Smurfit-Stone CEO to Retire After Firm Emerges from Bankruptcy

Patrick Moore, chairman and CEO of Creve Coeur, Mo.-based Smurfit-Stone Container Corp., has announced that he will retire within one year of the company’s emergence from bankruptcy. Smurfit-Stone, a producer of containerboard and corrugated packaging as well as one of the world’s largest paper recyclers, has said that it will emerge from Chapter 11 protection in the spring of 2010.

The company, which filed for bankruptcy in January, has filed a reorganization plan with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Delaware District.

“[Smurfit-Stone President and COO Steven Klinger] and I will work together on an orderly, well planned transition,” Moore said in a press release. “We remain fully committed to leading the company to a successful emergence from our Chapter 11 restructuring. Throughout 2010, we will focus on a seamless leadership succession while profitably growing our business and leveraging the strong operational and financial foundation that our employees have worked so hard to build.”