Paper packaging company Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. said  Wednesday that it had emerged from bankruptcy after 17 months, having wiped around $3 billion of debt from its balance sheet.

The company issued new stock to investors who held about $3 billion of unsecured debt. That stock will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange  Thursday under the symbol “SSCC,” the company said in a statement.

Nearly a billion dollars of loans were paid in cash, in part with funds from a new $1.2 billion term loan.