Foreign companies generating more than $200m

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

3M: US, formerly Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company until 2002 It produces over 75,000 products, including: adhesives, abrasives, laminates, passive fire protection, dental products, electrical materials, electronic circuits, optical films, and supply chain management software. 3M has operations in more than 60 countries
ABB: Swiss, engineering giant
Abbott Australasia: US, pharmaceutical and toiletry products
Accenture: US, global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company
Accor: French, our biggest hotel manager with 20,000 Australian beds
Acer: Taiwan, computer hardware
ACI: US, glass
Adidas: German, sports goods and clothes
AES: US, Victorian and Queensland power stations
Agilent Technologies: US, premier measurement company and a technology leader in communications, electronics, life sciences and chemical analysis.
Agility Logistics: United Arab Emirates, integrated logistics
AIG: US, Insurance
Airbus Industrie: European, aircraft
Alcoa: US, aluminium and bauxite joint venture with Alumina
Aldi: German, supermarkets
AL-KO International: Germany, engineering and technology specialising in vehicles and garden products
Allianz: German, insurance giant that picked up HIH retail assets
Altria: the old food part of Philip Morris which controls Kraft in Australia
American Express: US, card services
Anglo America: South African, bought Acacia and Shell coal assets
Aon: US, reinsurance and risk management
Apache Energy: US, the oil and gas industry
APC-MGE: Japan, fully integrated solution provider for Critical Power and Cooling Services - Electrics
ArcelorMittal: Indo-European, steel industry
Arkema: France, vinyl products, industrial chemicals and performance products
Ashanti Gold: South Africa, substantial Australian gold assets
Astra Zeneca: UK, pharmaceuticals
Aviva: UK, the old Norwich Union financial services business
Axa: French, 51% of the old National Mutual
AXS One: US, is a leading provider of Records Compliance Management solutions. The AXS-One Compliance Platform™ enables organizations to implement secure, scalable and enforceable policies that address records management for corporate governance, legal discovery and industry regulations

back to top

B

Baosteel Group Corporation: China, iron ore and steel
Bass Group: UK, various hotels
Baxter Healthcare: US, is a global healthcare company applying its expertise in medical devices, pharmaceuticals and biotechhnology
Bayer: German, pharmaceuticals, consumer health
BAT: UK, tobacco
Baulderstone Hornibrook: German, construction
Bechtel: Belgian, power and construction
Berkshire Hathaway: huge investments, some wholly owned insurance operations, plus the likes of 8.6% of Kraft
BG: the old British Gas which is doing a huge $8 billion LNG development with Queensland Gas
BMW: German, auto industry
Boeing: US, aircraft and defence
Bosch: German, electrical and car parts, including Pacifica
Boskalis: the Dutch dredging company will pocket $500 million from Victorian taxpayers for digging up Port Phillip Bay.
BP Australia: UK, Petroleum
Bridgestone: US, tyres
Bristol Myers Squibb: US, pharmaceuticals
British Telecom: UK, various telco investments
Brookfield Asset Management: Canadian firm that paid $7 billion for Multiplex
BUPA: UK, health insurer that purchased old National Mutual health business and now MBF

back to top

C

Cadbury Schweppes: UK, confectionary and drinks
Campbell Soup: US, control of Arnotts and Snackfoods
Canwest: Canadian, controls Ten Network
Capita Land: Singapore, controls developer Australand with stake worth more than $1 billion
Capital Group: US, funds management
Cargill: US, various agribusiness investments
Carter Holt Harvey: New Zealand, was bought by Gary Hart and then broken up
Carrier: US, refrigeration and air conditioning
CED: US, bought cable company Metal Manufactures
Cemex: Mexican construction giant that bought Rinker for $16.5 billion in cash
CGEA: French, transport,water
Chalco: China, developing $3 billion bauxite mine in far-north Queensland
Chevron: US, oil and gas
Chemcor: US, chemicals
China Iron and Steel: owns 40% of the coastal Pilbara iron-ore mine Channar which produces 10 million tonnes a year
Chinalco: China, ploughed $16 billion into 9% of Rio Tinto
China Petrochemical Corporation: China's biggest energy distributor has just secured 60% control of the Puffin oil field in the Timor Sea.
Cisco Systems: US, software and telco systems
CITIC: Chinese, Portland aluminium smelter, beef and 20% of Macarthur Coal
Citigroup: US, banking and financial services
CNOOC: Chinese, government-owned gas company that has 25% of China Gas component of North West Shelf
Coca Cola Company: US, control of Coca Cola Amatil
Coleman Asia-Pacific: US, retail concentrating on outdoor equipment
CompAir Australasia: UK, specialising in compressed air equipment and solutions
Compass group: US, catering giant employing 10,000 Australians
Conoco-Phillips: Houston-based energy giant which owns 56.72% of the giant Bayu-Undan gas field and Darwin LNG plant.
Constellation Brands: US, bought BRL Hardy
Corning Cable Systems: Canada, a global leader in telecommunications products and services
Corporate Express: Dutch, controls Corporate Express Australia - revenues of $700m
CS First Boston: Swiss-US, investment banking
CVC: US private equity firm that bought half of PBL Media assets and 65% of Stella tourism business

