Updated: Fri, 08 Jun 2012 08:35:40 GMT | By Felicity Hannah, contributor, MSN Money
British brands with foreign owners

A look at some of the key brands that are no longer British-owned



British firms that now have foreign owners (© Image © PA Photos)
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They're iconic brands, and you may think they're fundamentally British. But did you know they're owned by overseas investors?

From Rolls-Royce to Cadbury, here are some of the British brands with foreign owners...

49Comments
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WHAT HAPPENED TO THE GREAT BRITISH BUISNESSES, THEY HAVE GONE AND SO HAS GREAT BRITAIN,  R.I.P.
06/06/2012 17:45
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Investors ? riping off Britain more likely, industries like gas,electric , water & transport should be run by us (Britain), any profit made should be reinvested in GB, not back into foreign coffers, yes make a profit, but not to the excess as now being made, profit could be redistabuted into the welfare state, looking & caring after our own, so Im a socialist according to my local Labour MP, if only we could choose freely, our own destination, not to be told by the EU, yes we need the EU, but for trade only. so if the French,French & German Companies turned off the tap on water,electric what would we do.

Yes foreign companies have brought Britain- but sent the work back to thier respective countries to keep their economies afloat & we have allowed them to do that; & suffer.

06/06/2012 18:11
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Lets stand together and not buy these anymore. All those that are moaning but then buy HP sauce, yadda yadda...Its like petrol..if we all refused to buy just 1 day, but no one joins in...

 

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When Rowntrees made Kit -Kat it had a clean taste, once Nestle took over it became much too sweet
06/06/2012 17:50
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it makes you sick. all the public owned companys,sold off for profit,greed. this country is definately a dog eat dog place. the only people who earned out of this is the rich and still are!! and wot do the public get out of it? nothing as usual!!!
06/06/2012 18:07
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Makes you sick, but then that is what is wrong with this country, that stupid c*w Thatcher privatised everything and when a foreign company comes along to do yet another hostile takeover, all the pathetic shareholders just think of their personal benefit, not as they should, if the takeover will benefit the company - look at BAA - just 6 years ago it was the World's largest Airport operator, now it is a badly run shadow of its former self. I say stop ALL foreign takeovers now.....
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iconic brands owned by foreigners?, that will be pretty much everything then...
06/06/2012 20:19
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gas/eletric/water/petrol/lots ov food types all foreign owned companies thats why we are ripped off,in a sentence we are foreign owned,we get told wat to do and we just do it end ov.
06/06/2012 19:02
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                                        BUY BRITISH !!!!!!  make an effort this isn't funny :-(
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Buy local foods only! We should still own these brands, they was ours!

Have you noticed how crap they taste since the foreigners took over them.

06/06/2012 19:14
06/06/2012 17:30
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AND they all have deteriorated in taste ..I hate the chocolate products, and the cheese dips are loathsome .... wonder what they are doing to these products?to make them taste soo awful
06/06/2012 19:58
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Tory land, Steven? Even I now some of these brands sold under Labour Government! 
06/06/2012 22:15
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Your a **** Andy. Your the simpleton. I,m not a Labour supporter, so don,t think that. Thatcher has ruined this country. Other countries look after their people, not take their eyes out. Take their jobs then persecute them for not having jobs. We buy coal from countries who subsidise their workforce who dig it up so their communities can have work & the money circulates in the community. Either that or feed them a bowl of rice a day & exploit them. Yeah that,s the way forward in this day & age. Your the blinded individual. Oh was it not Thatcher who didnt act when she got intelligence that Argentina was massing forces & guess which way they were heading. Only one way to the Falklands. She thought she could win an easy war & that would win her an election. It was a miricle we won it & she got a load of our lads killed needlessly. The only way she beat the miners was because she bought our wonderfull corrupt, hipocrite, lying police force. They were going on strike untill she waved money in their faces. Get you facts right before you talk utter crap on here
06/06/2012 21:46
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It's disgraceful Thatcher sold everything to foreigners ..... only tories can do that sold the crown jewels .... any idiot who doesn't know that needs further education! A country should never sell it's communications (bt), its water, its gas, electric or railways which are paramount to our survival as a nation, but she did and look at our outgoings per family and getting worse, soon Royal Mail will be owned by overseas  investors
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MAKES ME FEEL ANGRY, ASHAMED AND EMBARRASED TO BE BRITISH. NO WONDER WE HAVE NO BLOODY JOBS IN THIS COUNTRY. POLITICIANS OF ALL PARTYS HAVE SOLD THIS COUNTRY DOWN THE RIVER. THEY ARE TRAITORS, LIARS, CORRUPT SCUMBAGS WHO DESERVE TO BE SHOT FOR WHAT THEY HAVE DONE TO THIS ONCE GREAT COUNTRY!!. ALL WE HAVE NOW IS OUR HISTORY!!
06/06/2012 22:09
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i am a single mum who has been trying to get a job for the past five years and in this current climate its impossible.i also think that britain joining the eu was a big mistake because now when ever another country is in trouble finacially who is it that has to foot the bill us brits! its about time that we should  stand up as a nation and say enough is enough instead of just taking what ever crap the goverment chuck at us!

06/06/2012 19:50
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this is really stupid, so why is Britain selling their main products?
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