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Abdoolally Ebrahim & Co (HK) Ltd celebrated the 160th Anniversary
of its foundation in Hong Kong in 2002. It is one of the territories
oldest trading houses. Established in Hong Kong and Shanghai in
1842, Abdoolally Ebrahim & Co (HK) Ltd started its trading activities
in pulses, tea, silk and cotton yarn between China and India. Today,
Abdoolally Ebrahim & Co (HK) Ltd is a principal member of the
Abdoolally Ebrahim Group, engaged in housewares, textiles, commodities,
ship owning and property investment.
The Company was founded in Bombay, India by Seth Ebrahim Noordin,
the great grand-father of the present Chairman, Jaffer A Ebrahim.
The family belong to the Dawoodi Bohra Community, a Muslim denomination,
headed by the Imam's Representative, Al-Dai-Al Mutlaq. In 1842,
Seth Ebrahim Noordin sent his brother-in-law, Abdoolally Rajabally
(husband of Waziraboo Noordin) to set up offices in the Far East.
This decision came about from the guidance of the then reigning
46th Dai, Syedna Abdul-Qadir Najmuddin (AQ) who encouraged members
of the Dawoodi Bohra community to travel to the 4 corners of the
world in search of new opportunities for trade and commerce to provide
them with their rizak (livelihood). The Dawoodi Bohra community
is primarily a business community and the present 52nd Dai, Syedna
Mohammed Burhannudin (TUS), strongly encourages its members to persue
trade peacefully and independently strictly abiding by the laws
of the country in which they all trade. |
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| Seth Ebrahim Noordin,
the founder of the company. |
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Seth Ebrahim Noordin was a great
visionary and entrepreneur having established offices in Hong
Kong, Shanghai and Canton in 1842. The founder of the company
was very close to the 46th Dai. It is on record that Syedna
Abdul Qader Najmuddin (AQ) often used the company offices
in Bombay as his bethak (seat of office). Trade in the mid
19th Century was mainly commodities related including pulses,
sugar, raw silks and cotton yarn. The earliest records of
the company date back to 1839 when, trading from Bombay, the
company was forced to surrender a cargo to Viceroy Lin of
Canton. Since it had been shipped at the behest of the British
Government, compensation was finally paid and notification
made in Hong Kong Government Gazette in 1864 - 25 years later.
Seth Ebrahim Noordin was known for his philanthropy. Two of
his notable contributions to his community were the building
of "Najam Baug" in 1886 (jointly with Abdoolally
Rajabally) and "Zainee Masjid" on his own in 1892.
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| The
Company first introduced cross harbour ferry services in Hong
Kong between Tsimshatsui and Central in 1842. On 13th March
1865, the Company opened a current account with an initial
deposit of HK$14,800 with the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking
Corporation, who had themselves opened 10 days earlier. The
Abdoolally Ebrahim Group is HSBC's oldest surviving client.
Seth Ebrahim Noordin had 2 sons. One son Seth Noordin Ebrahim
(grandfather of the present Chairman) was appointed founder
director of Bank of India Ltd, Bombay in 1906. Also in 1906
the Company purchased land in Honam, Guangzhou, (Canton) and
the title deeds are still in existence. The premises were
mainly used for collection of raw silk supplies. |
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| Cross-harbor ferries
of the Star Ferry Co. Incorporated in 1898. Ferry Services
were first introduced by Abdoolally Ebrahim & Co.
in 1842, followed by Dorabjee Naorojee in 1880, running
steam launches between Tsimshatui and Central (from
Urban Council P64.52). |
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Noordin
Ebrahim (grandfather of the present Chairman). In 1906
he was appointed founder director of
Bank of India Limited, Bombay. |
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During the entire 160
years, the Company has gone through several crisis. One notable
case was in 1907 when due to a crashing in cotton prices,
the Company was virtually bankrupt. It settled with all 123
creditors except one who petitioned the High Court of Bombay
to make the Company insolvent. In his judgement Honourable
Justice Davar wrote, "….Here are insolvents who
have parted with everything they had. They have impoverished
all the members of their family. They have no capital to trade
with. In all human probability all the four insolvents with
all their exertions would never be able to earn anything like
the large sum of over eight lacs of rupees necessary to pay
four annas in the rupee of their debts, during their lifetime,
and it would be not only a cruel order but in their case an
unjust order to make" Even today the Company believes
in the same honest principals and in 1992, when the Company
celebrated it's 150th Anniversary, to commemorate the event
it adopted the motto "Our Word is our Bond" |
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During the Company's early days, it had 3 different
locations in Hong Kong but in 1920, 20 Stanley Street was acquired
for HK$41,200 and this has been the Company's Hong Kong head quarters
ever since. From 1951, Hong Kong became head office of the Group.
