In the mid-1980's, Mr. Fayed and his brothers bought Harrods and its highly regarded parent retail chain, the House of Fraser, for more than $:1 billion.

Since Time Warner bought Fine Line's parent, Turner Broadcasting, last year, even that "independent" studio has had a big budget to devote to its Oscar campaign.

Mr. Saban, a Hollywood investor, has agreed to buy N24's parent, ProSiebenSat.1, which is Germany's largest private broadcaster.

Richard A. Smith, the 81-year-old entrepreneur who bought Neiman Marcus's parent in 1984, owns 31 percent of the Class B voting shares with his family.

The pilots had bid $110 a share to buy United's parent in 1987, when its stock was far cheaper.

In 2011 after its United States subsidiary bought its European parent for $15 million it is based in Kansas City, Missouri.

In a twist of fate, Filene's itself was headed for the Campeau fold last year when the Canadian company bought its former parent, Federated.

However, in 1925 Columbia Graphophone bought its former parent for $2.5 million.

The brands' distributor changed in November when Bacardi Imports bought their parent, Martini & Rossi.

Chrysler acquired Jeep when it bought its parent, American Motors, in 1987.