Few would be surprised to hear that corporations in America have investors from abroad, but it may come as a shock to some that companies once thought to be bastions of corporate America are being bought up by Mexican giants.  In just the past few years, Mexican companies like Grupo Televisa, Grupo Bimbo SAB, and Carlos Slim’s América Movil have been doing just that.

Notably, América Movil raised its stake in the New York Times Company to over 7 percent, or more than 10.6 million class A shares as recently as August.  Slim and his company had previously loaned $250 million to the Grey Lady to help it recover from a  stock slump, amid speculation that the entire industry’s shrinking advertising revenues spelled death for the company and its counterparts.

Grupo Bimbo—who may need to consider changing their name to better appeal to American customers—has also aggressively expanded into the U.S.  In 2011, Grupo Bimbo, one of the world’s largest bakers of bread, purchased Sara Lee Corporation’s bakery business in the US and right to use the Sara Lee brand of baked goods for $959 million.  This purchase came on the heels of a $2.5 billion purchase of George Weston Ltd., a Canadian corporation with a large presence in the U.S., and producer of household names like Boboli, Thomas’ and Entenmanns’s, just to name a few.

One more example of Mexican deal activity in the U.S. is Televisa’s purchase of a 5 percent stake in Univision, the largest Spanish-television network in America.  The $1.2 billion acquisition in 2010 may be just the beginning for Mexico’s largest mass media company.  Televisa now owns 6 percent of Univision and could exercise a right to increase its stake up to 30 percent by converting the debt it holds in the company.  Whether or not Televisa chooses to exercise this right is still be up in the air, but what’s certain is that companies like Televisa are exerting greater influence over Corporate America than ever before.

Recommended for you:

1. Four Months Pre-Trial Detention for $35 from Husband’s Wallet