In 1949 the Group's Shanghai interests were closed down. In 1952
the re-building of "Abdoolally House", in Stanley St,
which had been damaged in the War, began. A silver Chinese dollar,
a half Australian sovereign, two English and two Chinese papers
of the day, Sugar and Coconut were sealed in the foundations. In
1964, staff quarters were purchased in Belchers Street and 20 Stanley
Street was re-developed a second time from the then 5 story building
to its current 12 story office tower. The new "Abdoolally House"
was completed in 1966.
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| Historical Photo
of Shanghai Staff |
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Trade in the aftermath of the War, was fueled by exports of torches
and batteries and other sundry goods and the continuation of commodities
including pulses and cotton. In 1954 the Company extended purchases
from South Africa from where it imported groundnut oil. In the same
year it supplied 120,000 uniforms to the Malaysian Government and
in 1955, started imports of Indian beef into Hong Kong. In 1957
the Company expanded to import Camphor powder from the UK.
In 1961, Jaffer A Ebrahim, who is a direct descendent of the founder
and who has been with the Company since 1946 was appointed managing
director. Under his guidance, the Company expanded business in cotton
yarns and diversified imports to include cotton grey sheetings from
Pakistan. He started the Company into the field of stainless steel
housewares, particularly at that time flatware and holloware. Today
the Company has a flourishing business in stainless steel Kitchen
ware and Tabletop items for both the retail and food-service industry.
In 1965, the Company completed a deal with the Government of Ceylon
for the sale of a shipload of 2500 long tons of Wheat Flour, the
first of this magnitude. In 1968 another new market was established
with the export of transistor radios. Wigs manufacturing was commenced
and trading in diamonds from India was started in 1970. By 1972,
housewares was becoming an important part of the Company's business
activities. For the first time the Company exhibited in the Cologne
Housewares Fair and Frankfurt International Spring Fair. The Company
has exhibited at the latter ever since. In 1987, the Company was
awarded with a Silver Frying Pan trophy from one of it's suppliers
for the sale of one million pieces Teflon II aluminium frypans to
Japan. In 1984, a joint venture Abdoolally Eastrex Ltd was formed
for the initial sale of 20,000 sets of Colour televisions to China.
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| Abdeally Noordin gained
control of the company in 1965. |
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The year 1971 was made memorable
by the visit to Hong Kong of Mulla Abdeally Noordin, the grandson
of the founder of the business, who was then 91 years old.
The occasion was marked by an endowment of HK$20,000 to the
University of Hong Kong for the establishment of the Abdoolally
Ebrahim & Co (HK) Ltd scholarship for the annual benefit
of an economics student.In 1978, Jaffer A Ebrahim handed over
the reigns of the housewares trading and established the Company
into a new industry - shipping by purchasing the Company's
1st vessel MV Rizcun Hasanun 2024 DWT. Shipping for the next
20+ years involved the sale and purchase of over 20 vessels
and the chartering of over 50 vessels. Moreover the expansion
included professional ship management of 3rd party vessels.
The Company has seen many adventures in shipping including
during the Iran-Iraq War, it's MV Rizcun Hong Kong 15,000
DWT being blocked in Koralzubair waters for over 7 years.
Currently the Company owns and manages 4 vessels.
Branch offices were opened in London in 1972, Jeddah in 1981,
Yangon in 1990 and in Karachi in 1995. Yangon and Karachi
are still operating today with commodities trade in pulses,
timber and cotton yarns and fabric and London with shipping. |
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The ownership of the Company has always remained
in the hands of family members of the founder. In 1965 there were
11 shareholders and a split occurred. At that time the Company was
owned by 2 related families, the Essabhoy Ebrahims and the Abdeally
Noordins. With the blessings of the late 51st Dai Syedna Taher Saifuddin
(AQ) the Abdeally Noordin family acquired 100 percent control. In
1988, history repeated itself and the company underwent a 2nd shareholder
split. At that time the Company's shareholders were five brothers
from the Abdeally Noordin family. On 12th August 1988, with the
blessings of the 52nd Dai Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin (TUS) the
present Chairman Jaffer A Ebrahim became the 100 percent sole-owner
and appointed his son Taha J Ebrahim as a director in the Company.
Today, the housewares business is
engaged in product development and OEM/ODM manufacturing for major
brands and manufacturers in Europe. The textiles business is engaged
in supply of cotton yarn and cotton fabric to the textiles industry
in China and India. The commodities business trades principally
in pulses and timber to the Indian sub-continent. Ship owning
concentrates on 15-20,000 DWT tween deckers. In each business
activity, the company focuses on value added services to maintain
a niche position in the market place and aims at being a strong
player in that sector. The Company has shared in Hong Kong's fortunes
and has grown from a pioneer family import-export trading house
into a dynamic international trade and transport organization,
managed and owned by the fourth and fifth generations of the founder.
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