Ocean Wilsons
 | |
| Company type | Public limited company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services |
| Founded | 1907 |
| Headquarters | Hamilton, Bermuda |
Key people | Caroline Foulger (chair) |
| Revenue |  $20.5 million (2024)[1] |
| $11.2 million (2024)[1] | |
 $119.1 million (2024)[1] | |
| Website | www |
Ocean Wilsons (Holdings) Limited is an investment holding company based in Hamilton, Bermuda. It is the course of disposing of its maritime services business based in Brazil. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and became a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index in April 2025.[2]
History
The company was formed, in 1907, by the merger of the Ocean Coal Company, which operated eight coal mines in Wales, and Wilson, Sons, which operated as a global shipping business. The Ocean Coal Company had been founded by David Davies in the 1880s,[3] while Wilson, Sons had been established in Salvador by two Scottish brothers, Edward and Fleetwood Pellew Wilson in 1837.[4] The intention was to use the ships to transport the coal from Barry Docks in South Wales to destinations around the world.[5] Major collieries operated by the company included the Deep Navigation Colliery near Treharris.[6]
After the Second World War, the coal mining industry was nationalised.[7] The company lost its industrial assets, invested the proceeds and sought to diversify its activities. Hansa Trust took a significant shareholding in the company in the late 1950s.[8]
In 1978, the company formed a joint venture with Inchcape to provide maritime services in Brazil,[9] and, in 1981, it formed another joint venture with Inchcape, this time to act as a distributor of Mercedes cars in Brazil. The car distribution business was not a success, and the company bought Inchcape out in 1986 and then sold the business in 1992.[10] The company was then the subject of an initial public offering that same year.[11]
Ocean Wilsons also bought Inchcape out of the maritime services business but then floated a 41.75% stake in that company on the Brazil Stock Exchange as "Wilson, Sons" in 2007.[12] The company continued to operate with two separate businesses, diversified investments and maritime services in Brazil, until October 2024, when the company announced the disposal of its remaining 56.47% stake in Wilson, Sons, to Mediterranean Shipping Company for $768 million, leaving Ocean Wilsons as a pure diversified investments business.[13][14][15] The company said that it expected the disposal to be completed by 30 September 2025.[16]
Major shareholder
As of April 2025, Hansa Investment Company (formerly Hansa Trust) still owned 26.45% of the company.[17]
References
- ^ a b c "Preliminary Results 2024". Ocean Wilsons. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ "TI Fluid Systems (UK): Constituent Deletion – Update Changes in FTSE UK Index Series". FTSE Russell. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ Bulmer-Thomas, Ivor (1959). "David Davis, Llandinam (1818–1890), industrialist and Member of Parliament". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
- ^ "Wilson, Sons accelerates into OSV market". Riviera. 17 March 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ Shore, Leslie M. (2022). The Ocean Coal Company and 'The Barry' David Davies's Extraordinary South Wales Enterprise. Lightmoor Press. ISBN 978-1915069009.
- ^ "Deep Navigation Colliery". Treharris District. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
- ^ "Deep Navigation Colliery". Alan George. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ "Our History". Hansa Investment Company. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ Jones, Geoffrey (2002). Merchants to Multinationals British Trading Companies in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Oxford University Press. p. 147. ISBN 978-0191530463.
- ^ Jones (2002), p. 332
- ^ "Ocean Wilsons (Holdings) Limited". London Stock Exchange. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ "Ocean Wilsons Holdings Ltd". Alluvial Capital. 22 November 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ Ajdin, Adis (21 October 2024). "MSC to take over Wilson Sons in $768m deal". Splash247. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ "Ocean Wilsons sells off Brazilian arm to Mediterranean Shipping Company". CityAM. 21 October 2024. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ "Ocean Wilsons sells Wilson Sons stake to MSC for R$4.35 billion". Brazil Energy Insight. 21 October 2024. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ "Ocean Wilsons profit jumps as proposes much higher dividend for 2025". Morning Star. 20 March 2025. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ "Good news for Hansa as Ocean Wilsons sells Brazilian business". Quoted Data. 21 October 2024. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
