Thread: Illegal money comes back to buy up American business

Mexican investment in U.S. companies soaring
63 commentsby Sergio Solache - Jun. 17, 2010 12:00 AM
Republic Mexico City Bureau .

MEXICO CITY - A new kind of Mexican immigrant is making it big in the United States: huge Mexican corporations that are snapping up U.S. brand names, opening U.S. factories and investing millions of pesos north of the border.

From Thomas' English muffins to Borden milk, Saks Fifth Avenue department stores to the New York Times newspaper, Mexican investors have taken advantage of low interest rates and depressed prices during the economic crisis to quietly expand their holdings in "el norte."


New investment in the United States by Mexican companies rose to nearly $8 billion in 2008 from $3.6 billion in 2005, according to the latest statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce. Mexican companies employ about 59,000 people in the United States.

"These companies show we're not just a bunch of uneducated migrants," said Jorge Smeke, a business professor at Iberoamerican University in Mexico City. "Clearly, there are Mexican investments (in the United States) that are creating jobs."

Newcomers include Grupo Lala, Mexico's largest dairy company, which is based in Gómez Palacios in the northern state of Durango.

Lala bought a yogurt plant in Omaha, Neb., in 2007. In 2009, it purchased Dallas-based National Dairy Holdings, which controls the Borden brand and 18 regional dairies selling milk under the names Flav-O-Rich, Dairy Fresh, Velda Farms, Sinton's, Cream O' Weber, Goldenrod and others.

Grupo Bimbo, Latin America's largest baked-goods company, has also expanded its U.S. operations.

In 2009, Mexico City-based Bimbo bought the U.S. baked-goods operations of Weston Foods Inc. for $2.4 billion, taking over 22 industrial bakeries and 4,000 distribution routes. In all, the Mexican company has 35 bakeries in the United States turning out everything from national brands such as Entenmann's pastries, Boboli pizza crusts and Thomas' English muffins to regional brands like Brownberry bread and Mrs. Baird's snack cakes. About 43 percent of Bimbo's 2009 sales were in the United States.

Like Bimbo and Lala, many of the Mexican companies operate regional subsidiaries, a structure that obscures their immense size.

Cemex, the world's third-largest cement maker, markets its products as Victor, Dixie, Richmortar or other names, depending on the U.S. state.

"Many people don't even realize (the companies) are Mexican," said Teresa Gutierrez-Haces, an economist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Cemex became a giant in size in 2008 after acquiring Australia's Rinker Group Ltd. for $14 billion. The deal included 415 U.S. plants that make cement, gravel, blocks and other building materials. The company says it employs about 18,000 people in the United States.

The Mexican investment in the United States is good news for both countries, said Lorraine Eden, a professor of management at Texas A&M University. The United States benefits with jobs, new investment and tax income, while the stream of foreign profits strengthens Mexico's own economy.

"In the end, it improves growth and competitiveness back home in Mexico," Eden said. "It's a two-way flow, and it's good for both of us."

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has also been expanding his empire into the United States. In March, Forbes Magazine ranked him as the world's richest person, beating out Americans Bill Gates and Warren Buffett with a net worth of $53.5 billion.

In 2008, Slim bought a 6.9 percent share in the New York Times Co., making him the largest shareholder after the Ochs-Sulzberger family. He also increased his stake in the Saks Fifth Avenue department stores to 18 percent from 10.9 percent.

On Tuesday, Slim entered the Manhattan real-estate market, buying an office building on Fifth Avenue for $140 million.

Meanwhile, América Móvil, a cellphone company controlled by Slim, has increased its U.S. subscribers 26 percent since 2008, to 15 million from 11 million. The company sells no-contract cellphone service under the names TracFone, Straight Talk and Net10.

Some Mexican companies have benefited from the spread of Hispanic culture in the United States.

Gruma SAB de CV, which claims to be the world's largest maker of tortillas, wraps and corn flour, now makes 47 percent of its sales in the United States and Europe because of the growing popularity of Mexican food.

The company has 25 bakeries and flour mills in Texas, California, Indiana and Kentucky. It is a major supplier to restaurants and fast-food chains. And the González Barrera family, which controls Gruma, also owns one of Mexico's largest banks, Banorte, which in 2009 bought Texas-based Inter National Bank.

"They're not going (to the United States) just to sell to Latinos anymore," said Juan Enciso, an economics professor with the Institute for Advanced and Continuing Studies in Monterrey.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepubli ... z0r9nDP4JK

Is this not wonderful news and yet another view point of the hipocracy of "helping the poor people that only want a better life!" The illegal money being sent to Mexico comes back to buy us out.

The attitude with which this thread begins is messed up.

There is more remittance money being sent by Mexican American citizens and legal immigrants than by illegal aliens. Mexico has a strong economy and it is improving despite problems. It has a large internal economy when it is compared globally even without remittances from here.

It is destined to be our largest trade partner larger than either China or Canada. China with it's size and distance produces internally and imports from third countries in categories in which Mexico sources from the U.S. The American market in second hand cars and appliances is also heavily impacted by buyers in Mexico.

The current expectation of amnesty here is actually slowing down growth there. Remittance funds received in Mexico which should be going to pay for acquisition of productive assets is instead going to manufactured food and clothing. What is more much of which is imported or produced in Mexico's largest cities. The companies that are benefiting include Walmart and HEB and the modern world class giant processors. There is going to be growth in the smaller Mexican regional producers and there will be more sales by the larger Mexican producers here instead of to the remittance beneficiaries.

If they were to produce their own or bought from closer sources it would improve their living standards by furthering savings and circulating the money in the local economy. They would have less reason to even want to come here. Unfortunately right now more remittance money goes to coyotes than to education. More of their remittance money used for durable expenditure goes to building fancy modern second homes than to silos, barns, warehouses and factory shells.

The Mexican community here has the right to decide to send remittances just as you have a right to spend your money abroad but as it is way to much remittance money sent to Mexico is going to the wrong purposes

wonder if they have a token white guy...

Buying Mexican
Mexican companies have been quietly expanding in the United States. Here are some brands that are Mexican-owned:

Grupo Bimbo

Entenmann's pastries.

Thomas' English muffins.

Arnold bread. Oroweat bread.

Mrs. Baird's snack cakes.

Grupo Lala

Borden dairy products.

Flav-O-Rich milk.

Dairy Fresh milk.

Grupo Mexico

Asarco copper mines.

América Móvil

TracFone cellphone service.

Straight Talk cellphone service.

Net10 cellphone service.

Sources: Grupo Lala, Grupo Bimbo, Grupo Mexico, América Móvil


Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepubli ... z0rA152twi

The rich ruling class in Mexico who probably own these companies is white, just not Anglo white.

Originally Posted by Bowman

The rich ruling class in Mexico who probably own these companies is white, just not Anglo white.

Ummm...don't think so... LA RAZA!!

And the González Barrera family, which controls Gruma, also owns one of Mexico's largest banks, Banorte, which in 2009 bought Texas-based Inter National Bank.

The family of Carlos Slim his parents, his wife, his childrens spouses are all Lebanese Christian.

But, but . . . we need to send millions to Mexico to help them create jobs for their people. Otherwise, they'll all come here. So much for THAT argument.

BTW, will these Mexican companies be obliged to use E-Verify?