International Paper Company

What is International Paper?

International Paper is an American packaging company headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1898, it is the largest producer of fiber-based packaging in North America and, after acquiring DS Smith, a major packaging player in EMEA. It reported $23.6 billion in 2025 net sales.

Is International Paper publicly traded?

Yes. Its shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under IP and on the London Stock Exchange under IPC. The London listing was added in connection with the 2025 DS Smith acquisition.

When was International Paper founded?

It was incorporated on January 31, 1898, through the merger of around 17 pulp and paper mills in the northeastern United States. It has operated continuously under the same name since.

Who owns International Paper?

No single owner controls it; shares are held broadly by institutional and retail investors. Andy Silvernail serves as chairman and CEO and has led the company's transformation program since 2024.

What is International Paper's market position?

It is the number-one corrugated packaging producer in North America and a top-tier player in EMEA through DS Smith. Its closest competitors are Smurfit Westrock, Packaging Corporation of America, Georgia-Pacific, and Mondi.

Is International Paper splitting up?

Yes. In January 2026 the company announced plans to separate into two independent publicly traded packaging companies, one focused on North America and one on EMEA. The separation is targeted for completion near the end of 2026 or early 2027.

What happened to International Paper's pulp business?

The company sold its Global Cellulose Fibers business to private equity firm American Industrial Partners for $1.5 billion, with the deal completing in January 2026. The sale leaves International Paper focused almost entirely on sustainable packaging.

International Paper was incorporated on January 31, 1898, in a merger of roughly 17 pulp and paper mills across the northeastern United States, a consolidation engineered to end ruinous price competition in newsprint. The combine controlled large timber holdings and quickly became the dominant American paper producer, earning early antitrust attention for its market power.

Through the twentieth century the company expanded into kraft paper, containerboard, and consumer paper products. It built and acquired mills across the US South to access faster-growing timber, and moved its headquarters to Memphis, Tennessee, in the late 1980s. Landmark deals included the 1986 purchase of Hammermill Paper, the 1999 acquisition of Union Camp for about $7.9 billion, and the 2000 purchase of Champion International for roughly $7.3 billion plus assumed debt. Between 2005 and 2008 it sold essentially all of its US timberlands, raising more than $6 billion and converting itself from a landowner into a pure manufacturer.

The packaging pivot accelerated after 2008. The company bought Weyerhaeuser's containerboard and recycling operations, and in 2012 acquired Temple-Inland for about $4.3 billion, making it the North American corrugated leader. Printing and writing papers were spun off as Sylvamo in October 2021. Leadership passed from longtime CEO Mark Sutton to Andy Silvernail, who became chairman and CEO in 2024 and launched an 80/20 operational overhaul modeled on his earlier work at Madison Industries and IDEX.

The defining transaction arrived in 2025. The all-stock acquisition of DS Smith, announced in April 2024, completed on January 31, 2025, adding a leading EMEA corrugated footprint and bringing a secondary London listing under the symbol IPC. In 2025 the company executed about $710 million of cost-out actions, agreed to sell Global Cellulose Fibers for $1.5 billion, and reported full-year net sales of $23.63 billion. In January 2026 it announced the planned separation into two regional public companies, effectively unwinding the transatlantic structure it had just built while keeping the North American business under the International Paper name.

International Paper's sustainability case rests on renewable fiber and circularity. Its products are primarily made from wood pulp sourced under certified forestry standards and from recovered paper, and it operates one of the largest private recycling collection networks in its markets. The company publishes sustainability reporting with targets on emissions, water, and certified fiber, and it participates in CDP disclosure.

The DS Smith acquisition strengthened this profile in Europe, where DS Smith had built a reputation around circular design metrics and plastic-replacement programs. Selling the cellulose fibers business removed a pulp operation with a heavier chemical and energy footprint.

Critics point to the footprint of large-scale paper manufacturing: mills are significant energy and water users, and the company's logging supply chains have periodically drawn scrutiny from environmental groups over southeastern US forest sourcing. No major greenwashing enforcement action is on record against it.

International Paper is a longstanding Fortune 500 constituent and has appeared on Forbes' Global 2000 rankings by revenue and assets. DS Smith, now part of the group, won industry recognition for circular design, including repeated placements in sustainability indices before the acquisition. The company has also been recognized on military-friendly and veteran-employer lists in the United States.

International Paper's long history carries accumulated scrutiny. Its nineteenth-century founding merger attracted antitrust attention, and the company has faced periodic US environmental enforcement related to mill emissions and effluent, resolved through routine settlements and consent decrees rather than landmark judgments.

The DS Smith acquisition required antitrust clearances in Europe and the UK, which were granted with limited remedies. Integration has produced restructuring charges and plant closures that drew local criticism in affected communities, particularly in Europe.

In 2025 a fatal workplace incident at one of its US facilities attracted OSHA attention, and the company continues to face the ordinary product-liability and environmental litigation typical of a century-old manufacturer. None of these matters has materially altered its financial position.