National Can

Summary

Business	manufacturer
Active	-1985

National Can was a can manufacturer in the United States in the 20th century. The company started out as the Pacific Can Company. According to a biography of Frank Burns, made first flat-top beer can on west coast. Bill Peterson was one of their top engineers. The company had plants in San Jose, Hollister, and Santa Clara, and by the 1970's was considering becoming a cooperative.

Another story declares that National Can had been a Chicago company, and was always a minor player behind the larger American Can Company and Continental Can Company. The company survived as a defensive source; canners would buy most of their cans from a larger company but a fraction from an independent, and National was frequently the third source. The can buyers also insisted on uniform products from each of their suppliers, so National could often get licenses for the patents from its larger competitors.

The company was related to United States Products by the 1970's, possibly when National Can opened a wholesale grocery products in 1967 and bought a cannery. By 1977, the company was trying to sell the division.

National Can was bought by Triangle Industries in 1985 for $460MM, and in 1986 acquired American Can, forming American National Can. In 1988, Pechiney S.A. the state-owned French metal conglomerate, acquired Triangle Industries. At the time of the buyout, American Can was the largest can company in the United States. Rexam acquired American National Can in 2000. Recently, American National Can formed from a recent merger of American and National, currently owned by British company. (http://beercanhistory.com/abcs.htm)

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