🇺🇸 Foreign ownership of American brands
16.3% of the 3,267 American brands with a controlling owner (531) are owned by a company headquartered outside the United States, most often in the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan. That ranks 50 of 94 countries analysed.
Which countries own them
| Owner headquartered in | Brands | Share of foreign-owned | Bar |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 85 | 16% | |
| 🇨🇦 Canada | 68 | 12.8% | |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | 46 | 8.7% | |
| 🇨🇭 Switzerland | 36 | 6.8% | |
| 🇫🇷 France | 35 | 6.6% | |
| 🇮🇹 Italy | 35 | 6.6% | |
| 🇩🇪 Germany | 30 | 5.6% | |
| 🇳🇱 Netherlands | 28 | 5.3% | |
| 🇮🇪 Ireland | 27 | 5.1% | |
| 🇲🇽 Mexico | 17 | 3.2% | |
| 🇧🇪 Belgium | 14 | 2.6% | |
| 🇦🇺 Australia | 9 | 1.7% |
The remaining 29 owner countries are not shown.
Largest foreign owners
Where foreign ownership is highest
Top-level categories with at least 5 American brands that have a controlling owner.
| Category | Brands | Foreign-owned | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer health | 32 | 17 | 53.1% |
| Tobacco & nicotine | 49 | 22 | 44.9% |
| Personal care & beauty | 167 | 55 | 32.9% |
| Food | 424 | 119 | 28.1% |
| Automotive | 19 | 5 | 26.3% |
| Apparel, footwear & accessories | 178 | 41 | 23% |
| Home, garden & DIY | 214 | 46 | 21.5% |
| Restaurants & foodservice | 56 | 12 | 21.4% |
Examples
- 3 Day Blinds owned by Hunter Douglas
- 7 For All Mankind owned by Delta Galil
- 7-Eleven owned by Seven & i
- APL owned by CMA CGM
- ARCO owned by bp
- AZEK Exteriors owned by James Hardie
- Acura owned by Honda
- Advil owned by Haleon
- Advisors Asset Management owned by Sun Life
- Air Wick owned by Reckitt
- Airheads owned by Perfetti Van Melle
- Alamo Cement owned by Buzzi
How this is computed
Of 3,359 American brands recorded, 3,267 have a current controlling owner (outright or a stake of 50% or more, followed up to the ultimate parent). The other 92 are licensed, part-owned or lack a current owner and are left out. A brand is foreign-owned when that ultimate parent is headquartered in a different country from the brand's origin. Data as of . Method and ranking for all countries.
Coverage caveat. The brands tracked skew towards those held by large filing companies, so this overstates foreign ownership relative to every brand in the country. See also the United States country page.