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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
 
 
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
 
 
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): February 13, 2019
SONOCO PRODUCTS COMPANY
Commission File No. 001-11261
 
Incorporated under the laws
  
I.R.S. Employer Identification
of South Carolina
  
No. 57-0248420
1 N. Second St.
Hartsville, South Carolina 29550
Telephone: 843/383-7000

 Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).
Emerging growth company    ¨
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:
 
¨
Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
¨
Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
¨
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
¨
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))









Section 5 – Corporate Governance and Management
Item 5.02
Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

(b)
On February 13, 2019, Harris E. DeLoach, Jr., age 74, Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sonoco Products Company, advised the Board of Directors that he would not stand for re-election to the Board and would retire from the Board when his term expires at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders on April 17, 2019. Mr. DeLoach is a member of the Board's Executive Committee.


Section 8 – Other Events
Item 8.01
Other Events.

For additional information regarding the foregoing, please see the Registrant’s news release announcing the retirement of Harris E. DeLoach, Jr., Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sonoco Products Company, effective April 17, 2019, and naming current Board member John R. Haley as Chairman-elect.


Section 9 – Financial Statements and Exhibits
Item 9.01
Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits.
Exhibit Index

99





SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
 
 
 
SONOCO PRODUCTS COMPANY
 
 
 
Date: February 14, 2019
 
By:
 
/s/ Barry L. Saunders
 
 
 
 
 
 
Barry L. Saunders
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer


Exhibit





EXHIBIT 99
https://cdn.kscope.io/2e64ea109742e1f0871e068e3c89f75b-g450294ex99logoa40.jpg
February 13, 2019                         Contact:    Roger Schrum
+843-339-6018
roger.schrum@sonoco.com

DeLoach to Retire as Executive Chairman of Sonoco;
Haley Named Chairman-elect of Board of Directors

Hartsville, S.C., U.S. - Sonoco (NYSE: SON), one of the largest diversified global packaging companies, today announced that Harris E. DeLoach Jr. will retire as a director and as Executive Chairman in April of 2019. As part of its succession planning, the Board of Directors has named John R. Haley, current Vice Chairman, to be Chairman-elect.
 
At retirement, DeLoach, 74, will have served as Chairman of Sonoco’s Board of Directors for 14 years, including Executive Chairman since 2013. He was first elected to the Board in 1998 and became Chief Executive Officer of the Company in 2000 and Chairman in 2005 before retiring from day-to-day leadership in 2013. In total, DeLoach has more than 33 years of senior management and board experience with Sonoco.

“There are few words to describe how fortunate Sonoco and the Board have been to have Harris as our Chairman for the past 14 years,” said James M. Micali, Sonoco’s Lead Independent Director. “In addition to his tenure in senior management of the Company, Harris has served with the Board to develop a stronger and more diverse team that has worked diligently to represent the best interests of shareholders, employees and the communities where Sonoco operates.”

Haley, 57, has served on the Sonoco Board since 2011 and is Chief Executive Officer of Gosiger, Inc., a privately owned distributor of computer-controlled machine tool and factory automation systems, based in Dayton, Ohio. Micali added, “John was the unanimous choice of the Board to become Chairman, based on his extensive executive management experience and the leadership he has provided to the Board over the past eight years, including chairing the financial policy committee. The Board has been planning succession for the past several years, including appointing John as Vice Chairman last year to work alongside Harris and be mentored by one of the top leaders of corporate governance.”

In addition to serving on the Sonoco Board of Directors, DeLoach is a Trustee of the Duke Endowment. He formerly served on the boards of Duke Energy, Milliken & Company, Goodrich and Progress Energy. He has also served on numerous non-profit boards and has received several business leadership honors, including Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of South Carolina’s Moore School of Business in 1998; the University of South Carolina Distinguished Alumni Award in 2006; the 2008 Businessman of the Year by the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce; the Roger Milliken Defender of Manufacturing Award from the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance in 2014; and the Order of the Palmetto from South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley in 2014. 


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1 North Second Street
Hartsville, S.C. 29550 USA
843/383-7794
www.sonoco.com









About Sonoco
Founded in 1899, Sonoco (NYSE: SON) is a global provider of a variety of consumer packaging, industrial products, protective packaging, and displays and packaging supply chain services. With annualized net sales of approximately $5.4 billion, the Company has 23,000 employees working in approximately 300 operations in 36 countries, serving some of the world’s best known brands in some 85 nations. Sonoco is committed to creating sustainable products, services and programs for our customers, employees and communities that support our corporate purpose of Better Packaging. Better Life. The Company ranked first in the Packaging sector on Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies for 2019. For more information, visit www.sonoco.com.


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