back to top

D

Daily Mail Group Trust: UK, invested more than $500m in the Nova radio network.
Daimler-Benz: German, cars and trucks
Dell Computers: US, computers
Deutsche Bank: German, investment banking
DHL: German, freight deliveries
Diageo: UK, drinks and spirits
DRD: South African, gold mining
Dresdner: German, banking
Dubai World: bought P&O's stevedoring, ports, cold storage and resorts
Du Pont: US, chemicals and textiles

back to top

E

Edison Mission: US, owns Loy Yang B power station
EDS: US, Commonwealth Bank IT contract
Electrolux: Swedish, white goods
Eli Lilly: US, pharmaceuticals, consumer health
ENI: Italian, owns 12% of the giant Bayu-Undan gas field and Darwin LNG plant.
Ericsson: Swedish, telecommunication products
Exide: US, PacDun's battery business
Exxon-Mobil: US, oil and gas

back to top

F

First Data Resources: US, paid $300m for Cashcard ATM provider
Fisher & Paykel: NZ, white goods
Fletcher Challenge: NZ, construction and forestry
Fluor Daniel: US, engineering and plant management
Ford: US, car manufacturing
Fortis: Belgian, financial services which bought ABN Amro's global funds managment business
Fuchs Lubricants: Germany, world's largest independent supplier of industrial and specialty lubricants.
Fuji: Japanese, cameras and film

back to top

G

General Electric: US, card processing, electrical goods
General Motors: US, car manufacturing
GIC: Singapore's sovereign wealth fund which owns more than $2 billion of Australian property
Glaxo-Smithkline: UK, pharmaceuticals
Glencore/Xstrata: Swiss, controls Xstrata which bought MIM and also controls Minara Resources
Goodyear: US, tyres
Google: US, internet search giant
Grand Hotel Group: Malaysian, various hotels
Guinness Peat Group: UK, corporate raiders

back to top

H

Hagermeyer: Dutch, Bought Pacific Dunlop's electrical distribution business
Heidelberg: German, giant building materials company which bought Hanson so controls the old Pioneer Concrete
Hawker de Havilland: UK, aircraft, defence, heavy engineering
Heinz: US, food, Weight Watchers
Hewlett Packard: US, computers
Hilton Corp: US, various hotels
Hitachi: Japan, train systems, power tools and mining equipment are some activiteis undertaken by this huge conglomerate
Hochtief: German, controls Leighton Holdings
Hoechst: German, chemicals, food
Holcim: Swiss, big global cement player which owns 30% of Cement Australia.
Homestake: US, Kalgoorlie super pit
Hospira: US pharmaceutical company which bought Mayne Pharma (the old FH Faulding)
HSBC: Hong Kong, banking and broking
Hutchison: HK, telecommunications
Hyundai: Korean, cars

back to top

I

IBM: US, IT servcies
Idemitsu, Japan: one of the world's biggest privately owned energy companies and owns 85% of the Ensham thermal coal mine in Queensland which produces more than 7 million tonnes a year.
Illinois Tool Works: US, bought Siddons Ramset
Independent Newspapers: Irish, newspapers, radio, outdoor advertising
Itochu Minerals: Japanese, mining, energy and engineering
ING: Dutch, investment banking, insurance
Infosys: defines, designs and delivers technology-enabled business solutions
Investec: international, specialist banking group that provides a diverse range of financial products and services to a niche client base in three principal markets, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Australia.
back to top

J

Johnson & Johnson: US, personal products
JP Morgan: US, investment banking
J-Power, Japan: large energy utility which owns small stakes in several Australian coal mines such as Ensham.

