committing to divest its box plants in Mortagne, Saint-Amand and Cabourg (France), Ovar (Portugal) and Bilbao (Spain). International Paper’s CEO, Andrew Silvernail, says: “While we would have preferred to keep the selected locations as part of our portfolio, these are attractive sites and we are confident we will find a suitable buyer.”
