By Mary Ellen Podmolik
| Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. said Monday it expects to emerge
from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by early summer, now that it has
ironed out an agreement with stockholders who objected to some terms of
its reorganization.

Under the agreement, some of the new common stock of the reorganized
company, which was going to be distributed to the general unsecured
creditors of the company, will instead be distributed to current
stockholders. The original proposal had been opposed by Mariner
Investment Group LLC and Senator Investment Group LP, both of which
acted as investment adviser to funds under management as holders of the
company’s preferred stock, and by the funds and accounts managed by P.
Schoenfeld Asset Management LP and Fir Tree Inc., as holders of common
stock.

The agreement, the company said, resolves all objections to the confirmation of its Chapter 11 plan. Smurfit-Stone sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2009. The agreement is supported by the official committee of unsecured creditors.

“Reaching this agreement with our stockholders is a major milestone for our company and positions us to emerge from bankruptcy in the coming weeks,” said Patrick J. Moore, chairman and CEO of Smurfit-Stone in a statement.  “Our focus has been, and continues to be, driving value for our stakeholders and helping our customers grow their businesses.”