back to top

K

Kelloggs: US, cereals
Kirin: Japan, controls Lion Nathan and the old National Foods
KKR: US, legendary buy out firm bought Cleanaway from Brambles and a half share of Channel Seven
Kodak: US, film and cameras
KPN: Dutch, bought TNT
Kuwait Government: owns 50% of Rialto Towers in Melbourne plus interests in oil and gas projects
Kwok family: Singapore/HK, property and Shangri La
Kyocera Mita: Japan, printers, photocopiers and digital cameras

back to top

L

Laing O'Rourke: UK construction firm that bought Barclay Mowlem
L'Aire Liquide: French, Industrial Gas giant who controls 15 per cent of Australia's $1 billion a year market for industrial gasses.
Lafarge: Swiss, cement/Blue Circle
Laminex Group: New Zealand, a leading marketer, distributor and manufacturer of laminex products
LeasePlan: LeasePlan Australia is a wholly owned subsidiary of LeasePlan Corporation - owned by a consortium consisting of the Volkswagen Group (50%), Mubadala Development Company (25%) and the Olayan Group (25%).
Li Ka Shing: Hong Kong, bought SA power industry and Victoria's Powercor
Linpac Group: UK, made up of four core divisions which together bring tailored packaging and materials handling products and services.
LogicaCMG: UK, business consulting, systems integration and IT
Lucent: US, backbone for web and mobile, bought JNA
Luxottica: Italian, eyewear group bought OPSM
LVMH: French, leather goods and drinks

back to top

M

Malaysia Mining Corp: Malaysia, mining
Marriott: US, hotels
Mars: US, chocolates, pet food
Marsh & McLennan: US financial and insurance giant
Marubeni: Japanese, aluminium, coal and iron ore investments
Matsushima, Japan: owns 16.25% of the Liddell coal mine in the Hunter Valley which has just been expanded to 3.5 million tonnes per year.
Maxxium: Dutch, Maxxium Worldwide is responsible for the sales, local marketing and distribution of ABSOLUT Vodka, The Famous Grouse Scotch Whisky, Jim Beam Bourbon and Rémy Martin Cognac.
McDonalds: US, fast food
Mercator Gold: UK, own Alan Bond's old Meekathara gold mines
Merck Sharpe Dohme: US, pharmaceuticals
Microsoft: US, software, NineMSN
Mitsubishi Corp: the largest Japanese trading house with huge Queensland coal investments
Mitsubish Motors: Japanese, car manufacturing
Mitsui: Japanese, iron ore through Robe River, North West Shelf and meat
Morgan Stanley: global investment bank which bought the Investa property group
Motorola: US, stake in ERG, telecommunications
Mulpha: Malaysia, large owner of Australian hotels such as Hayman Island, Sancturary Cove and Sydney's InterContinental
Mundipharma: NZ, is a leading provider of high quality analgesic pharmaceutical products for the treatment of moderate to severe chronic pain

back to top

N

NEC: Japanese, computers
Nestle: Swiss, former PacDun food assets, plus recently bought Uncle Tobys
Newmont: US, gold mining after bought Normandy
News Corporation: US, Rupert took the company to Delaware in 2004
Nike: US, sporting goods/shoes
Nippon Meat Packers Australia: Japan, $860m in annual revenues from Oz
Nippon Steel: Japanese, iron ore through Robe River
Nokia: Finland, mobile phones
Norske Skog: Norway, bought Fletcher Paper
Novartis: Switzerland, pharmaceuticals, consumer health

back to top


O

O-I: US, is the largest manufacturer of glass containers in the world, formerly known as Owens Illinois.
Obayishi: Japanese, tollroads
Officemax: US, a leader in both business-to-business office products solutions and retail
Ong Beng Seng: Singapore, hotels,retail
Oracle: US, IT industries
Orlando: French, wine
Mr CK Ow: Singapore, Stamford hotel chain

