The Story of
Browns

Anchored to ‘A Heritage of Trust’, Browns 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, Browns Group is one of those famous names that generations of Sri Lankans grew up with and depended upon.

The origins of Browns can be traced back to a mechanical engineering workshop set up in 1875 by James Brown who set sails 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, Browns is a vibrant, fast-expanding, diversified conglomerate working in a broad range of industries, with many more sectors still to be penetrated. Browns manages 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. 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.