Shareholders overwhelmingly approve creation of WestRock

RockTenn, a provider of packaging options and a manufacturer of containerboard and paperboard, and MeadWestvaco, a packaging company that provides options to brands in the healthcare, beauty and personal care, food, beverage, home and garden, tobacco and agricultural industries, agreed a merger to create a ‘more powerful company with leadership positions in the global consumer and corrugated packaging markets’.

The companies received antitrust approval in the US last month, and confirmed the merged business’ name as WestRock.

At the RockTenn special meeting, more than 97 percent of the shares voted in favor of the proposal to approve the business combination agreement, representing approximately 80 percent of the total shares outstanding as of the record date. At the MeadWestvaco special meeting, 98 percent of the shares voted in favor of the proposal to approve the adoption of the business combination agreement, representing approximately 83 percent of the total shares outstanding as of the record date.

RockTenn shareholders and MeadWeastvaco stockholders also approved the other proposals considered at their respective special meetings.

RockTenn and MeadWeastvaco have now received all necessary approvals and expect the transaction to close on July 1. The parties expect that WestRock will begin ‘regular-way’ trading, and that RockTenn and MeadWestvaco to be delisted from the NYSE, on July 2.

The executive leadership team of WestRock will include Steven C. Voorhees, chief executive officer (CEO) at RockTenn, as CEO of the new company, and John A. Luke, Jr, currently chairman and CEO of MeadWestvavo, who is to become non-executive chairman of the board of the merged business.