back to top


P

Paloma Industries: Japanese, Rheem/Vulcan water heater business
Palmary Enterprises: Ukraine, billionaire Gennadiy Bogolubov paid more than $1 billion in 2007 for control of manganese producer Consolidated Minerals.
Panasonic: Japanese, electrical goods
Parmalat: Italian, dairy industry
Peabody Coal: US, bought Excel Coal in 2006
Pearson: UK, Grundy TV production, financial information, Penguin
Pepsico: US, drinks and Pizza Hut
Pfizer: US, pharmaceuticals/viagra
Pharmacia: US, pharmaceuticals, consumer health
Philip Morris International: Altria's tobacco division spun out from March 28, 2008
Phillips: Dutch, Polygram, electricals
Placer Dome: US, gold mining operations
PMI: giant US bond insurer which made $US80 million in Australia in 2007 while its US business imploded.
Porsche: German giant now also controls VW, Man and Scania
Posco: giant South Korean steel company with various Australian coal and iron ore plays
Primus Telecommunications: US, telecommunications
PZ, Cussons: UK, leading supplier of detergent, soap and refrigeration products

back to top


R

RAG: German, coal mining
Revlon: US, cosmetics
Reckitt Benckiser: UK, world's biggest cleaning products and health care company with brands including Dettol,, Harrpic, Mortein, Finish, Strepsil, Nurefen and Clearasil.
Ricket & Coleman: US, pharmaceuticals
Right Management: US, leading global provider of integrated consulting solutions across the employment lifecycle
Rio Tinto: UK, Comalco, North and various other mining assets
Roche: Swiss, pharmaceuticals
Rothmans: South African, tobacco
Royal Bank of Scotland: big lender to private equity plays and picked up parts of ABN Amro

back to top

S

San Miguel: Phillipines, Boags beer and Berri juice business
Sanofi-Aventis: France, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies focussing on cardiovascular, thrombosis, metabolic disorders, oncology, central nervous system, internal medicine and vaccines
SAP: German, software giant
Sara Lee: US, food and textiles
Schenker Logistics: German, is one of the leading international providers of integrated logistics services
Schering-Plough: US, pharmaceuticals
Schneider Electric: French, bought Clipsal Electric
Shell: Dutch-UK, oil, coal and gas
Siemens: German, electricals and engineering
Singapore Airlines: bankrolling Tiger and collects about 25% of Asian and Europe bound international traffic out of Australia.
Singapore Power: controls more than $10 billion worth of Australian power assets
Singtel: paid $14 billion for Optus in 2002.
Simplot: US, bought PacDun pastry businesses
Sinosteel: China, now in control of iron ore company Mt Gibson
Sony: Japanese, music,electricals
Starwood: US, hotels
Sumisho Coal: Japan, Investment in Northparkes copper mine
Sumitomo: Japanese, iron ore through Robe River
Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux: French, Pacific Waste Management
SvitzerWijsmuller: Danish, shipping giant paid $700 million for Australian tug operator Adsteam Marine in 2005-06.

back to top

T

Tamrock OY: Finland, drilling equipment
Telecom NZ: NZ, AAPT
Temasek Holdings: paid $400 million for 12% of child care giant ABC Learning and various other investments
TPG: US private equity firm which controls Myer
Thakral family: Singapore/HK, hotel chain
Time Warner: US, internet, magazines and film production but how out of Queensland theme parks
Toronto Dominion: Canadian, discount broking and banking
Toyota: Japanese, car manufacturing
Tyco: US, fire protection and other industrial services

back to top


U

UBS: Swiss, investment banking
Unilever: Dutch-UK, detergents and ice cream
Unisys: US IT firm Unisys was reported in The AFR to have generated Australian revenues of $287 million in 2006-07.

back to top


V

Varian Australia: US, a global technology leader, their businesses - Scientific Instruments and Vacuum Technologies - bring together high quality, innovative and user-friendly products
Viacom: US, Blockbuster video, various media interests
Virgin: UK, airlines, mobiles, music and financial services
Visa: US, credit cards
Viscount Plastics: UK, owned by the Linpac Group, they provide a innovative industrial, packaging and materials handling products
Vivendi: French, Victorian public transport, publishing, water
Vodafone: UK, mobile phone business
Volkswagen: German, car manufacturing

back to top

W

Weyerhaeuser: US, bought $300m of CSR's timber businesses

back to top

Y

Yamaha: Japanese, pianos, motorbikes
Yara International: Norway, fertilisers and chemicals

back to top

Z

Zurich: Swiss, financial services giant with revenues of $1.8 billion in Australia

back to top


Additionally, here are lists of Australia's improving foreign ownership record, Who owns our biggest resource projects? and Foreign government investments in Australia.

Check out all the Mayne Report business lists here. Anyone who emails through 5 corrections or additions to stephen@maynereport.com will get a free three month subscription.