Jardine Matheson

Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, engages in motor vehicles and related operations, property investment and development, food retailing, health and beauty, home furnishings, engineering and construction, and transportation businesses. 

It is also involved in restaurants and hotels, financial services, heavy equipment, mining, and agribusinesses. The company offers airport ground handling, aviation and transport services; engineering, sourcing, and contracting services, as well as owns and operates air cargo terminals, and invests in residential properties. It is involved in the Pizza Hut and KFC franchise restaurants operations; designing, engineering, installation, maintenance, and modernization of escalators, and moving walkways; and supplying aseptic packaging materials. 

In addition, the company provides automobile and motorcycle products, as well as sells and services motor vehicles; invests in, owns, develops, and manages the office and retail properties; operates outlets, including supermarkets, hypermarkets, convenience stores, health and beauty stores, and home furnishings stores; and invests in and manages a portfolio of deluxe and first-class hotels, resorts, and residences. Further, it engages in the motor dealerships, dairy, and cement businesses. 

Additionally, the company is involved in the energy, infrastructure, logistics, insurance brokerage, and information technology businesses. It operates in China, Southeast Asia, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company was founded in 1832 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.

The firm of Jardine, Matheson & Company emerged in 1832 from an evolving process of partnership changes in the trading business Cox & Reid, a partnership established in 1782 between John Cox and John Reid, the latter having been agent of the Austrian trading company, Trieste Company. 

University of Edinburgh Medical School graduate William Jardine joined the firm, by then having morphed through Cox & Beale, Beale & Company and Beale & Magniac into Magniac & Company, and the original partners are long gone, in 1825 at the invitation of principal Hollingworth Maniac. University of Edinburgh graduate James Matheson joined three years later as Magniac prepared to retire. With the cession of Hong Kong under the 1842 Treaty of Nanking, the firm, by then named Jardine, Matheson & Company, set up its headquarters on the island and grew rapidly. 

Continuing its longstanding trade in smuggled opium, tea, and cotton, the firm diversified into other areas including insurance, shipping, and railways. By the mid-19th century, the company had become the largest of the hongs or foreign trading conglomerates with offices in all the important Chinese cities as well as Yokohama, Japan. One of its branch agencies, Glover and Co., established in Nagasaki, was known in Japan as an arms dealer who contracted with then-rebel forces from Choshu Domain who led the Meiji Restoration in 1868.

In the early decades of the 20th century, Jardines built cotton mills, a press packing plant, and a brewery in Shanghai while expanding into Africa, America, and Australia. When war came to China in 1937, the firm suffered heavily both in Hong Kong and in mainland China.

After the 1949 foundation of the People's Republic of China, trading conditions for foreign companies under the new Communist regime became increasingly difficult. The firm was listed in Hong Kong in 1961. The landmark Mandarin Hotel opened in Hong Kong in 1963 as the city's first five-star hotel.

In 1970, Jardine Fleming, the first merchant bank in Asia, opened for business while a real estate company and sugar plantations in Hawaii and the Philippines were acquired. A Hong Kong building boom in the mid-1970s saw Jardine buy Gammon Construction, the largest construction and civil engineering group on the island. A presence was re-established on the mainland in 1979 following China's reform and opening up and a year later the firm established the Beijing Air Catering Company Ltd., the first foreign joint venture in the country since 1954. During the 1970s Jardines also expanded their insurance interests with acquisitions in the United Kingdom and the United States laying the groundwork for the foundation of Jardine Insurance Brokers. 

By 1980, the firm had operations in southern Africa, Australia, China, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand, as well as the United States, and employed 37,000 people. After re-domiciling to Bermuda in 1984 ahead of the 1997 handover of Hong Kong, in 1990 Jardine Matheson Holdings and four other listed group companies arranged primary share listings on the London Stock Exchange in addition to their Hong Kong listings. Other significant developments during this decade included the merging of Jardine Insurance Brokers with Lloyd Thompson to form Jardine Lloyd Thompson, the acquisition of a 16% interest in Singapore blue-chip Cycle & Carriage and Dairy Farm’s purchase of a significant stake in Indonesia's leading supermarket group Hero. Hotel brand Mandarin Oriental also embarked on a strategy to double its available rooms and improve returns.

The first decade of the new millennium saw Jardine Cycle & Carriage acquire an initial 31% stake in Astra International, which has since been increased to just over 50%. Hongkong Land became a Group subsidiary for the first time following a multi-year programme of steady open market purchases while Jardine Pacific raised its interest in Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited from 25% to 42%. In 2018, Jardines sold its 41% interest in Jardine Lloyd Thompson to Marsh and McLennan Companies.

Jardine Matheson's mission is to create long-term value for stakeholders by investing in businesses that operate in industries with attractive long-term prospects, where we can leverage our unique advantages to create significant shareholder value. 

The company strives to foster an entrepreneurial culture, attract and retain high-calibre talent, and maintain a commitment to good corporate governance and social responsibility.

Jardine Matheson's vision is to be a leading Asian-based conglomerate recognized for its ability to generate sustainable long-term growth and create value for all stakeholders. 

The company aims to achieve this by pursuing opportunities in diverse industries, fostering a culture of innovation and continuous improvement, and maintaining a focus on operational excellence and customer satisfaction.

The companies are at the forefront of their markets, across a wide range of sectors, including motor vehicles, property, food retailing, health and beauty, home furnishings, engineering and construction, transport services, restaurants, luxury hotels, financial services, heavy equipment, mining and agribusiness.