| Type | Public (NYSE: IP) S&P 500 Component |
|---|---|
| Industry | Pulp and paper |
| Founded | 1898 |
| Headquarters | Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | John V. Faraci (Chairman and CEO) |
| Revenue | US$25.179 billion (2010)[1] |
| Net income | US$644 million (2010)[1] |
| Total assets | US$25.368 billion (2010)[1] |
| Total equity | US$7.084 billion (2010)[1] |
| Employees | 59,500 (2010)[1] |
| Website | InternationalPaper.com |
International Paper Company (NYSE: IP) is an American pulp and paper company, the largest such company in the world.[2] It has approximately 59,500 employees, and it is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.[3]
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International Paper was incorporated January 31, 1898 upon the merger of 18 pulp and paper mills in the northeastern United States. Its first president was Hugh J. Chisholm.[4] The first paper (newsprint) mill in the United States, at Corinth, New York where the Sacandaga river joins the Hudson river, and built by International Paper's founder Albrecht Pagenstecher, [5] in 1869, {see History of Papermaking in New York} is to be demolished in 2011.[6] The Hudson River Mill in Corinth was a major pioneer in the development of the modern paper industry in the late 19th century.[7][8]As one of International Paper's largest plants in the early decades of the 20th century, the Hudson River Mill served both as the location of the Company's principal office and the place where paper workers helped to shape the direction of the industry's early labor movement. After World War II, Hudson River Mill workers developed and perfected the production of coated papers for International Paper. Shifting economic forces resulted in the Mill's closure in November, 2002.[9][10]
The company logo of International Paper was designed by American graphic designer Lester Beall in 1960.[11]
The newly formed 1898 company supplied 60 percent of all newsprint in the country. In 1986, it acquired the Hammermill Paper Company, in 1988 the Masonite Corporation, and in 1989 the German paper company Zanders Feinpapiere AG and the French paper manufacturer Aussedat Rey. In 1999, International Paper purchased Union Camp Corporation and in 2000 purchased Champion International Paper. Additionally, International Paper currently owns shares in the Chilean company Copec.
In 2005 and 2006, International Paper undertook significant restructuring, selling over 6,000,000 acres (24,000 km2) of forestland in the U.S., along with its coated paper, kraft paper, wood products, and beverage packaging businesses, as well as subsidiaries Arizona Chemical and New Zealand-based Carter Holt Harvey. The coated paper business (four mills in Maine, Michigan and Minnesota) were sold to Apollo Management and now operate as Verso Paper. The kraft paper business (composed of a kraft paper mill in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina and a dunnage bag plant in Fordyce, Arkansas) was sold to Kapstone Paper and Packaging and operates as Kapstone Kraft Paper.[12] The beverage packaging business, now called Evergreen Packaging, was purchased by Carter Holt Harvey, following the purchase of CHH by Graeme Hart. International Paper sold the Wood Products division of the company to West Fraser Timber Inc., out of Vancouver, British Columbia. This included 13 sawmills, making West Fraser the second largest producer of lumber in North America, next to Weyerhaeuser Company.
International Paper is the largest producer of plastic lids and paper cups, manufacturing for the fast-food giants McDonald's, Wendy's, Subway and coffee giant Starbucks. The Wood Products division of International Paper was sold in 2007 to West Fraser Timberland Inc., a company headquartered in Vancouver. The company currently produces printer and copier paper, envelopes, corrugated packaging and shipping containers, consumer packaging for cosmetics, home entertainment and other retail markets, and food service packaging. It also owns xpedx, a large North American distribution and logistics company.
International Paper is a former Dow Jones Industrial Average component, listed in the index from July 3, 1956 to April 7, 2004. It was one of three components to be dropped in the 2004 change, together with AT&T and Eastman Kodak. Beginning February 1, 2007 the sale of the beverage packaging division was completed as New Zealand billionaire Graeme Hart won the bid with nearly an 800 million dollar purchase. The division now operates under the Evergreen label. On Monday March 17, International Paper, announced it is buying the containerboard unit of Weyerhaeuser Co. for $6 billion in cash. In October 2007, International Paper formed a joint venture with Ilim Holding, Ilim Group, the alliance in the Russian forest sector.