UK packaging firm DS Smith agrees £5.8bn takeover by US group

International Paper said it would set up a European headquarters at DS Smith’s base in London. Photograph: Stéphane Mahé/Reuters

The FTSE 100 UK packaging firm DS Smith is to be taken over by a bigger US rival, International Paper, after the companies agreed a £5.8bn all-share deal.

Tennessee-based International Paper, one of the largest paper and pulp companies in the world, moved in late March to gatecrash a £5.14bn all-share deal put forward by its British rival Mondi, based in Weybridge, that month.