Berkshire-based DS Smith reported the completion of the £1.3bn acquisition on 30 June this year and in its interim statement on 6 December the company said that the process of finailising the completion accounts was ongoing.
Reports in today’s national press such as The Times suggest that Berkshire-based DS Smith is caught up in a dispute with the Swedish packaging firm over the final price it is due to pay for the acquisition, after SCA Packaging reviewed the final accounts.
In a statement released this morning, DS Smith said that it had received anonymous allegations last month relating to completion accounts following the acquisition.
The company said it had instructed law firm Allen and Overy and specialist forensic accountants Alix Partners to carry out an investigation into the matter.
On completion of the investigation DS Smith said that the allegations had been found to be "without substance and did not raise any other issues that would warrant further investigation".
In the statement the company said it was "continuing the process to finalise the completion accounts following its recent acquisition of SCA Packaging".
The statement continued: "This is an agreed process between the company and SCA AB, the seller of SCA Packaging and is a standard method of agreeing the target’s assets and liabilities at completion."
"The integration is progressing well, and ahead of original expectations," the company added.
