Ireland Blyth Limited

Last updated
Ireland Blyth Limited
SEM: IBL [1]
Industry
  • Commerce
  • Engineering
  • Financial Services
  • Logistics
  • Aviation & Shipping
  • Retail
  • Seafood & Marine
Predecessor
  • Blyth Brothers & Co. Ltd
  • Ireland Fraser & Co. Ltd.
Founded1972
FounderGeorge Ireland and James Blyth
Headquarters Caudan Waterfront, ,
Number of employees
35,000 [2]  (2015)
Parent GML Group (As from 2010)
Divisions Ireland Blyth Limited
Subsidiaries BrandActiv, HealthActiv, Scomat, Mauritian Eagle, Logidis, Winner's, Froid des Mascareignes (FDM)
Website www.iblgroup.com

Ireland Blyth Ltd. (IBL) is the largest business group in Mauritius [2] with a turnover of over 16 billion Mauritian rupees (approx. US$467 million) as of 2015 listed on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius. It operates in Commerce, Engineering, Financial Services, Logistics, Aviation & Shipping, Retail, Seafood & Marine sectors under various names, representing over 200 brands and employs over 6,000 people [2]

Contents

In 2008 the company was reported as the largest company in Mauritius per their net sales revenues. [3]

History

It was incorporated in 1972 following the merger of two leading companies which had been trading in Mauritius since the early 19th Century, namely Blyth Brothers, founded in 1830 by James Blyth, and Ireland Fraser & Co. Ltd. [4] Ireland Fraser & Co. Ltd was founded on the 1st July 1850 by George Ireland, Hugh Hunter and James Fraser. [5] The original name was Hunter Ireland & Co., but when Hugh Hunter left the company in 1860, the name was changed to Ireland Fraser & Co. [5] It became Ireland Fraser & Co. Ltd. in 1927. [5]

In 1994 the group became a public company and was admitted to the official list of the Stock Exchange of Mauritius.

Notable subsidiaries

BrandActiv

Source: [6]

Created in 2011 from the merger of IBL Consumer Goods and IBL Frozen Foods, [7] BrandActiv is involved in the importation and distribution of consumer goods in Mauritius. Amongst more than 100 brands that it represents, international brands include L'Oréal, Kraft foods, Colgate Palmolive, Johnson & Johnson and H.J.Heinz.

The earliest predecessor of BrandActiv, Cold Storage (became New Cold Storage in 1970 and then IBL Frozen Foods in 1996) was the first importer of frozen meat in Mauritius from Australia in the 1900s. [6] [7]

Chantier Naval de l'Océan Indien

Source: [8]

Chantier Naval de l'Océan Indien (CNOI), established in 2001, is involved in the construction, repair and maintenance (including dry-docking) of vessels in Port Louis.

It was founded as a joint venture between IBL and Chantier Piriou of Concarneau, France before IBL took a 60% controlling stake.

The shipyard's facilities include a covered building berth and slipway for the construction of vessels and vessel sections up to 50 metres long, a dry-dock (130 metres long, 27 metres wide), a ship elevator of 1400 tons and 350 metres of quays which can accommodate ships with a draft reaching up to 8.5 metres for repairs afloat.

Ships worked on by the company includes frigates of the French Navy [9] to French and Spanish tunny boats, trawlers, small oil and gas tankers and yachts. Regular customers include the French Navy, which signed a contract for the maintenance and repair of its frigates and patrol ships operating in the Indian Ocean, Sapmer of Reunion island and Austral Fisheries of Australia.

Notable construction projects include a 35-metre patrol ship for Madagascar, a 39-metre barge for Mayotte, [10] and a trawler and a long-liner for Reunion. CNOI also enlarged an Australian fishing boat by 8 metres.

Winner's supermarkets

Winner's is an integrated chain of 20 supermarkets established in 1994 operating in the retail segment of the group. Its turnover of MUR 5.5 billion represented 35% of the turnover of the group in 2015. IBL took 100% stake in the company (from its previous 51%) in 2015. [11]

Scomat

Scomat operates in the engineering segment of the group and provides products and professional services in the field of earthmoving and agricultural equipment, generators, uninterruptible power supply, hydraulics & diesel.

It is also a dealership for Caterpillar in Mauritius, the agreement dating to 1929 between Caterpillar and one of IBL's predecessor, Blyth Brothers.

