"We listed in 1941 and are proud to be one of only nine companies who have been listed on the main board of the JSE for 75 years or more," Thomson said.
Barloworld had actually been around since 1902 and was 114 years old, he said. By the late 1980s the company had grown into a conglomerate employing 245,000 people, mostly in SA, and was placed at number 79 on the Fortune 500 list of global companies.
During the years of apartheid sanctions the company, along with SA, had become a pariah on the international stage. With the added constraints of exchange rate controls this forced it to become a diversified industrial group.
In the early 1990s, Barloworld re-evaluated its strategy, unlocking value for shareholders. This led to the unbundling of the old Barlow Rand group, whereby a number of former constituent companies such as Illovo Sugar were spun off and some remain listed on the JSE. These include Tiger Brands, Nampak, PPC and Reunert.
"The more streamlined Barlow Limited that emerged from the unbundling then turned its attention to capitalising on the infrastructure-led growth following the peaceful democratic transition in SA, as well as expanding its operations globally," Thomson said.
International expansion continued into the early 2000s as the group bought up businesses in the US, UK, Spain, Portugal, Australia, Russia and Southern Africa. In 2000 it was renamed Barloworld.
Source: Business Day
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