Written by R. A. Stewart
I have seen the list of the world’s oldest publicly listed companies on the stock exchange, and it makes interesting reading and there may be some kind of lesson and conclusions which we can draw from the list.
Here are the top ten on that list.
1 GSK Plc
GSK is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with global headquarters in London. It was established in 2000 as the result of a merger of two other companies, Glaxo Wellcome and Beecham PLC. They were also the result of a merger of a number of pharmaceutical companies.
2 NatWest Group Pl
NatWest Holdings is based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Services provided are personal, business, and investment banking, insurance, corporate finance, and more. Subsidiaries include the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Ulster Bank.
3 Birkenstock Holding Plc
Birkenstock is a footwear manufacturer. They invented the footbed. The company was founded in 1774 and has its headquarters in the United Kingdom.
4 Inter-Continental Hotels Group
Inter-Continental Hotels Group is a British Multinational hospitality company with its headquarters in Windsor. It is listed on both the London and New York Stock exchange. Inter-Continental’s subsidiaries include Holiday Inn, Hotel Indigo, and Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants.
5 Takeda Pharmaceutical Company
Takeda is a Japanese Multinational Pharmaceutical company. It is among the top 20 Pharmaceutical companies in the world. It was founded in Osaka in 1781 and has its headquarters in Tokyo.
6 Bank of America Corporation
Bank of America is a multinational investment bank and financial services holding company which is based in Charlotte, North Carolina. It also has headquarters in Manhattan. The company was formed in 1998 as the result of Nation Bank’s acquisition of Bank of America. Its roots date back to 1904 when the Bank of Italy opened in San Francisco and eventually became the Bank of America.
7 The Bank of New York Mellon
BNY is an investment management and services company. They help individuals and institutions invest in America and worldwide. Bank of New York was originally founded in 1704.
8 Cushman and Wakefield PLC
Cushman and Wakefield PLC is a real estate services firm. It is among the world’s leading real estate firms. It is based in Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded in 1917.
9 Cigna Corporation
The Cigna Group is a multinational managed healthcare and insurance company based in Bloomfield, Connecticut, USA. It was founded by the Insurance company of North America in 1982.
10 State Street Corporation
State Street Corporation is a global financial services company with headquarters in Boston, USA. It was previously called the Union Bank which originated in 1792 making it the second oldest continually operating bank in America.
Banking/finance companies feature four times on this list. It is an industry which is considered recession proof. Pharmaceutical companies feature twice on this list while shoe manufacturing and a hotel chain have also made it on the list. It is important to realize that industries which rely on discretionary spending money for their revenue are always going to be vulnerable during downturns in the economy. This all provides some food for thought with these companies having stood the test of time.
www.robertastewart.com
