Carson arrives in Ceylon.
Carson opens his first office in Baillie
Street in Colombo to import cotton goods.
The Company obtains the Agency of London
Assurance.
H. Cumberbatch, a coffee planter, joins
Sabonadiere and Company, an organisation
that was foremost among the estate
agencies of that period and dealt with the
produce of 113 plantations.
Sabonadiere and Company declares
bankruptcy with the decline of the coffee
industry. H. Cumberbatch resurrects the
interests of the Company under the name
Cumberbatch & Company, which goes on
to become one of the most recognised
estate agency houses in the Island.
Carson & Company obtains the agency in
Ceylon for the Bibby Line of Steamers.
Carson & Company acquires the agencies
for the Nippon Yusen and the White Star
Line of steamers.
Carson & Company moves to Australia
Building in York Street, Fort.
The Grand Central Ceylon Rubber Estates
belonging to Carson & Company are
floated on the London Stock Exchange with
an authorised capital of 1.5 million
sterling pounds, making it the largest
rubber concern in Sri Lanka.
Carson & Company is converted into a
limited liability company.
The merger between Carson & Company
Limited and Cumberbatch & Company,
results in the name of the Company being
changed to Carson Cumberbatch PLC (CCCL).
Leechman & Company Limited, which was
incorporated in 1953, becomes a subsidiary
of CCCL.
Carsons made a strategic decision to shift
from rubber plantations to oil palm
cultivation in Malaysia. Around the same
time, Kanapathy Selvanathan and his sons,
Manoharan and Hariharan Selvanathan, join
the business and, with their strategic
foresight, invest in CCCL.
CCCL moves into a new office complex at
Vauxhall Lane, Colombo 2.
CCCL diversifies into hotels, real estate
and investments. The Group builds two
hotels - Giritale Hotel and Moonlight
Beach Hotel and takes over the management
of Pegasus Reef Hotel.
The Government commences the
nationalisation of estates, and CCCL’s
office complex and a section of its stores
at Vauxhall Lane are acquired. CCCL moves
back to the Australia Building in York
Street, Fort.
CCCL constructs its own office premises at
67, Dharmapala Mawatha, Colombo 7.
Sri Krishna Corporation Limited, a
renowned manufacturing and exporting house
in Sri Lanka owned by the Selvanathan
Family, a 75 year old company, which is a
leading manufacturing and exporting house
in Sri Lanka, acquires a controlling
interest in Carson Cumberbatch PLC.
CCCL demolishes the building occupied by
the Company’s airline and travel sectors
on Janadhipathi Mawatha to build a new
office complex, Equity Two.
CCCL enters into a joint venture with Unit
Trust of India, Bank of Ceylon and HSBC
Asset Management Company to set up one of
Sri Lanka's pioneering fund management
companies.
CCCL secures the management contract for
Elpitiya Plantations, which the Company
had managed until privatisation.
Carsons Management Services (Private)
Limited is established to provide
management services to all the companies
of the Group.
Carsons expands its interest in oil palm
plantations into Indonesia. A plantation
project under PT Agro Indomas commences in
Central Kalimantan, increasing the
overseas oil palm plantations land bank
from 1,800 hectares to 18,000 hectares.
A state-of-the-art brewery at Biyagama is
commissioned, which will more than double
the Group’s brewing capacity.
CCCL takes over the management of three
investment holding companies - the Ceylon
Guardian Investment Trust Limited, the
Ceylon Investment Trust Limited and the
Rubber Investment Trust Limited
The Group divests its stake in Moonlight
Beach Hotel.
The first mill commenced operations in PT
Agro Indomas to process palm fruits to
crude palm oil with a milling capacity of
297,000MT per annum.
Sale of Bukit Darah oil palm estate in
Malaysia in order to re-invest funds in
Indonesia to acquire a new plantation
project of 20,000 hectares under PT Agro
Bukit in Central Kalimantan.
Goodhope Asia Holdings Ltd was
incorporated in Singapore as the holding
company of the plantations sector to
consolidate and regionalize the sector's
asset base.
A Kernel Crushing Plant was commissioned
in PT Agro Bukit with a crushing capacity
of 108,000MT per annum. Commissioned a
Bulking Station in Bagendang Port in
Sampit, Indonesia with a storage capacity
of 10,500MT.
Goodhope acquires Premium Vegetable Oils
Sdn Bhd (Malaysia) and Arani Agro Oil
Industries (India), both specializing in
palm oil refining and manufacturing. This
acquisition strategically positions
Goodhope in the plantations, oils, and
fats sector by integrating the palm oil
value chain.
Lion Brewery acquires Millers Brewery.
Premium’s downstream sector enters a
joint-venture partnership with Japan’s
market leader in oils and fats
manufacturing, J-Oil Mills.
Investment companies launches a USD 4.5
million overseas investment initiative via
a fund structure in the Republic of
Mauritius.
Lion Beer (Ceylon) Pte. Ltd. is
incorporated in Singapore.
