Updated — It was only a few months ago that Gary Masse talked about his plans to increase market share and sales at Coveris Holdings Corp. during this year and beyond.
But Masse, brought in to the plastics packaging company to unify a handful of companies under the Coveris umbrella, will have to leave that work for someone else.
The CEO at Coveris is out, stepping down from the job Jan. 24, the company revealed a day later. Coveris Chairman Dave Mezzanotte will act as CEO in the interim as the company looks for a permanent successor.
Masse came to Coveris less than three years ago, in March 2014, when the company called him a “seasoned, results-driven leader” and a “proven executive.”
Now the company issued a four paragraph news release thanking Masse for his many contributions.
“During Gary's tenure, Coveris demonstrated strong productivity growth, integrated eight acquisitions and invested aggressively to position the company for growth,” Coveris said in the announcement of his departure. “Gary has decided the time is right to hand over Coveris to a new leader who can drive the next phase of growth.”
Coveris was created not long before Masse's arrival as several plastic packaging companies under common ownership by Sun Capital Partners Inc. were united. Part of Masse's job was to bring the operations together thought a common culture and approach, something he called the Coveris Business System.
“I think we've done a nice job bringing our companies together and forming Coveris and creating a culture. Where I'm going to focus my time over the next 18 months is growing the top line and driving customer excellence,” he said during an interview at Pack Expo in November.
Chicago-based Coveris began as Exopack Holdings SA when it was formed by Sun Capital in May 2013 through the combination of five previously separate companies: Exopack Holding Corp., Kobusch Group, Britton Group, Paragon Print & Packaging Corp. and Paccor. The company, which soon changed its name to Coveris, was originally led by CEO Jack Knott.
A spokesman for Coveris could not be immediately reached for comment.
Coveris ranked No. 31 in the most recent Plastics News ranking of North American film and sheet manufacturers. The company posted 2015 sales of $2.6 billion, including $267.4 million in North American film sales.