Ocean Wilsons (Holdings) Limited is an investment holding company based in

Hamilton, Bermuda Hamilton is the capital city of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, and the main settlement of Pembroke Parish. A port city, Hamilton is Bermuda's financial and commercial centre, and a popular tourist destination. Its population of ...

. It is the course of disposing of its maritime services business based in Brazil. It is listed on the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

and became a constituent of the

FTSE 250 Index The Financial Times Stock Exchange 250 Index, also called the FTSE 250 Index, FTSE 250, or, informally, the "Footsie 250" , is a stock market index that consists of the 101st to the 350th mid-cap blue chip companies listed on the London Stock ...

in April 2025.

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 Wilson Sons () is a Brazil, Brazilian shipping company headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The firm was set up in Salvador, Bahia, Salvador in 1837 by two Scotland, Scottish brothers, Edward and Fleetwood Pellew Wilson. The firm is one of th ...

, which operated as a global shipping business. The Ocean Coal Company had been founded by David Davies in the 1880s, while Wilson, Sons had been established in

Salvador Salvador, meaning "salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music ** ''Salvador'' ( ...

by two Scottish brothers, Edward and Fleetwood Pellew Wilson in 1837. The intention was to use the ships to transport the coal from

Barry Docks Barry Docks () is a port facility in the town of Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, a few miles southwest of Cardiff on the north shore of the Bristol Channel. The docks were opened in 1889 by David Davies and John Cory as an alternative to the co ...

in South Wales to destinations around the world. Major collieries operated by the company included the

Deep Navigation Colliery Deep Navigation Colliery was a coal mine in South Wales, that operated from 1872 until 1991. Located next to the co-developed village of Treharris in the borough of Merthyr Tydfil, on development it was the deepest coalmine in South Wales Coalfiel ...

near

Treharris Treharris is a small town and community (and electoral ward) in the Taff Bargoed Valley in the south of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, South Wales. It is located about west of Trelewis, from which it is separated by the Taff Bargoed river, a ...

. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the coal mining industry was nationalised. 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. In 1978, the company formed a joint venture with

Inchcape Inchcape or the Bell Rock is a reef about off the east coast of Angus, Scotland, near Dundee and Fife, occupied by the Bell Rock Lighthouse. The name ''Inchcape'' comes from the Scottish Gaelic ''Innis Sgeap'', meaning "beehive isle", probabl ...

to provide maritime services in Brazil, 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. The company was then the subject of an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

that same year. 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. 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 Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A., branded as MSC, is an international shipping line founded by Gianluigi Aponte in Italy in 1970. The company is owned by the Aponte family with its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, since 1978. It is the ...

for $768 million, leaving Ocean Wilsons as a pure diversified investments business. The company said that it expected the disposal to be completed by 30 September 2025.

Major shareholder

As of April 2025, Hansa Investment Company (formerly Hansa Trust) still owned 26.45% of the company.

References

External links

* {{FTSE 250 Index constituents Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Companies of Bermuda Companies in the FTSE 250 Index