 | ||
Borneo Company Limited, formed in 1856, is one of the oldest companies based in East Malaysia (Sarawak and Sabah).
The company, of 25 Mincing Lane, was registered in London in June 1856 with a capital of £60,000. Its directors were Robert Henderson (of R.& J.Henderson, Glasgow merchants), John Charles Templer (friend of James Brooke), James Dyce Nicol, John Smith, Francis Richardson, and John Harvey (the latter two of MacEwan & Co. in Singapore). Its first manager in Sarawak was a Dane, Ludvig Verner Helms, who had been trading there on his own account since 1852. Initially, the company was given rights in return for royalties to the Sarawak treasury to "take over and work Mines, Ores, Veins or Seams of all descriptions of Minerals in the Island of Borneo, and to barter or sell the produce of such workings". The commercial hub of the company was, however, in Singapore, and businesses were soon also opened in Thailand, and then Indonesia and Hong Kong.
The Borneo Company offices in Kuching were on the spot near the Tua Pek Kong temple now occupied by the Hilton hotel. The manager's house, 'Aneberg', was on the hill above.
The company merged with the Inchcape Group in 1967