Following the recent death of Tomás López, Sonoco has announced the appointment of a new interim CEO for its Sonoco Metal Packaging EMEA unit, created following the acquisition and integration of Eviosys, this Monday.
Rodger Fuller, current Chief Operating Officer of Sonoco and with more than four decades of experience in the company, will temporarily assume leadership of the European division. According to Sonoco CEO Howard Coker, “Tomás’ unexpected loss has been a heavy blow, but we are confident that Rodger will provide the necessary stability for the SMP EMEA team to continue advancing towards our goal of consolidating the largest and most sustainable global metal packaging business”.
Tomás López, who led Eviosys before its integration into Sonoco in December 2024, recently passed away in his hometown of Murcia, Spain. Coker remembered him as “a visionary leader within the European metal packaging sector”.
López began his career in the sector in 1980 at Mivisa Envases, where he played a key role in the company’s expansion to become the leading manufacturer of food cans in the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco. In 2005, he was appointed CEO of Mivisa, which was later acquired by Crown Holdings in 2014. In 2021, Eviosys was born following the purchase of Crown’s EMEA packaging assets by KPS Capital Partners.
Fuller, meanwhile, is a regular figure in Sonoco’s quarterly earnings presentations, where he addresses topics such as acquisitions, reorganization of business units, and corporate strategy. The acquisition of Eviosys is part of a larger transformation process within the company, which in the last 18 months has restructured its divisions, placing metal packaging as one of its key areas.
