KapStone Paper & Packaging (formerly Stone Arcade Acquisition Corporation) was an American

pulp and paper The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood, specifically pulpwood, as raw material and produce pulp, paper, paperboard, and other cellulose-based products. Manufacturing process In the manufacturing process, pulp is introd ...

company based in

Northbrook, Illinois Northbrook is a suburb of Chicago, located at the northern edge of Cook County, Illinois, United States, on the border of Lake County, Illinois, Lake County. It is part of a collection of upscale residential communities north of Chicago and belon ...

. It was founded in 2005 as Stone. Since November 2018 it has been a subsidiary of WestRock Company.

History

Stone Arcade Acquisition Corporation, a

special-purpose acquisition company A special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC; ), also known as a blank check company or a blind-pool stock offering, is a shell corporation listed on a stock exchange with the purpose of acquiring (or merging with) a private company, thus taking ...

, was started in 2005, and became an ongoing business concern when it completed its first acquisition—of

International Paper The International Paper Company is an American pulp and paper company, the largest such company in the world. It has approximately 39,000 employees, and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. History The company was incorporated January 31 ...

—in 2007. By 2010, the firm was ranked 5th in

Fortune Magazine ''Fortune'' (stylized in all caps) is an American global business magazine headquartered in New York City. It is published by Fortune Media Group Holdings, a global business media company. The publication was founded by Henry Luce in 1929. T ...

's list of 100 Fastest-Growing Companies. In 2011 it made the list again, ranked 20th fastest-growing. In October 2011, KapStone was ranked #10 on

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

list on 100 Best Small Companies. On August 27, 2015, members of the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers at KapStone's Longview paper mill went on strike for 10 days over stalled contract negotiations.

Acquisitions

The firm acquired the Roanoke Rapids kraft paper mill from International Paper in January 2007. In July 2008, it acquired the Charleston kraft paper mill from

MeadWestvaco MeadWestvaco Corporation was an American Packaging and labeling, packaging company based in Richmond, Virginia, Richmond, Virginia. It had approximately 23,000 employees. In February 2006, it moved its corporate headquarters to Richmond. In March ...

. On October 31, 2011, KapStone acquired U.S.Corrugated, Inc. It was started in 2006 by Dennis Mehiel, and primarily produces corrugated industrial packaging, with manufacturing facilities in seven states. KapStone acquired Longview Fibre Paper and Packaging from

Brookfield Asset Management Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. is a Canadian-American alternative asset manager. The company was founded in December 2022 as a spin-off of the asset management operations of Brookfield Corporation. At its inception, the company was headquarter ...

on July 18, 2013 . Two years later, on June 1, 2015, it acquired Victory Packaging, headquartered in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. On November 2, 2018, KapStone itself was acquired by rival pulp and paper company, WestRock Company.

References

External links

WestRock Company website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kapstone American companies established in 2005 Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies based in Northbrook, Illinois Manufacturing companies based in Illinois Manufacturing companies established in 2005 Pulp and paper companies of the United States 2005 initial public offerings 2018 mergers and acquisitions Special-purpose acquisition companies