November 8, 2006

Welcome to the Hoover's EMEA 50, a monthly list of the companies in the Europe-Middle East-Africa region that are most searched on Hoover's. Derived by tracking the search requests of Hoover's subscribers, the Hoover's EMEA 50 provides insight on which companies are being watched most closely by corporate executives, as well as sales, marketing, and business development professionals, who represent a large portion of Hoover's customers.

The news behind the biggest movers on this month's Hoover's EMEA 50 ranged from major moves in the beer industry to major re-launches in the sunglasses industry.

SABMiller plc (From #70 to #44)

While most Americans are more familiar with the "Miller" part of SABMiller's name, and while "SAB" originally stood for South African Breweries, the company now makes its headquarters in London. But the global ambitions of the company don't stop with three continents: in October, the brewing giant announced several moves focused on its assets in the Andes. It offered to buy out minority stakes in three breweries that produce SABMiller's brand Pilsner -- Ecuador's most popular lager -- and announced that it would debut the Barena brand in neighboring Peru. Meanwhile, SABMiller announced plans to bring several of its popular Latin American brands, including Aguila from Colombia and Cristal from Peru, to expatriate communities living in areas of the U.S., such as Florida and New York.
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Luxottica Group S.p.A (From #65 to #41)

Italy-based Luxottica Group is hoping to capitalize on all-American nostalgia with the relaunch of Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses. The world's largest eyewear firm, Luxottica offers upscale eyeglass frames and sunglasses across countless brands. While Luxottica licenses some of these brands, like Chanel and Prada, from their owners, it owns the Ray-Ban name outright. (The company also dominates in the U.S. eyeglass retail sector, since it owns LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, and the in-house optical shops of Sears and Target -- not to mention Sunglass Hut.) During October, Luxottica rolled out a major revision of the Ray-Ban Wayfarer line, which enjoyed surges of popularity in the 1960s and 1980s.
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