Markets

Funds short €1.4bn of Smurfit Kappa stock ahead of WestRock merger

Nearly 14 per cent of company’s shares are being shorted as funds try to capitalise on its pending merger with US packaging company

Tony Smurfit, chief executive of Smurfit Kappa: the company’s merger with WestRock will create a company with combined sales of around $34 billion. Picture: Fergal Phillips

Hedge funds have taken short positions against shares worth more than €1.4 billion in Smurfit Kappa, as part of an attempt to capitalise on its pending merger with US firm WestRock.

Filings with the Central Bank of Ireland show more than a dozen funds have taken out short positions on 13.76 per cent of all Smurfit Kappa shares, as part of a play related to the Irish company’s planned tie-up with WestRock in July.

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