American Brands

Fortune Brands
IndustryConglomerate
PredecessorAmerican Brands
Founded1969; 55 years ago (1969) (as American Brands)
DefunctOctober 3, 2011 (2011-10-03)
FateSplit
SuccessorFILA Korea, Fortune Brands Home & Security, Beam Inc.
Headquarters,
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Bruce A. Carbonari (Chairman of the Board & CEO)
ProductsMoen
Master Lock
Jim Beam
DeKuyper
Knob Creek
Vox vodka
El Tesoro tequila
RevenueDecrease $ 6.695 billion (2009)
Increase $ 505.20 million (2009)
Decrease $ 242.80 million (2009)
Total assetsIncrease $ 12.370 billion (2009)
Total equityIncrease $ 5.106 billion (2008)
Number of employees
24,248 (2009)

Fortune Brands was a holding company founded in 1969 as American Brands, renamed in 1997 and split apart in 2011.[1] The corporate headquarters was in Deerfield, Illinois, in the United States. The company had diversified product lines. It announced on December 8, 2010, that it would focus on its liquor business, and spin off or sell other parts of the company including home furnishings, hardware and golf products.[2][3] The company sold its Titleist and FootJoy product lines to Fila. On October 3, 2011, it split the remainder of its business into two publicly traded companies: Fortune Brands Home & Security (NYSEFBHS)[4] and Beam Inc. (NYSE: BEAM). On January 13, 2014, Suntory (headquartered in Osaka, Japan) announced it would buy Beam Inc. for about $13.6 billion.[5] The acquisition was completed on April 30, 2014, for about $16 billion and Beam became a subsidiary of Suntory named Beam Suntory.[6][7]

  1. ^ York, Emily Bryson. "Fortune Brands to split into 2 public companies". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2019-10-21.
  2. ^ Aaron Smith, Jim Beam, neat, is company's new strategy, CNN Money, December 8, 2010.
  3. ^ Fortune Brands Announces Intent to Separate Company's Three Businesses Archived 2020-10-02 at the Wayback Machine, The Wall Street Journal, December 8, 2010.
  4. ^ Fortune Brands Home & Security Now Independent, Begins Trading on NYSE Archived October 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Businesswire, October 4, 2011.
  5. ^ Horovitz, Bruce (January 13, 2014). "Suntory buys spirits maker Beam for $13.6B". USA Today.
  6. ^ Beam Suntory completes acquisition of Beam Inc, Suntory.com, 30 April 2014.
  7. ^ Pfanner, Eric (May 15, 2014). "Suntory Still has M&A Thirst". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 1, 2016.