Swire Industries
 |
|
| Private | |
| Industry | Conglomerate |
| Founded | 1816 |
| Headquarters | London, England, UK |
|
Key people
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Barnaby Swire, Chairman Merlin Swire, Chief Executive John Slosar (Chairman, Swire Pacific) |
| Products | property, aviation, beverages, food chain, shipping, offshore support services, agriculture, manufacturing, wholesale and retail, mining |
|
Number of employees
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130,783 |
| Subsidiaries | Swire Pacific, Swire Properties, Cathay Pacific, Cathay Dragon, HAECO, Steamships Trading Company, Swire Beverages, The China Navigation Company, Swire Resources, Swire Foods |
| Website | www.swire.com |
The Swire Group is a diversified conglomerate, headquartered in Swire House in the City of Westminster, London. Many of its core businesses can be found within the Asia Pacific region, where traditionally Swire's operations have centred on Hong Kong and Mainland China. Within Asia, Swire's activities come under the group's publicly quoted arm, Swire Pacific Limited. Elsewhere in the world, many businesses are held directly by parent company, John Swire & Sons Limited, in Australia, Papua New Guinea, East Africa, Sri Lanka, the USA and UK. Swire controls a large property empire in Asia - mainly Hong Kong. The current chairman is Barnaby Swire. Taikoo (太古) is the Chinese name of Swire. It serves as the brand name for businesses such as Taikoo Sugar and Taikoo Shing.
The Swire Group's privately owned parent company is John Swire & Sons Limited. The Swire Group, started by John Swire (1793–1847) in 1816, had its beginnings as a modest Liverpool import-export company based mainly on the textile trade. John Swire's sons, John Samuel (1825-1898) and William Hudson (1830-1884) took the firm overseas and it was John Samuel Swire in particular whose entrepreneurial instincts would be at the root of the firm's successes in years to come. In 1861, John Swire & Sons Limited began to trade with China through agents Augustine Heard & Co. In 1866, in partnership with R.S. Butterfield, Butterfield & Swire was established in Shanghai. Four years later, a Hong Kong branch of Butterfield & Swire was also opened.
Four years after the establishment of the People's Republic of China, Butterfield & Swire closed all of its China offices. In 1974, Butterfield & Swire in Hong Kong was renamed John Swire & Sons (H.K.) Ltd..
The Swire Group's core businesses in Hong Kong are held by the publicly quoted Swire Pacific Limited. The Group's core businesses are grouped into: property, aviation, beverages and food chain, marine services, and trading and industrial. Swire Pacific Limited is listed on the as Swire Pacific Limited : 0019 (A-shares) : 0087 (B-shares). In 1948, Swire Pacific acquired Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong's largest airline, and remains as the largest shareholder with 45% shareholding.
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Wikipedia