Temple-Inland
Temple-Inland was an American integrated producer of corrugated packaging and building products that became a wholly owned subsidiary of International Paper in 2012.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
Temple-Inland was an American forest-products and manufacturing company whose principal businesses were corrugated packaging and building products. Its roots extended to Herman C. Krannert’s Inland Box Company, founded in Indianapolis in 1925, and to Temple Industries, a Texas forest-products business that Time, Inc. acquired in the early 1970s. These operations were brought together with Inland Container in 1983 when Temple-Eastex and Inland were spun off from Time and combined to form Temple-Inland, Inc. The company developed an integrated operating model spanning containerboard mills, corrugated-medium production, converting plants, timber resources, and building-products manufacturing. Its packaging operations supplied linerboard, corrugated medium, corrugated sheets, and finished corrugated shipping containers. Its building-products activities served new residential construction, commercial construction, and repair-and-remodeling markets. The company’s vertically integrated structure gave it control over important stages of the packaging supply chain, from fiber and paper production through conversion into shipping materials. Temple-Inland expanded through acquisitions, most notably its 2002 purchase of Gaylord Container Corporation. Gaylord added brown-paper packaging capabilities and corrugated-container, corrugated-sheet, and containerboard operations. By the period before its later restructuring, Temple-Inland’s packaging network included multiple mills and dozens of converting facilities in the United States. In 2007, Temple-Inland separated its diversified businesses into three publicly traded or separately organized companies. The Temple-Inland operating company retained corrugated packaging and building products. Guaranty Financial Group became the financial-services company, while Forestar Real Estate Group received real-estate and natural-resources activities. The separation reduced the former conglomerate’s diversification and left Temple-Inland focused primarily on manufacturing. International Paper agreed to acquire Temple-Inland in 2012 through a merger involving an International Paper subsidiary. The transaction was valued at approximately $4.5 billion according to the cited company history and resulted in Temple-Inland becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of International Paper. The Temple-Inland corporate identity therefore ceased to operate as an independent public company, although its packaging and building-products activities were absorbed into the acquiring group. The company also appeared in environmental reporting. A 2002 University of Massachusetts Amherst study identified Temple-Inland as one of the largest corporate sources of reported air pollution in the United States, listing pollutants that included acrolein, manganese compounds, sulfuric acid, formaldehyde, and acetaldehyde. The cited material also notes that Temple-Inland did not appear on the 2010 PERI Toxic 100 Air Polluters report.
History
Temple-Inland combined two major historical lines of business: Inland’s corrugated-packaging operations and the Temple family’s Texas forest-products interests. Herman C. Krannert established Anderson Box Company in Anderson, Indiana, in 1918 and later founded Inland Box Company in Indianapolis in 1925. The latter date is generally treated as the founding point for the Inland business that ultimately became part of Temple-Inland. Inland manufactured corrugated shipping containers and containerboard and expanded its production footprint across the United States and Puerto Rico. Time, Inc. entered the forest-products sector in 1952 through the purchase of substantial East Texas timberland. In 1973, Time acquired Temple Industries and combined it with Eastex Pulp and Paper Company to create Temple-Eastex, Inc. Five years later, in 1978, Time acquired Inland. At that point Inland operated 28 plants and had a 50 percent interest, alongside Mead Paper, in Georgia Kraft Company. Georgia Kraft produced linerboard and held extensive timberland in the southeastern United States. In 1983, Time spun off Temple-Eastex and Inland and combined them as Temple-Inland, Inc. The new company was headquartered in Diboll, Texas. Clifford J. Grum, previously an executive vice president of Time, became chief executive officer. Joe C. Denman Jr. and Clinton G. Ames Jr. continued to lead the predecessor businesses during the transition, while Arthur Temple Jr. served as chairman until 1991. Temple-Inland initially represented a substantial portion of the revenue formerly generated by Time’s forest-products operations. The company remained focused on integrated paper packaging and building materials. Its packaging system included mills producing linerboard and corrugated medium as well as converting plants making sheets and finished containers. Building-products operations supplied materials used in new-home construction, commercial projects, and repair and remodeling. This combination provided exposure to both industrial shipping demand and construction activity. Temple-Inland expanded its packaging platform in 2002 by acquiring Gaylord Container Corporation. Gaylord produced and sold brown-paper packaging products and operated in corrugated containers, corrugated sheets, and containerboard. The transaction strengthened Temple-Inland’s presence in integrated corrugated packaging. A major strategic change followed in 2007, when Temple-Inland announced the separation of its businesses into three stand-alone companies. The manufacturing company retained the Temple-Inland name and the corrugated-packaging and building-products operations. Guaranty Financial Group received the banking and insurance activities, while Forestar Real Estate Group received real-estate and natural-resources assets. This restructuring transformed Temple-Inland from a diversified holding company into a more concentrated manufacturing enterprise. Guaranty Bank later failed in 2009 and its deposits were transferred through an FDIC resolution. International Paper acquired Temple-Inland in 2012 in a transaction valued at approximately $4.5 billion. Following the merger, Temple-Inland became a wholly owned subsidiary and no longer operated as an independent public company. At the time of the sale, its packaging business included seven mills and 59 converting facilities, in addition to its building-products activities. Environmental scrutiny formed a secondary part of the company’s public record. A 2002 study by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst placed Temple-Inland among the largest corporate producers of reported air pollution in the United States and cited acrolein, manganese compounds, sulfuric acid, formaldehyde, and acetaldehyde among the pollutants. The reference material states that Temple-Inland was absent from the 2010 PERI Toxic 100 Air Polluters report.
