DIVESTITURES / SPINOFF Footnote

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2016

Discontinued Operations and Disposal Groups [Abstract]

Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations, Disclosure [Note Text Block]

DIVESTITURES / SPINOFF

Other Divestitures and Impairments

2016: On June 30, 2016, the Company completed the previously announced sale of its corrugated packaging business in China and Southeast Asia to Xiamen Bridge Hexing Equity Investment Partnership Enterprise. Under the terms of the transaction, International Paper is to receive a total of approximately RMB 1 billion (approximately $149 million at the June 30, 2016 exchange rate), subject to post-closing adjustments and other payments, including the buyer's assumption of the liability for loans of approximately $55 million. Remaining payments to be received total $24 million and are payable up to three years from the closing of the sale.

A determination was made that the current book value of the asset group exceeded its estimated fair value of $149 million which is the agreed upon selling price. As a result, a pre-tax charge of $41 million was recorded during the six months ended June 30, 2016 in the Company's Industrial Packaging segment to write down the long-lived assets of this business to their estimated fair value. In addition, the Company recorded a pre-tax charge of $24 million in the 2016 second quarter for severance that was contingent upon the sale of this business. The amount of pre-tax losses related to the IP Asia Packaging business included in the Company's consolidated statement of operations were $32 million and $73 million for the three months and six months ended June 30, 2016, respectively, and $3 million and $5 million for three months and six months ended June 30, 2015, respectively.