Anheuser - Busch ’s announced sales event to Belgian brewing giant InBev has been cause for considerable consternation among many members of the culture medium , who seem to think that betray a caller so unwaveringly grounded in the American means of life is downright unpatriotic . To try many people tell it , selling the shaper of Budweiser to a foreign conglomerate is equivalent to selling nuclear secrets to Iran , burning a signal flag , or say , " No thanks , I do n’t like Malus pumila Proto-Indo European that much . “ Some digging , though , reveals that set of sword we conceive of a " solidly American" are in fact own by foreign investors .
Miller Brewing CompanyYou do n’t even have to leave the beer market to rule a troupe that ’s been through a transition like to the one facing Anheuser - Busch . Milwaukee ’s Miller Brewing , Budweiser ’s closest competition , is n’t owned by American interests any longer , either . In 2002 , South African Breweries grease one’s palms a control involvement in Miller by shelling out $ 3.6 billion in broth and taking on $ 2 billion of Miller ’s debt . The deal created the world ’s largest beer maker , which took on the new hybrid name of SABMiller . The company , which also makes such significance as Peroni , Grolsch , and Pilsner Urquell is headquarter in Johannesburg , South Africa .
Holiday InnWhat could be more American the Holiday Inn , whose " great signs" were a central icon of classic vacation of the fifties ? Kemmons Wilson opened the first Holiday Inn in Memphis in 1952 , and by 1957 owned an exploding range of franchises . In a seemingly unrelated developing in 1989 , the British government put the kibosh on breweries have too many of their own pubs in the U.K. In reaction , the beer maker of Bass started to grow their hotel business . In 1988 , Bass started acquiring Holiday Inn ’s external mental process , then bought up the domestic hotel in 1990 . The move did so well that Bass in reality got out of the beer business by divesting itself of its brewing operation and trademarks in 2000 and change its name to Six Continents PLC , which later morphed into InterContinental Hotels Group , which currently owns all Holiday Inns .
Lucent TechnologiesThe name " Lucent" may not ring a spate of bells , but it had a history as a firmly American concern . In fact , Lucent was originally part of AT&T ; it was get laid as AT&T Technologies and specialized in telecomm equipment manufacturing . When AT&T carve up into three companies in 1996 , Lucent became a tolerate - alone spinoff , and it stayed that way for a decade . Then , in 2006 , Gallic competitor Alcatel swallow Lucent as part of an $ 11 billion acquisition . The renamed companionship , Alcatel - Lucent , is headquartered in Paris .
FirestoneFirestone is probably grain in your brain as one of America ’s oldest tire companies , a venerable institution that go out back to early-20th - century Akron . However , after years of taking immense losses and running up one million million in debt , the company put itself on the market place in 1988 . Nipponese tire company Bridgestone grease one’s palms Firestone for $ 80 a contribution , or or so $ 2.6 billion .
Columbia PicturesAfter its origination in 1919 , Columbia Pictures cranked out some of America ’s favorite picture , includingMr . Smith Goes to Washington , one of the most iconic concealment vision of American nationalism and wholeness . Other major hits in the studio ’s archive includeOn the Waterfront , The Bridge on the River Kwai , andGhostbusters . However , the company ’s not in American hands . Coke shortly have the ship’s company in the eighties but allegedly talk itself out of the amusement industry whenIshtarflopped . After a couple of years as a stand - alone companionship at the end of that X , Japanese electronics giant Sony bought Columbia for $ 3.4 billion in cash in 1989 to bolster its amusement portfolio .
DKNYJust reading the name " DKNY" might make you remember the caller is American . After all , it abide for " Donna Karan New York . “ However , its Johnny Cash flow pass to Paris , not New York . Gallic holding party LVMH Moet Hennessy”“Louis Vuitton made an aggressive bidding to buy the ship’s company in 2001 , and as a solvent designer Donna Karan ’s inspiration moved into foreign hands as part of a $ 243 million purchase . It ’s now nestled in LVMH ’s portfolio alongside other lavishness feel , fashion label , and cosmetic .
Hellman’sRichard Hellman was at the forefront of the condiment industry when he opened a delicatessen in New York and started selling his wife ’s mayonnaise in 1905 . In 1932 , Best Foods bought out Hellman ’s burgeoning mayo imperium , and the brand bounced around various society ' portfolio until Best Foods became an self-governing fellowship in 1995 . In 2000 , though , Anglo - Dutch consumer goods giant star Unilever gobbled up Best Foods for $ 20.3 billion in parentage and $ 4 billion in debt . Along with Hellman ’s , Unilever picked up several other well - known food brands , include Skippy peanut butter , Karo sirup , and Entenmann ’s baked goods .
Dial SoapDial originated in 1948 as America ’s first deodourant max ; it was originally an offshoot of Chicago - based essence processor Armour and Company . It has had a tumultuous history , including a geological period of ownership by Greyhound , which was perhaps a canny attempt to synergize based on the dirty opinion one has after a long bus drive . By 1996 Dial was entirely a hygienical products and cleaning company once again , and then in 2004 it was purchased by German consumer product Henkel KGaA , which also owns brands like Duck Tape and Persil detergent . Henkel drop $ 2.9 billion to pick up the soapmaker , in part because it believe Dial ’s portfolio would play well in developing markets .
Ethan Trex grew up idolizing Vince Coleman , and he kind of still does . Ethan co - writesStraight Cash , Homey , the cyberspace ’s unquestioned top reservoir for pictures of multitude in Ryan Leaf jerseys . * * * * *
