Tony Smurfit’s pay package edges up to €2.48m

Tony Smurfit, chief executive of paper packaging giant Smurfit Kappa which is resisting a takeover by US rival International Paper, saw his total remuneration edge 2.5 per cent higher to €2.48 million last year.

The group’s latest annual report, published on Tuesday, showed that Mr Smurfit earned a basic salary of €1.1 million in 2017. Contributions into his pension plan came to €226,000, while the use of a company car and other benefits amounted to €24,000.

The chief executive of almost three years also earned a €684,000 bonus as well as €443,000 of share-based benefits under a long-term incentive plan.

Smurfit Kappa said on Monday that it had rejected a second takeover bid from Memphis-based International Paper in the space of a month, on the grounds that the proposal failed to reflect the group’s “intrinsic value, track record and superior prospects as an independent business”.

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The Dublin-based group said it had received an updated offer last Thursday of €25.25 in cash per share, and 0.3028 new shares of International Paper common stock for each Smurfit Kappa ordinary share held by them.

This would value each Smurfit Kappa share at €37.54, based on Friday’s closing price, an increase of €1.08 per share, or 3 per cent, on a previous offer, which was rejected earlier this month. The revised offer saw International Paper increase the cash component of the bid from €22 a share previously.

International Paper is pressing for Smurfit Kappa to enter into talks, outlining that a tie-up should deliver $450 million (€363 million) a year within four years.