Private equity and fund footprint
22 of the 11,970 brands with a recorded controlling owner (0.2%) sit under a private-equity fund; 34 sit under holding companies, 186 under family-owned groups and 11,728 under operating companies. KKR holds the most (12).
Brandtree tracks consumer brands, and funds tend to own brands through portfolio companies that are themselves tracked as the owner. A small fund share here reflects what is recorded, not the size of the private-equity industry.
How this is computed
- Owner groups follow the company type on Brandtree: funds are private-equity firms, holdings are holding companies, family-owned are family-controlled groups. Family-owned groups such as Mars and Ferrero are operating businesses, so they are never counted as funds. Every other company is an operating company.
- A brand sits under the type of its ultimate owner today, following controlling edges (owned or at least 50%) up through subsidiaries. Licensees and minority holders are not counted as owners.
- A brand has passed through a fund if a fund controls it today (directly or through a subsidiary), if an ended controlling edge names a fund as owner, or if a tracked deal lists the brand as an asset with a fund as buyer or seller. Ownership history through subsidiaries is not reconstructed, so the passed-through list is a minimum.
- Coverage: only about 29% of ownership links carry a start date and 5 tracked closed deals involve a fund, so the record shows when few holdings began. No fund holding on Brandtree has an end date yet, which is why every brand below is a current holding.
Brands under funds and operating companies, by category
| Category | Funds | Holdings | Family-owned | Operating companies | Total | Fund share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food | 8 | 14 | 107 | 2,024 | 2,153 | 0.4% |
| Travel & transport | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1,822 | 1,827 | 0.0% |
| Beverages | 1 | 0 | 18 | 1,284 | 1,303 | 0.1% |
| Finance & insurance | 0 | 12 | 0 | 1,011 | 1,023 | 0.0% |
| Energy | 0 | 0 | 0 | 797 | 797 | 0.0% |
| Home, garden & DIY | 0 | 0 | 0 | 746 | 746 | 0.0% |
| Internet & digital | 6 | 0 | 0 | 627 | 633 | 0.9% |
| Personal care & beauty | 6 | 0 | 0 | 593 | 599 | 1.0% |
| Apparel, footwear & accessories | 1 | 2 | 14 | 562 | 579 | 0.2% |
| Media & entertainment | 0 | 0 | 15 | 397 | 412 | 0.0% |
| Home care | 0 | 1 | 14 | 391 | 406 | 0.0% |
| Healthcare & pharma | 0 | 0 | 0 | 270 | 270 | 0.0% |
| Retail | 0 | 0 | 0 | 186 | 186 | 0.0% |
| Tobacco & nicotine | 0 | 0 | 1 | 172 | 173 | 0.0% |
| Pet & animal care | 0 | 0 | 16 | 147 | 163 | 0.0% |
| Restaurants & foodservice | 0 | 1 | 0 | 161 | 162 | 0.0% |
| Automotive | 0 | 0 | 0 | 152 | 152 | 0.0% |
| Telecom | 0 | 0 | 0 | 127 | 127 | 0.0% |
| Consumer health | 0 | 0 | 0 | 124 | 124 | 0.0% |
| Technology | 0 | 0 | 0 | 95 | 95 | 0.0% |
| Real estate | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 29 | 0.0% |
| Sport & fitness | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 11 | 0.0% |
| All categories | 22 | 34 | 186 | 11,728 | 11,970 | 0.2% |
Private-equity funds
6 funds have at least one brand on record; 5 other investment owners (funds, holdings or family offices) are tracked with no brands yet: 3G Capital, Affinity Partners, Artémis, Platinum Equity and Silver Lake.
| Fund | Brands today | Former | Categories | Brand origin countries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KKR 🇺🇸 | 12 | 0 | Food (8), Personal care & beauty (4) | United States (4), United Kingdom (3), Germany (2) |
| Apollo 🇺🇸 | 6 | 0 | Internet & digital (6) | United States (6) |
| Aurea 🇬🇧 | 1 | 0 | Personal care & beauty (1) | United Kingdom (1) |
| PAI Partners 🇫🇷 | 1 | 0 | Beverages (1) | United States (1) |
| Regent 🇺🇸 | 1 | 0 | Apparel, footwear & accessories (1) | Canada (1) |
| Yellow Wood Partners 🇺🇸 | 1 | 0 | Personal care & beauty (1) | United States (1) |
Holding companies
Holding companies own consumer brands alongside unrelated businesses. 4 have brands on record.
| Holding company | Brands today | Former | Categories | Brand origin countries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berkshire Hathaway 🇺🇸 | 19 | 0 | Finance & insurance (12), Apparel, footwear & accessories (2), Travel & transport (2) | United States (19) |
| MHP 🇨🇾 | 8 | 0 | Food (8) | Ukraine (8) |
| United Confectioners 🇷🇺 | 5 | 0 | Food (5) | Russia (5) |
| RegionalPlus Wings 🇯🇵 | 2 | 0 | Travel & transport (2) | Japan (2) |
Family-owned groups
Shown for completeness because they are privately controlled, not because they are funds. 37 groups hold 186 brands between them.