- 2012
Acquired by International Paper
[1]International Paper acquired Temple-Inland, which became a wholly owned subsidiary.
- 2007
Diversified businesses separated
[1]The company announced a separation into Temple-Inland manufacturing, Guaranty Financial Group, and Forestar Real Estate Group.
- 2002
Gaylord Container acquired
[1]Temple-Inland acquired Gaylord Container Corporation, expanding its integrated brown-paper and corrugated-packaging operations.
- 1983
Temple-Inland formed
[1]Time spun off and combined Temple-Eastex and Inland to create Temple-Inland, Inc.
- 1978
Inland acquired by Time
[1]Time acquired Inland, which operated packaging plants in the United States and Puerto Rico and held a major interest in Georgia Kraft.
- 1973
Temple-Eastex created
[1]Time combined Temple Industries with Eastex Pulp and Paper Company to form Temple-Eastex, Inc.
- 1925
Inland Box Company founded
[1]Krannert founded Inland Box Company in Indianapolis; this is commonly treated as the founding date of the company’s Inland lineage.
- 1918
Anderson Box Company founded
[1]Herman C. Krannert founded Anderson Box Company in Anderson, Indiana, establishing an early predecessor to Inland’s packaging business.
Products and positioning
An integrated North American forest-products manufacturer focused on corrugated packaging, containerboard, and building products, with manufacturing assets linked across paper production and converting.
Packaging
Corrugated packaging
Temple-Inland’s principal business was the manufacture and conversion of corrugated packaging. Its operations produced corrugated sheets and finished shipping containers for industrial, commercial, and distribution customers. The vertically integrated model connected containerboard mills with converting facilities, allowing the company to manufacture paper-based packaging at multiple stages of the value chain.
Paper products
Containerboard and linerboard
The company operated mills producing linerboard and corrugated medium, the paper components used to make corrugated boxes. These materials supported Temple-Inland’s own converting network and formed part of its integrated forest-products platform. The business included several mills and substantial annual production capacity before the International Paper transaction.
Construction materials
Building products
Temple-Inland manufactured building products for new residential construction, commercial construction, and repair-and-remodeling work. These activities complemented the packaging business and gave the company exposure to construction-related demand. The reference material does not specify a complete product-by-product catalog.
Brand decisions
2012
International Paper acquisitionM&ABackground
International Paper pursued Temple-Inland’s corrugated-packaging and building-products operations.
Action taken
International Paper acquired Temple-Inland through the merger of an International Paper subsidiary with Temple-Inland.
Aftermath
Temple-Inland became a wholly owned subsidiary of International Paper and ceased to exist as an independent public company.
Transaction value. $4.5 billion (2012 acquisition)
2007
Separate manufacturing, financial, and real-estate businessesStrategyBackground
Temple-Inland had developed into a diversified group containing packaging and building products, banking and insurance, and real-estate and natural-resources operations.
Action taken
The company announced a separation into three stand-alone companies: Temple-Inland for manufacturing, Guaranty Financial Group for financial services, and Forestar Real Estate Group for real estate and natural resources.
Aftermath
Temple-Inland became a more focused manufacturing company. Guaranty Bank, held through Guaranty Financial Group, later failed in 2009. Forestar continued as a separate real-estate and natural-resources business.
Recent events
- 2012
International Paper acquires Temple-Inland[1]
M&A
International Paper completed the acquisition of Temple-Inland through a merger involving a wholly owned subsidiary, making Temple-Inland part of International Paper.
- 2009
Guaranty Bank fails after the corporate separation[1]
Bankruptcy · Regulation
Guaranty Bank, the principal banking subsidiary of Guaranty Financial Group, was closed by the Office of Thrift Supervision. The FDIC was appointed receiver and deposits were sold to BBVA Compass.
- 2007
Temple-Inland announces separation into three companies[1]
Other
Temple-Inland announced a restructuring that would separate its manufacturing, financial-services, and real-estate and natural-resources activities into Temple-Inland, Guaranty Financial Group, and Forestar Real Estate Group.
- 2002
Temple-Inland identified in an air-pollution study[1]
Other
A University of Massachusetts Amherst study ranked Temple-Inland among major corporate sources of reported air pollution in the United States and identified several pollutants associated with its operations.
Sources1 sources
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