ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, November 5, 1996 TAG: 9611050061
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LONDON
SOURCE: DIRK BEVERIDGE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Many Americans would never know it, but when they gulp their favorite soft drinks and eat a fast-food hamburger - or even a crispy taco - they could be buying British.
Two big deals this week also mean Americans could be doing business with Britain when they pay their monthly long-distance phone bill or invest in a U.S. mutual fund.
The biggest deal, the $20.8 billion acquisition of MCI Communications Corp. by British Telecommunications PLC, could go through without any of the ordinary Americans who use MCI noticing any difference.
They'll still pay a monthly bill to the phone company by writing out a check in dollars, instead of writing a cheque in pounds sterling every three months like BT's customers.
Investors were barely digesting details of the MCI sale early Monday, when another big British takeover of an American company was announced: Invesco PLC's $1.6 billion buyout of Houston-based AIM Management Group Inc., a big mutual fund manager.
But brand names in both Britain and America already offer ample evidence of the close corporate ties of the trading partners.
If an American drinks a Dr Pepper, or its sister soft drink Seven-Up, he's doing business with Cadbury Schweppes PLC. The British candy and soft-drink giant ranks third in the United States behind Coke and Pepsi after buying out Dallas-based Dr Pepper last year in a $1.71 billion deal.Whoppers at Burger King may seem all-American, but they're actually owned by the London-based food and drinks conglomerate Grand Metropolitan PLC.
The corporate ties between the United States and Britain are broad largely because of the common heritage, same language and similar legal systems.
With stock markets soaring in New York and London, and both nations' economies growing, analysts wouldn't be surprised to see more British invasions of corporate America - or vice versa.
``There is a short-term trend for increasing takeover activity,'' said Peter Abell, a professor at the London School of Economics. ``Whether or not it will continue - historically speaking, there have been waves of activity. There have been four or five this century, and we're in one now.''
LENGTH: Short : 48 linesby CNB