| Group | Brands today | Former | Categories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mars 🇺🇸 | 42 | 0 | Food (31), Pet & animal care (11) |
| Ferrero 🇮🇹 | 23 | 0 | Food (23) |
| Lactalis 🇫🇷 | 12 | 1 | Food (12) |
| SC Johnson 🇺🇸 | 8 | 0 | Home care (8) |
| Bacardi 🇧🇲 | 7 | 0 | Beverages (7) |
| Advance 🇺🇸 | 6 | 0 | Media & entertainment (6) |
| Perfetti Van Melle 🇳🇱 | 6 | 0 | Food (6) |
| William Grant & Sons 🇬🇧 | 6 | 0 | Beverages (6) |
| Storck 🇩🇪 | 5 | 0 | Food (5) |
| Barilla 🇮🇹 | 5 | 0 | Food (5) |
| Bel Group 🇫🇷 | 5 | 0 | Food (5) |
| Hearst 🇺🇸 | 5 | 0 | Media & entertainment (5) |
| Kormotech 🇺🇦 | 5 | 0 | Pet & animal care (5) |
| Bertelsmann 🇩🇪 | 4 | 0 | Media & entertainment (4) |
| Bestseller 🇩🇰 | 4 | 0 | Apparel, footwear & accessories (4) |
| Decathlon 🇫🇷 | 4 | 0 | Apparel, footwear & accessories (4) |
| Dr. Oetker 🇩🇪 | 4 | 0 | Food (4) |
| Haribo 🇩🇪 | 4 | 0 | Food (4) |
| Lavazza 🇮🇹 | 3 | 0 | Beverages (3) |
| The LEGO Group 🇩🇰 | 3 | 0 | Home care (3) |
| Müller Group 🇩🇪 | 3 | 0 | Food (3) |
| Aldi Nord 🇩🇪 | 2 | 0 | Food (2) |
| Aldi Süd 🇩🇪 | 2 | 0 | Food (2) |
| Max Mara 🇮🇹 | 2 | 0 | Apparel, footwear & accessories (2) |
| New Balance 🇺🇸 | 2 | 0 | Apparel, footwear & accessories (2) |
| Schwarz Group 🇩🇪 | 2 | 0 | Food (2) |
| Victorinox 🇨🇭 | 2 | 0 | Apparel, footwear & accessories (1), Home care (1) |
| Aero Contractors 🇳🇬 | 1 | 0 | Travel & transport (1) |
| BISSELL 🇺🇸 | 1 | 0 | Home care (1) |
| Carhartt 🇺🇸 | 1 | 0 | Apparel, footwear & accessories (1) |
| Goya Foods 🇺🇸 | 1 | 0 | Food (1) |
| illy 🇮🇹 | 1 | 0 | Beverages (1) |
| McIlhenny Company 🇺🇸 | 1 | 0 | Food (1) |
| Oettinger Davidoff 🇨🇭 | 1 | 0 | Tobacco & nicotine (1) |
| Sargento 🇺🇸 | 1 | 0 | Food (1) |
| Tchibo 🇩🇪 | 1 | 0 | Beverages (1) |
| Zippo 🇺🇸 | 1 | 0 | Home care (1) |
Where fund-owned brands come from
Brand origin country for the 22 brands whose ultimate owner is a fund. The 10 funds tracked are headquartered in United States (8), France (1) and United Kingdom (1).
- 🇺🇸 United States 12
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom 4
- 🇩🇪 Germany 2
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands 2
- 🇨🇦 Canada 1
- 🇬🇷 Greece 1
Brands that have passed through a fund
22 brands: 22 held by a fund today and 0 that left a fund or were bought or sold by one in a tracked deal.
| Brand | Fund | Evidence | Owner today |
|---|---|---|---|
| AOL | Apollo | current, deal as buyer | Still under the fund |
| Becel | KKR | subsidiary, deal as buyer | Still under the fund |
| Blue Band | KKR | subsidiary, deal as buyer | Still under the fund |
| Club Monaco | Regent | current, deal as buyer | Still under the fund |
| Country Crock | KKR | subsidiary, deal as buyer | Still under the fund |
| Engadget | Apollo | current, deal as buyer | Still under the fund |
| Flora | KKR | subsidiary, deal as buyer | Still under the fund |
| ghd | KKR | subsidiary | Still under the fund |
| I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! | KKR | subsidiary, deal as buyer | Still under the fund |
| Naked Juice | PAI Partners | current | Still under the fund |
| Nioxin | KKR | subsidiary, deal as buyer | Still under the fund |
| OPI | KKR | subsidiary | Still under the fund |
| ProActiv | KKR | subsidiary, deal as buyer | Still under the fund |
| Rama | KKR | subsidiary, deal as buyer | Still under the fund |
| Suave (United States and Canada) | Yellow Wood Partners | current | Still under the fund |
| The Body Shop | Aurea | current | Still under the fund |
| Violife | KKR | subsidiary | Still under the fund |
| Wella Professionals | KKR | subsidiary, deal as buyer | Still under the fund |
| Yahoo | Apollo | current, deal as buyer | Still under the fund |
| Yahoo Finance | Apollo | current, deal as buyer | Still under the fund |
| Yahoo Mail | Apollo | current, deal as buyer | Still under the fund |
| Yahoo Sports | Apollo | current, deal as buyer | Still under the fund |
Related: brands owned by private-equity firms, holding companies, family-owned companies, serial acquirers.