Feb 28 (Reuters) - International Paper ( IP ) said on

Friday that Lance Loeffler would be its chief financial officer,

replacing Tim Nicholls, who will head the company's newly

acquired DS Smith.

Loeffler's 25-year career includes finance and business

leadership roles at UBS, Deutsche Bank and

Halliburton ( HAL ).

He was Halliburton's ( HAL ) CFO for four years and most recently

was senior vice president of the Middle East and North Africa

region. He left in December, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Nicholls, International Paper's ( IP ) CFO since 2018, will now be

executive vice president and president of DS Smith, which the

company acquired for about $7.20 billion last month.

International Paper ( IP ) has been streamlining its U.S.

operations as higher prices hit sales volumes. Earlier this

month, it said it would close four plants and lay off about 1%

of its global workforce, affecting 674 employees.

The company did not say when the executives would take

charge in their new roles.