Fortune Brands

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Fortune Brands

Type	Public (NYSE: FO)
Founded	1969
Headquarters	Deerfield, Illinois, USA
Key people	Norm Wesley, Chairman & CEO
Industry	Green Inc.
Products	Moen Master Lock Jim Beam DeKuyper Knob Creek Vox Vodka El Tesoro Titleist FootJoy
Revenue	▲$7.32 billion USD (2004) [1]
Employees	34,000
Website	www.fortunebrands.com

Fortune Brands, NYSE: FO is a holding company founded in 1969 as American Brands and later re-named in 1997. The corporate headquarters are in Deerfield, Illinois in the United States.

1 History
2 Past divisions
- 2.1 ACCO
3 Present divisions

[edit] History

The American Tobacco Company was founded in 1890, and in 1969 American Brands became its parent company.

[edit] Past divisions

[edit] ACCO

In 1987 American Brands acquired ACCO, a holding company which owned several office supply subsidiaries, which included the Swingline brand. In 2005, the company spun-off ACCO to shareholders, and immediately thereafter ACCO merged with General Binding Corporation. This merged company is now known as ACCO Brands.

[edit] Present divisions

[edit] Golf Division

The Acushnet Company (purchased in 1976) is now Fortune Brands' golf division, producing golf balls, shoes, and clubs.

Fortune sold off the Acushnet Company's Acushnet Rubber division in 1985, which was Acushnet's original business (circa early 1900s).

The Golf Division is made up of the following companies:

[edit] Home and hardware

Included in this division are the following, which have annual sales of over $4 billion:

Waterloo Industries
Masterbrand Cabinets
- Aristokraft Cabinets
- Cabinets by Diamond
- Omega Cabinetry
- Home Crest Cabinets
- Schrock Cabinetry
- Kitchen Craft Cabinetry
- Decora
- Capital Cabinets
Moen
Fypon
Therma-Tru Doors
Simonton Windows
Master Lock
American Lock
Hy-Lite Products, Inc.

[edit] Spirits

Fortune Brands maintains a stable of well known and spirits brands, led by Jim Beam. In July 2005, Fortune Brands and French spirits company Pernod Ricard acquired over 25 additional spirits and wine brands from British holding company Allied Domecq.

In November 2007, Constellation Brands announced a purchase of Fortune Brands' wine operations for $885 million USD, a transaction that added 1,500 acres (6.1 km²) of vineyards, several major brands such as Clos du Bois, and 2.6 million cases per year of "super-premium" class wine production.