Holiday Inn
Original Headquarters: Memphis, Tennessee
Purchased By: Intercontinental Hotels
Country: England
It’s hard to believe now, but in 1952, Holiday Inn was merely a solitary motel on the road from Memphis to Nashville. Kemmons Wilson first came up with the notion after having a bad experience on a family road trip to Washington, D.C. By 1953, Wilson had formed a partnership with Wallace E. Johnson to establish more locations. In the late 1980s, the well-established hotel chain was purchased by the Intercontinental Hotels Group, an English firm. IHG continues to own Holiday Inn sites, demonstrating that it was a wise investment.
Holiday Inn
Smithfield
Original Headquarters: Smithfield, VA
Purchased By: WH Group
Country: Hong Kong
Smithfield Foods is the undisputed leader in the production of pork-based products. Joseph W. Luter and his son founded the company in 1936, and it has been operating ever since. The company evolved steadily over time to become one of the largest in the sector, with over 500 farms in America alone. In 2013, WH Group paid an astounding $4.72 billion for Smithfield Foods. At the time, it was the most costly acquisition by a Chinese corporation in America. So, while Smithfield’s headquarters are in Smithfield, Virginia, the corporation is operated from Luohe, Henan province.
Smithfield
