The bottom line
Kent Harris
Written by Scot Meyer
SwitchYard Media, Inc. - contact | website
Designed and produced by Kent Harris
Tin Can Rocket, LLC. - contact | website
A production of SwitchYard Media, Inc.
Photo Credit: Samuel Gottscho
A tall order: The Chrysler Building
On July 8, the government of Abu Dhabi bought a 90 percent stake in New York's Chrysler Building for $800 million. The landmark skyscraper was built in 1930 and reigned as the world's tallest building for a few months, before losing that title to the Empire State Building.
The Art Deco masterpiece was designed by architect William Van Alen with the input of client Walter P. Chrysler, then chairman of Chrysler Automobile Corp.
Famous for its stainless steel crown, and corner details inspired by hubcaps and hood ornaments, the building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976 and voted one of the America's 10 favorite architectural treasures in 2007.
Emirati Dirham vs. dollar: Latest rate
Buyer: Abu Dhabi Investment Council.
Seller: Tishman Speyer Properties and an investment fund run by Prudential Real Estate Investors.
Purchase price: $800 million.
Related note: In May, the nations of Qatar and Kuwait were partners in a deal to buy the GM Building and three other New York towers for $3.95 billion.
Photo Credit: randyr.net
"Le Roi" of Beers: Anheuser-Busch
Anheuser-Busch, which makes nearly half the beer consumed in America, was purchased by the Belgian beer company InBev in July for $52 billion.
The American beer maker traces its roots to 1852 and the establishment of the Bavarian brewery in St. Louis. That brewing company was acquired by Eberhard Anheuser in 1860. His son-in-law, Adolphus Busch, joined the company in 1864.
Budweiser, which the company says is the most popular beer brand in the world, was introduced in 1876. (But Light, the world's No. 2 brand, debuted in 1982.) Anheuser-Busch's St. Louis brewery was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1967.
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Buyer: InBev.
Seller: Anheuser-Busch.
Purchase price: $52 billion.
Related note: In July, Colorado-based Molson Coors Brewing Co. was acquired by the U.K.-based brewer SABMiller PLC, itself created when a foreign beverage company bought a famous American beer company.
Photo Credit: Microsoft Virtual Earth
Trumped: A Trump Mansion
In what has been billed as the most expensive single-family home sale in America, Donald Trump recently sold a 6,000-square foot oceanfront mansion in Palm Beach, Fla., for $95 million. The buyer was Dmitry Rybolovlev, ranked 59th on Forbes magazine's list of the richest people in the world.
Rybolovlev is estimated to be worth $12.8 billion, and made his money in the fertilizer business.
Although Trump did not get his original asking price of $125 million, he came out okay on the deal – he only paid about $41 million when he bought the property in 2004. One of its biggest selling points is 475 feet of unobstructed beach front view.
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Buyer: Russian fertilizer billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev
Seller: Donald Trump.
Purchase price: $95 million
Related note: Renovations on the property were supervised by Kendra Todd, the winner of the third season of Trump's show "The Apprentice."
Photo Credit: Sotheby's
Heart Breaker: Hanging Heart
Hanging Heart, a sculpture by artist Jeffrey Koons, measures nearly nine feet tall and weighs 3,500 pounds. Koons actually made five of them, each in a different color, but the magenta and gold version is the one that set a record when it sold last fall for $23 million at a Sotheby's auction room. That made it the most expensive product of a living artist ever sold at auction.
The buyer was Ukraine's second richest man, Victor Pinchuk, who counts former president Bill Clinton as a friend and whose fortune is estimated at between $5 billion and $10 billion.
Hryvnia vs. dollar: Data not available.
Buyer: Victor Pinchuk, Ukranian steel billionaire.
Seller: Artist Jeffrey Koons.
Purchase price: $23 million.
Related note: The Pinchuk Art Center is the first private museum of contemporary art in the former Soviet Union, and Pinchuk's extensive art collection includes works by Damien Hirst, Koons and Andreas Gursky.
Out of gas: Hummer
The rugged looks and all-terrain capabilities of the U.S. military’s High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV, or Hum-Vee) became synonymous with American military might during the first Gulf War, and many Americans wanted one of these muscle-bound machines of their own.
The Hum-Vee’s manufacturer, AM General (which sold the brand to GM in 1998) obliged by introducing a civilian version with a more comfortable interior and no armor.
But the Hummer’s poor fuel economy has made it less popular in an era of rising gasoline prices, and GM has announced that it plans to sell the iconic brand. Analysts say that Indian, Russian or Chinese automakers would be the most likely buyers.
Indian rupee vs. dollar: Latest rate
Buyer: To be determined.
Seller: General Motors.
Purchase price: GM hopes to sell the Hummer brand and other assets as part of a bid to raise up to $4 billion.
Related note: Indian automaker Tata Motors Ltd. in June completed its purchase of the Land Rover and Jaguar brands from Ford Motor Co. for $2.3 billion in cash.
