Fraser and Neave Limited (F&N)

The company was founded by John Fraser and David Chalmers Neave in 1883. The F&N story begins in 1883, in a registered office in the British colony of Singapore, when two partners in a printing business, John Fraser and David Chalmers Neave, signed their names on a document that brought the Singapore and Straits Aerated Water Company into existence. They established The Singapore and Straits Aerated Water Company to produce carbonated soft drinks.

In 1898 The Singapore and Straits Aerated Water Company went public as Fraser and Neave, Limited. The company had a capital of $350,000, $225,000 in shares and $125,000 in debentures. With 2,000 shares issued, of which 1,500 were offered to the public, the share issue was subscribed three-and-a half times.

In 1931 Fraser and Neave, Limited formed Malayan Breweries Limited in a joint venture with Heineken of Holland. The result of this joint venture was the much-loved and iconic Tiger Beer.

Fraser & Neave Limited secured the franchise of Coca-cola for Singapore and Malaysia in 1936 and they totally reinventing the carbonated beverage industry. In later years, the company acquired the rights to 7-Up, Fanta and Sunkist as well. In 1948, a separate subsidiary Lion Limited was formed to manage Coca-cola.

It was in 1965 Carnation International of Los Angeles joined Beatrice Food and F&N to form a manufacturing company, Premier Milk (Malaya) Sdn Bhd in Kuala Lumpur. The first F&N soft drinks factory in East Malaysia was also opened in Kuching.

In 2015 F&N secured a 22-year licensing agreement with Nestle for the manufacture and distribution of Nestle’s canned milk products in ASEAN.
Fraser and Neave Limited (F&N)

History of Tata Group

From the small beginnings in India, Tata now has a major international reach with 65 per cent of the group’s revenues drawn from outside India.

Tata Sons was founded as a trading entity in 1868 by the visionary Jamsetji Tata (1839 – 1904), one of the Indian’s pioneering industrialists. Jamsetji created his wealth through textiles. In the late nineteenth century capitalism was at its roughest, he instituted a pension fund for his workers.

Jamsetji established Tata & Sons in 1887 and took as his partners his eldest son, Dorab and a young cousin called Ratanji Dadabhai Tata. Tata Sons is the promoter of all key companies of the Tata Group and holds the bulk of shareholding in them.

In 1907 The Tata Iron and Steel Company established to set up India’s first iron and steel plant in Jamshedpur. The plant started production in 1912.

In 1917 The Tatas entered the consumer goods industry, with the Tata Oil Mils Company being established to make soaps, detergents and cooking oils.

With respect to its global expansion, Tata’s business history began in 1907 with the establishment of Tata Limited (London) in 1907 followed by its association with Daimler Benz (1950s), Tata Precision Industries (1972), Tata African Holdings (1994), the acquisition of Tetley Tea (UK) by Tata Tea in 2000 and the takeover of the Anglo-Dutch steel company, Corus by Tata Steel in 2007.

Tata Sons holds a stake, ranging from 25 per cent to 75 per cent, in all the other major companies within the group. Today, Tata Sons holds almost 80% of TCS, 22% of Tata Motors and 27% of Tata Steel, The Tatas also hold a stake of 46% in VSNL.
History of Tata Group

History of Edox watch

In 1883, Christian Ruefli-Flury, and exceptionally gifted watchmaker, gave his wife, Eva-Maria, a pocket watch that he had designed for her 25th birthday.

His wife impressed with the beauty of the watch the persuaded his husband to found his own watchmaking company.

In 1884, Christian Ruefli-Flury launched his watchmaking enterprise and it first workshops are established in BielBienna, a city famous for its well-educated watchmakers.

He named the company ‘Edox’ which means the hour in ancient Greek, and the hourglass logo has adorned all Edox watches ever since.

In 1955, his company employs up to 500 watchmakers. In 2008, Edox is the official timekeeper of the Class-1 World Powerboat Championship.
History of Edox watch

The Creation of General Electric

The Creation of General Electric
Before the creation of General Electric, a series of mergers in the late 1880s created three giant corporations. The several Edison companies and the Sprague Electric Railway Company merged, incorporating officially in January 1889, to become Edison General Electric.

At the same time Westinghouse acquired three small companies: Consolidated Electric Company (1887), the United Electric Lighting Company (1890) and the Waterhouse Electric and Manufacturing Company (1888).

Another company the Thompson-Houston Electric Company of Lynn, Massachusetts, acquired seven competitors between 1888 and 1890 and emerged with the majority of the arc lighting business, a clutch of key patents, and a large pool of skilled personnel.

Thus in 1890 there were three large corporations in the electrical industry: Edison General Electric, Westinghouse and Thompson-Houston.

After many mergers of the late 1880s the patent positions of the three corporations remained extremely confused in many respects. In particular the Thompson-Houston Company held weak patents in incandescent lighting, and Edison General Electric had few patents in the alternating current field.

Equally important problems bedeviled the electric street railway business, where each had some patents; similar conflicts prevailed through every products line in the industry. Merger promised an end to these potential conflicts; competition virtually ensured many legal expenses and price wars, not to mention the possibility of exclusion from new markets.

All three competitors considered mergers with each other two before the Edison General Electric Company and the Thompson-Houston Company joined in 1892.

They became General Electric. With their merger the entire electrical industry was reduced from fifteen competitors to a duopoly in just five years. Westinghouse and General Electric completed this rationalization in 1895 by signing a patent sharing agreement, effectively removing the last barrier to market control.
The Creation of General Electric