Silgan Holdings Inc , which makes cans for Campbell's Soup, is to buy smaller rival Graham Packaging for $1.3 billion in cash and stock, as it looks to bolster its plastic packaging business. The deal, worth $4.1 billion including debt, comes at a time when rising metals prices are making plastic the packaging material of choice, fast replacing tin and aluminum. Analysts expect more consolidation among packaging companies with strong balance sheets and good cash flow, and predicted M&A would be further driven by the shift from metals to plastics. Silgan competes against bigger rivals such as Ball Corp and Crown Holdings Inc , which mainly produce metal packaging products, and Sonoco and Bemis which have sizeable plastic packaging businesses.
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