Photo Credit: plasticrevolver
A bitter pill: Barr Pharmaceuticals
In what ranks as the largest acquisition ever by an Israeli company, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced on July 18 that it would acquire Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $7.46 billion. Teva is already the world's largest maker of generic drugs, and Barr is No. 4.
One of the first makers of generic pharmaceuticals in the U.S., Barr was founded in 1970 and introduced its first generic product in 1972. But the company's business did not really take off until Congress passed the 1984 Drug Price Competition and Patent Restoration Act, which is credited with clearing the way for generic drugs to compete with brand name pharmaceutical products.
Israeli shekel vs. dollar: Latest rate
Buyer: Teva Pharmaceutical Industries of Israel.
Seller: Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Purchase price: $7.46 billion.
Related note: Shortly after announcing the Barr deal, Teva completed its acquisition of Exeter, N.H.-based Bentley Pharmaceuticals, another maker of generic drugs. Bentley is also a global player, and most of its employees are in Spain.
Photo Credit: The Canyons Resort, by Dan Campbell-Lloyd
Slippery Slope: American Skiing Co.
The Canyons Resort, Utah's largest ski area (and the fourth largest in the U.S.), was sold in July to a subsidiary of Toronto-based Talisker Corp. for $123.1 million. Talisker already had more than 10,000 acres worth of residential developments near the Deer Valley and Park City Mountain resorts.
The seller was American Skiing Co., based in Park City, Utah, formerly based in Newry, Me.
American Skiing bought the Canyons in 1996 and at one point owned 11 mountain resorts, two of which (Steamboat Ski Resort in Steamboat Springs, Colo., and Heavenly Ski Resort in Stateline, Nev.) it acquired in 1997 from Kamori International Corp. of Japan.
Canadian dollar vs. dollar: Latest rate
Buyer: Canadian real estate partnership Talisker Canyons Finance Co. LLC.
Seller: American Skiing Co.
Purchase price: $123.1 million.
Related note: At the end of 2006 American Skiing Co. sold its Steamboat Resort, known as Ski Town USA, to Vancouver, British Columbia-based Intrawest ULC for $265 million.
Photo Credit: Novolipetsk Steel
Pipe dreams: John Maneely Co.
John Maneely Co. (JMC), based in Beechwood, Ohio, is the largest independent manufacturer of tubular steel (tubes and pipes) in North America, with 11 factories in the U.S. and Canada.
In August the company agreed to be acquired by Novolipetsk Steel of Russia, which already operates two manufacturing plants in the U.S. via a joint venture.
Novolipetsk's move, if it clears regulatory hurdles, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year. Meanwhile Russia's largest steel company, Evraz, operates eight steel plants in the U.S. Another Russian company, Severstal, has acquired five steel manufacturing facilities in the U.S.
Russian ruble vs. dollar: Latest rate
Buyer: Novolipetsk Steel.
Seller: John Maneely Co.
Purchase price: $3.53 billion.
Related note: Novolipetsk made its announcement just as U.S.-Russian relations were strained by Russia's military moves against Georgia, which could complicate the regulatory approvals the deal needs before it can go through.
Photo Credit: Public Domain
The Philadelphia story: Philadelphia Consolidated
Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp., a leading property and casualty insurer with 47 offices and approximately 1,400 employees across the U.S., has agreed to be acquired by Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. of Japan.
“When opportunities to acquire a premier organization arise,” Tokio Marine president Shuzu Sumi said in a statement, “the best response is to act.”
For Tokio Marine and its subsidiary, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd., the deal represents an opportunity to diversify internationally, making it less dependent on the Japanese market, and establish a major presence in the U.S.
Japanese yen vs. dollar: Latest rate
Buyer: Tokio Marine Holdings Inc.
Seller: Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp.
Purchase price: $4.7 billion.
Related note: In March Tokio Marine moved into the U.K. market by acquiring Lloyd’s of London insurer Kiln for £442.2 million ($823.5 million).
Photo Credit: NAVTEQ
Plotting a Course: NAVTEQ
Finland’s Nokia, the world’s leading cellphone manufacturer, in July completed its $8.1 billion purchase of NAVTEQ, which provides comprehensive digital map data for automotive navigation systems, mobile navigation devices and Internet-based mapping applications.
The Chicago-based NAVTEQ was founded in 1985 and now has about 3,000 employees, working in 168 offices scattered across 30 countries.
Nokia paid what some investors considered a premium price for the American firm, which reported sales of $853.4 million in 2007. But the cellphone giant says mapping data will allow it to add location-based services to its mobile Internet offerings.
Euro vs. dollar: Latest rate
Buyer: Nokia Corp.
Seller: NAVTEQ.
Purchase price: $8.1 billion.
Related note: In 2006 Nokia bought gate5, a small company in Berlin that specializes in navigational software for cellphones. But NAVTEQ is Nokia’s biggest acquisition ever.