Packaging company Smurfit Kappa Group Plc rejected Tennessee-based International Paper Co.'s revised takeover offer, which valued the Irish company at €37.54 per share.

Smurfit Kappa said it received the revised proposal from the pulp and paper company March 22, after it declined a prior unsolicited offer from International Paper valuing Smurfit Kappa at €36.46 per share.

International Paper revised its offer to €25.25 in cash and 0.3028 of a new International Paper share for each Smurfit Kappa share. The cash offer would have been reduced to €24.605 after payment of the final dividend, the Irish company noted.

Smurfit Kappa said its board unanimously rejected the revised offer, which it said "undervalues the group and remains significantly below the valuations set by recent industry transactions."

Smurfit Kappa Chairman Liam O'Mahony added that the revised bid "does not make strategic sense" for the company, which should operate as an independent company in the best interests of the group's stakeholders.