other uses see jardines disambiguation . see also history of jardine matheson & co. jardine matheson holdings ltd. type public industry conglomerate founded 1832 ; 184 years ago 1832 founder william jardine james matheson headquarters hong kong area served worldwide key people sir henry keswick chairman ben keswick md adam keswick dmd products retail real estate financial services shipping and aviation construction auto & truck parts hotels revenue us 42.1 billion 2016 website jardines.com jardine matheson co ltd traditional chinese simplified chinese transcriptions standard mandarin hanyu pinyin y h l nchu n g ngs yue cantonese jyutping ji4 wo4 2 leon4 syun4 gung1 si1 jardine matheson holdings jardines is a british conglomerate incorporated in bermuda with its primary listing on the singapore exchange . the majority of its business interests are in asia and its subsidiaries include jardine pacific jardine motors jardine lloyd thompson hongkong land jardine strategic holdings dairy farm mandarin oriental hotel group jardine cycle & carriage and astra international . 1 2 3 jardines was one of the original hong kong trading houses or hongs that date back to imperial china and as of december 2010 41 percent of the company s profits are still earned in china . 4 the company is controlled by the keswick family who are descendants of co founder william jardine s older sister jean johnstone . in 2013 both jardine matheson and jardine strategic were among the top 200 publicly traded companies in the world as valued by market capitalization . 5 contents 1 history 1.1 19th century to wwii the early days 1.2 post second world war restructuring and expansion 2 21st century operations 2.1 jardine pacific 2.2 jardine motors 2.3 hongkong land 2.4 dairy farm 2.5 jardine lloyd thompson 2.6 mandarin oriental 2.7 jardine cycle & carriage 2.8 astra international 2.9 corporate structure 2.10 directors as of 2016 2.11 scottish leadership 3 influence 4 see also 5 notes 6 references 7 further reading 8 external links history edit 19th century to wwii the early days edit main article history of jardine matheson & co. william jardine and james matheson the firm s founders 1846 view of jardine s original building from causeway bay hong kong . the firm of jardine matheson and co. properly began in canton now guangzhou china on 1 july 1832 . it was founded by university of edinburgh medical school graduate william jardine 1784 1843 and university of edinburgh graduate james matheson 6 1796 1878 and carried on the existing business of cox reid and beale a firm which had begun as agents of the austrian empire s trieste company . 7 with the cession of hong kong under the 1842 treaty of nanking the firm set up its headquarters on the island and grew rapidly . initially trading in smuggled opium tea and cotton jardines soon diversified into other areas including insurance shipping and railways . by the turn of the 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 . 8 9 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 . 10 post second world war restructuring and expansion edit in 1961 after the firm s flotation 11 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 s buy gammon construction the largest construction and civil engineering group on the island . 12 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 . 13 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 . 14 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 thailand as well as the united states and employed 37 000 people . 11 after redomiciling 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 . mandarin oriental also embarked on its strategy to double its available rooms and capitalize on its brand . 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 % . 21st century operations edit jardine s headquarters jardine house jardines today comprises a group of companies with extensive operations across asia and through some of its businesses the world . the firm s business interests include jardine pacific jardine motors hongkong land dairy farm mandarin oriental jardine cycle & carriage through which its interest in astra is held and jardine lloyd thompson . the group also has strategic interests in other entities . jardine pacific edit jardine pacific is a holding company which represents a significant number of the group s non listed interests in asia principally in engineering and construction transport services restaurants and it services . these include a number of jardines long standing businesses such as jardine engineering corporation jec jardine shipping services jardine aviation services hong kong air cargo terminals jardine schindler gammon construction and jardine travel group as well as more contemporary interests that reflect the demands of asian consumers ; among them pizza hut restaurants in hong kong taiwan and vietnam kfc franchises in hong kong macau and taiwan and jardine onesolution it services . 15 jardine motors edit main article jardine motors group jardine motors is active in the sales and service of motor vehicles in hong kong macau mainland china and the united kingdom . 16 subsidiary zung fu which has held the mercedes benz franchise in hong kong for over 50 years has achieved one of the highest market penetrations in the world for the luxury brand and ranks among its top international performers . the group also represents smart and hyundai passenger cars in hong kong . zung fu is expanding its presence across the growing market of southern china where it is actively developing a network of mercedes benz dealerships . 17 in the united kingdom jardine motors is one of the country s largest retail dealership groups with a portfolio of specialist franchises that includes aston martin audi and volkswagen jaguar and land rover mercedes benz and porsche . hongkong land edit main article hongkong land hongkong land is an asian property investment management and development group . established in hong kong in 1889 by sir paul chater and william keswick the group today has property interests across the region . in hong kong the group owns and manages approximately 5 000 000 square feet 450 000 m2 of prime commercial space in the central . in singapore it is helping to create the city state s central business district with an expanding joint venture portfolio of new developments . in addition to commercial properties hongkong land also develops residential properties in key cities around the region including hong kong mainland china macau and singapore where its subsidiary mcl land is a significant property developer . jardine strategic has a 50 % shareholding in hongkong land . dairy farm edit main article dairy farm international holdings dairy farm traces its origins in hong kong back to the 19th century when it was involved in the production of dairy products and ice . today the company is a leading pan asian retailer . 18 the dairy farm group s retail operations range from supermarkets hypermarkets and health and beauty stores to convenience and home furnishings stores and operate under well known local brands . it has a significant presence in hong kong taiwan malaysia singapore and indonesia and a growing presence in mainland china india and vietnam . dairy farm operates supermarkets under the banners of wellcome jasons shop n save cold storage and hero ; giant hypermarkets ; health and beauty stores under mannings and guardian ; ikea furniture stores in hong kong indonesia and taiwan ; as well as 7 eleven convenience stores . the group also has a 50 % interest in maxim s hong kong s leading restaurant chain . 19 jardine strategic has a 78 % shareholding in dairy farm . as of 8 march 2012 update dairly farm owned 70 % of the shares of lucky group the largest grocery mall operator in cambodia . 20 jardine lloyd thompson edit main article jardine lloyd thompson group jardine lloyd thompson jlt is a leading insurance and reinsurance broker risk specialist and employee benefits consultant . 21 jardines has been in the insurance broking business since its earliest days in canton and jlt which is quoted on the london stock exchange is one of the largest companies of its kind in the world . the company operates through two key business groups risk & insurance and employee benefits . the risk & insurance group provides specialist insurance and reinsurance broking together with risk management services for a wide range of clients including some of the world s largest corporations . jlt which has a significant presence in the asia pacific region owns offices in 35 territories with some 7 600 employees . the employee benefits group is one of the united kingdom s leading employee benefits providers . mandarin oriental edit main article mandarin oriental hotel group mandarin oriental hotel group is an international hotel investment and management company operating deluxe and first class hotels and residences in city and resort destinations around the world . 22 the group s flagship hotel mandarin oriental hong kong has been recognized as one of the world s leading hotels since shortly after its opening in 1963 along with the equally world renowned mandarin oriental bangkok previously known as the oriental . 23 jardine strategic has a 74 % shareholding in mandarin oriental . jardine cycle & carriage edit main article jardine cycle & carriage jardine cycle & carriage jc & c is an established singapore listed company where as cycle & carriage it has had a presence since 1926 . 24 jc & c has an interest of just over 50 % in astra a listed indonesian conglomerate 25 and the largest independent automotive group in southeast asia as well as other motor interests in the region . together with its subsidiaries and associates jardine cycle & carriage employs some 201 000 people across indonesia malaysia singapore and vietnam . jardine cycle & carriage operates in singapore and malaysia