Smurfit coming out of bankruptcy

Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation, which operates a major containerboard mill at Hodge in North Louisiana, announced that the Company is aiming to emerge from Chapter 11 protection in early Spring 2010, following the filing of a plan of reorganization by its American and Canadian subsidiaries.

The Company also announced that it has prepaid all of the approximately $43 million remaining outstanding of the U.S. term loan under its Debtor in Possession credit facility, and expects to prepay the approximately $7 million remaining outstanding of the Canadian term loan under the DIP by the end of December.

Smurfit-Stone expects to emerge from its financial restructuring with a significantly improved balance sheet and with substantially less debt. Under the proposed plan, substantially all of the unsecured debt of Smurfit-Stone Container Enterprises, Inc. will be converted to equity, resulting in a significant reduction of total long-term debt.

Patrick J. Moore, chairman and CEO, said, "The filing of our Plan of Reorganization and Disclosure Statement is an important step toward Smurfit-Stone's successful emergence from the reorganization process. Our employees, customers, suppliers and other supporters have been instrumental in our ability to reach this important milestone. We will remain focused on tackling the many challenges that remain ahead."

Under the plan of reorganization, the company and its subsidiary, Smurfit-Stone Container Enterprises, Inc., would merge and become the reorganized company that would be governed by a board of directors that will include Patrick J. Moore, the company's current Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Steven J. Klinger, the company's current President and Chief Operating Officer, and a number of independent directors to be selected by the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in consultation with the Debtors. All of the existing secured debt of the Debtors would be fully repaid with cash or new debt instruments or a combination thereof. Substantially all of the existing unsecured debt and claims against Smurfit-Stone Container Enterprises, Inc., including all of the outstanding unsecured senior notes and bonds, would be exchanged for common stock of the reorganized Smurfit-Stone.

The reorganized Smurfit-Stone and its newly-formed Canadian subsidiary would assume all of the existing obligations under the qualified defined benefit pension plans in the United States and Canada sponsored by the Debtors, as well as all of the collective bargaining agreements in the United States and Canada between the Debtors and their labor unions.

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