DIVESTITURES / SPINOFF Footnote

9 Months Ended

Sep. 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 March 14, 2016, the Company announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to sell 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. Subsequent to the announced agreement, a determination was made that the current book value of the asset group exceeded its estimated fair value of $149 million which was the agreed upon selling price, less costs incurred to sell. As a result, a combined pre-tax charge of $41 million was recorded during the first and second quarters of 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 and a pre-tax charge of $5 million in the third quarter of 2016, resulting from post-closing adjustments. The sale of this business was completed on June 30, 2016.

In the third quarter of 2016, post-closing adjustments were finalized which resulted in a reduction to the total cash to be received of RMB 43 million (approximately $7 million at the September 30, 2016 exchange rate). Remaining payments to be received total $17 million and are payable up to three years from the closing of the sale.

The amount of pre-tax losses related to the IP Asia Packaging business included in the Company's consolidated statement of operations were $7 million and $80 million for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2016, respectively, and $2 million and $7 million for three months and nine months ended September 30, 2015, respectively.

2015: The Company announced on October 8, 2015 that it had signed a definitive agreement with the Company's Chinese coated board joint venture partner, Shandong Sun Holding Group Co., Ltd., to sell its 55% interest in the IP Asia Coated Paperboard (IP-Sun JV) business within the Company's Consumer Packaging segment for RMB 149 million (approximately USD $23 million). A determination was made that the current book value of the asset group exceeded its estimated fair value of $23 million, which is the agreed upon selling price. As a result, a pre-tax charge of $186 million was recorded during the three months ended September 30, 2015 in the Company's Consumer Packaging segment to write down the long-lived assets of this business to their estimated fair value. The amount of pre-tax losses related to the IP-Sun JV included in the Company's consolidated statement of operations for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2015 were $208 million and $238 million, respectively. The 2015 losses include the third quarter pre-tax impairment charge of $186 million ($125 million after taxes). The amount of pre-tax losses related to noncontrolling interest of the IP-Sun JV included in the Company's consolidated statement of operations for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2015 were $9 million and $19 million, respectively. The sale of this business was finalized on October 13, 2015.