Mauritian Eagle Insurance Company Limited

Mauritian Eagle Insurance Company Limited (SEM: MEI) is a provider of personal and commercial insurance. It was created in 1973 as a joint venture between Ireland Blyth Limited and South African Eagle Insurance Company Limited (now part of the Zurich Group) and listed on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius in 1993. [12]

In 2007, the company became the first in the Indian Ocean (and in Mauritius) to obtain the ISO 27001 certification relating to information security. [12] [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mauritius</span> Island country in the Indian Ocean

Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about 2,000 kilometres off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island, as well as Rodrigues, Agaléga, and St. Brandon. The islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues, along with nearby Réunion, are part of the Mascarene Islands. The main island of Mauritius, where the population is concentrated, hosts the capital and largest city, Port Louis. The country spans 2,040 square kilometres (790 sq mi) and has an exclusive economic zone covering 2,300,000 square kilometres.

The known and sometimes formally documented history of Mauritius begins with its possible discovery by Austronesians under the Austronesian expansion from pre-Han Taiwan, circa 1500 to 1000 BC, and then by Arabs,, followed by Portuguese and its appearance on European maps in the early 16th century. Mauritius was successively colonized by the Netherlands, France and Great Britain, and became independent on 12 March 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seewoosagur Ramgoolam</span> Politician, statesman and philanthropist and the first prime minister of Mauritius (1900–1985)

Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, often referred to as Chacha Ramgoolam or SSR, was a Mauritian physician, politician, and statesman. He served as the island's only chief minister, first prime minister, and fifth governor-general.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Navin Ramgoolam</span> Prime Minister of Mauritius (1995–2000, 2005–2014)

Navinchandra Ramgoolam, GCSK, FRCP, is a Mauritian politician who twice served as the Prime Minister of Mauritius and leader of the Labour Party (Mauritius). He was Leader of the Opposition from 1991 to 1995. He served as Prime Minister for the first time from December 1995 until September 2000, and then became Leader of the Opposition again from October 2000 to 4 July 2005. On 5 July 2005, he became prime minister for a second term after his coalition, "Alliance Sociale" won the general elections. He was re-elected Prime Minister in 2005, serving till 2014, when he was defeated.

Indo-Mauritians are Mauritians who trace their ethnic ancestry to the Republic of India or other parts of the Indian subcontinent in South Asia.

Beachcomber Resorts & Hotels is the trading name of New Mauritius Hotels Ltd, a Mauritius-based company in the hospitality industry. It owns and manages eight hotels in Mauritius, one in the Seychelles and one in Morocco. It also operates an in-flight catering business and five tour operating companies around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mauritius Police Force</span> National law enforcement agency of Mauritius

The Mauritius Police Force (MPF) is the national law enforcement agency of Mauritius. The MPF carries out police, security, and military functions on Mauritius, with about 12,500 police officers under the command of the Commissioner of Police. The MPF is part of the Home Affairs Division, which operates under the aegis of the Prime Minister's Office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corruption in Mauritius</span> Institutional corruption in the country

Corruption in Mauritius follows the familiar patterns of state-based corruption, namely government officials abusing their political powers for private gain in the country of Mauritius.

Sanedhip Bhimjee was a famous Kathak Dancer and Choreographer in Mauritius. He was born on 17 March 1970 in Madagascar and he started his career with modeling. He started learning Kathak since the age of 18 in Indira Gandhi Institute. He first appeared in the stage with Pramila Virahsawmy at Plaza Theatre in Rose Hill for the occasion of Gujarati festival in Mauritius. When Sanedhip saw Anna Patten dancing for the first time he was mesmerized and knew that a new dimension of kathak would flourish from both talents known as Mauritian Kathak. Sanedhip was a very famous Kathak Dancer and Choreographer in Mauritius. His company, Art Academy Ltd, in Mauritius was previously run by himself and his partner Anna Patten.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcelle Lagesse</span> Mauritian journalist and writer

Marie Rita Marcelle Lagesse O.S.K was a Mauritian journalist and writer.

LUX* Resorts & Hotels is a major luxury hotel operator based in Mauritius which owns or part-owns many of its hotels and runs others under management contracts, which typically involve, in addition to management services, design, operations, sales and marketing. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of LUX* Hospitality Ltd., which is listed on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius and is an affiliate member of IBL, the country's 2nd largest conglomerate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mauritius at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships</span> Sporting event delegation

Mauritius competed at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships in Kazan, Russia from 24 July to 9 August 2015.

