Smurfit-Stone rejected $29-a-share takeover offer

Smurfit-Stone Container Corp., the U.S. packaging company that agreed last month to be acquired by Rock-Tenn Co. for $3.5 billion, rejected a lower cash bid from a third party last year, a filing showed.

The potential buyer, identified in the Rock-Tenn filing as “Party A,” contacted Smurfit-Stone Sept. 16 about its interest in a transaction. Party A was granted access to confidential data on Smurfit-Stone and on Nov. 22 proposed a $29-a-share offer, according to the filing. Smurfit-Stone rejected the bid as too low on Dec. 15, and Party A subsequently decided not to pursue the takeover.

Rock-Tenn said Jan. 23 it agreed to pay about $35 a share in cash and stock for Chicago-based Smurfit-Stone to create North America's second-biggest containerboard producer. Third Point LLC, Royal Capital Management LLC and Monarch Alternative Capital LP, hedge funds which collectively held about 9 percent of Smurfit-Stone's common stock, said in a Feb. 2 letter they will vote against the takeover because Rock-Tenn's offer undervalues Smurfit-Stone.

Lisa Esneault, a Smurfit-Stone spokeswoman, declined to comment beyond the filing. John D. Stakel, a spokesman for Norcross, Georgia-based Rock-Tenn, declined to comment.

Smurfit-Stone rose 46 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $38.70 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.