The Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited (BBTC) is an Indian

trading company Trading companies are businesses working with different kinds of products which are sold for consumer, business, or government purposes. Trading companies buy a specialized range of products, maintain a stock or a shop, and deliver products to cus ...

based in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

owned by the

Wadia Group Wadia Group is an Indian multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate, founded in Surat, headquartered in Mumbai. It was founded by Lovji Nusserwanjee Wadia in 1736 and is the List of oldest companies in India, ...

. It was formed in 1863 by the Wallace Brothers of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It is India's oldest publicly traded company, and was established to engage in the Burmese tea business through the initial step of taking over the Burmese assets of William Wallace.

History

The company's founding occurred when the six Wallace Brothers, originally members of a Scottish merchant house in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, first arrived in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

(now Mumbai) in the 1840s. A Bombay partnership was formed in 1848 as "Wallace Bros & Co". In the mid-1850s the Wallaces set up a business in

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

, shipping tea to Bombay. In 1863 the business was floated as "The Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation". Its equity was held by both Indian merchants along with the Wallace Brothers, who had the controlling interests. By the 1870s the company was a leading producer of

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panic ...

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

and

Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, as well as having interests in cotton, oil exploration and shipping. British motivations for the

third Anglo-Burmese War The Third Anglo-Burmese War (), also known as the Third Burma War, took place during 7–29 November 1885, with sporadic resistance continuing into 1887. It was the final of three wars fought in the 19th century between the Burmese and the Br ...

were partly influenced by concerns of the BBTC. The Burmese state's conflict with the BBTC furnished British leaders with a pretext for conquest. By the 1880s Wallace Brothers had become a leading financial house in London. This firm was able to affect the intelligence about Burma and, more critically, about the growing French influence in the country. The Vissanji family purchased the company from the Wallace brothers around the time of Indian independence. In 1992, the BBTC acquired and merged in BCL Springs. Later, BBTC was acquired by the

Wadia The Wadia family is a Parsi family from Surat, India, currently based in Mumbai, India. The family rose to wealth in the mid-1700s as shipbuilders serving the British East India Company as the latter established its sway over India. During ...

group based in Bombay. Bombay Burmah, a part of the

Wadia group Wadia Group is an Indian multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate, founded in Surat, headquartered in Mumbai. It was founded by Lovji Nusserwanjee Wadia in 1736 and is the List of oldest companies in India, ...

, holds a majority share of 50.5 per cent in

Britannia Industries Britannia Industries Limited is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational food products company, which sells biscuits, breads and dairy products. Founded in 1892, it is one of India's oldest existing companies and currently part of t ...

, amounting to a total of 12.17 crore

equity shares Common stock is a form of corporate equity ownership, a type of security. The terms voting share and ordinary share are also used frequently outside of the United States. They are known as equity shares or ordinary shares in the UK and other Com ...

. In 2023, the company announced that it will be divesting 3 tea estates in

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

, measuring around 3,957 acres, to Udongo Wetu, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Orange County Resorts acquired eight coffee estates from Bombay Burmah for Rs 291 crore.

References

{{Nifty 200 companies Economic history of India Trading companies of the United Kingdom Indian companies established in 1863 Companies based in Mumbai Wadia Group Companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange Tea companies of India Shipping companies of India Oil and gas companies of India Cotton industry in India Forest products companies India–Myanmar relations Third Anglo-Burmese War

History

See also

Further reading

References