ENL is a broad-based conglomerate with interests in most sectors of the Mauritius economy listed on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius. It operates in Agro-industry, Real Estate, Hospitality, Logistics, Finance & technology, Commerce and Industry sectors with a diverse portfolio of more than 120 brands and employs over 7,000 people.

George Ireland was a businessman and one of the founders of Ireland Fraser & Co. Today, known as Ireland Blyth Limited, it is the 2nd largest business group in Mauritius.

The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Mauritius in March 2020. Since the first three cases of COVID-19 were confirmed, the Mauritian authorities have been conducting 'Contact tracing': people who have been in contact with infected patients have been placed under quarantine, including doctors, nurses and police officers. No cases have been reported in Agaléga and St. Brandon. Mauritius scored 100 in the Oxford University COVID-19 government response tracker. No new cases through local transmission has been detected in Mauritius since 26 April 2020, since then, all the new cases which were reported on the island were imported cases from passengers who were repatriated to Mauritius and were admitted to quarantine centers upon their arrival. On 29 May 2020, the Mauritian government announced the end of lockdown as from 30 May 2020 at 00.00. However, some restrictions was still imposed on certain activities, in public spaces and public gatherings. On 12 June 2020, the Prime Minister announced that the decision was taken to lift all business and activity lockdowns ordered earlier to cope with the COVID-19, as from Monday 15 June 2020. Consequently, beaches, markets, gyms, parks, Village Halls, Community Centres, cinema and other public places became accessible to the public but the wearing of masks and social distancing will still be compulsory. Schools resumed as from 1 July 2020. As at 12 June 2020, 10% of the population were already tested with a total of 142,889 tests: 32,257 PCR tests and 110,632 Rapid Tests.

Sir Satcam Boolell GCSK QC was a Mauritian politician who served as member of the Legislative Assembly in Mauritius. He died on March 23, 2006, in Curepipe. He was also known as "Somduth" by his peers and family members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Léoville L'Homme</span> Mauritian poet, literary critic, journalist and newspaper editor

Pierre Léoville Arthur L'Homme (1857–1928) was a Mauritian poet, literary critic, journalist, newspaper editor and librarian who wrote in French. He is considered the foremost Mauritian poet of the late nineteenth century and the first Mauritian writer to produce an extensive body of work and to establish an overseas literary reputation.

Joseph Maurice Paturau, more commonly known as Maurice Paturau was a Mauritian engineer, pilot, decorated war hero, cabinet minister and businessman.

Mohamed Ehsan Juman, also known as Ehsan Juman or Eshan Joomun, is a Mauritian politician.

References

  1. "Company Snapshot Information - Code". Stock Exchange of Mauritius. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "IBL 2015 Annual Report" (PDF). IBL Group. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  3. Anganan, Villen (March 28, 2008). "Ireland Blyth of Mauritius Profit Rises 5.7% on Higher Sales". Bloomberg. Retrieved April 25, 2012.
  4. "Ireland Blyth Ltd (IBL): Investing in Africa's future". African Business (283). London: IC Publications, Inc.: 39–41 January 2003. ISSN   0141-3929 . Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 Marcelle Lagesse (1982). Blyth Brothers and Company Limited, 1830-1980. Mauritius: M. Coquet. p. 142. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Our History". Ireland Blyth Ltd. Archived from the original on 24 December 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  7. 1 2 Bertrand Hérisson (June 25, 2011). "IBL Consumer Goods et IBL Frozen Foods fusionnent pour créer IBL BrandActiv" (in French). L'Express (Mauritius) . Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  8. "About Chantier Naval de l'Océan Indien". IBL Group. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  9. "ARRÊT TECHNIQUE : La frégate Nivôse en réparation à Port-Louis" (in French). Le Mauricien Ltd. 20 January 2015. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  10. "Le plus grand navire jamais construit à Maurice livré à Mayotte" (in French). L'Express (Mauritius). June 24, 2014. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  11. Kervin Victor (December 9, 2015). "IBL prend à 100 % le contrôle de Winner's" [IBL takes 100% control of Winner's] (in French). Le Défi Media Group. Archived from the original on December 25, 2015. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  12. 1 2 "Milestones". Mauritian Eagle Insurance. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  13. "La Mauritian Eagle Insurance décroche l'ISO 27001" [The Mauritian Eagle Insurance obtains ISO 27001] (in French). L'Express (Mauritius). April 8, 2007. Retrieved December 24, 2015.