The Story of
Browns

Anchored to ‘A Heritage of Trust’, ours is a story of an adaptable, resilient and transformative enterprise. Established in the 19th century during the early era of the island’s corporate history, the. Browns Group, then known as Brown & Co is one of the oldest names in the corporate industry. Browns Group is a leading conglomerate that generations of Sri Lankans grew up with and depended upon.

The origins of Brown & Company PLC can be traced back to a mechanical engineering workshop set up in 1875 by James Brown who set sail to Sri Lanka from Great Britain in search of his oriental fortune. With his technical skills and business acumen, James Brown led his business into manufacturing machinery for the booming plantation industry of the island. In 1892, the incorporation of Brown & Company took place.

Today, the Browns Group is a vibrant, fast-expanding, diversified conglomerate with stakes in a broad range of industries, with many more sectors still to be penetrated. Browns Group manage a fast-growing and valuable portfolio of brands across several key industry sectors, such as power generation; agriculture and plantations; pharmaceuticals; investments; marine and manufacturing as well as leisure and hospitality. Browns constantly reinvents itself and refreshes its brand portfolio in line with the emerging demands of the economy.

The year 2011 was a momentous year marked by the merger of Browns Group and LOLC Holdings PLC. The complementary nature of the portfolios of LOLC and Browns has created synergy between the two groups.

Building on this heritage of trust and optimism, Browns continues to be a bellwether corporate of the 21st-century Sri Lankan economy.