John Keells Holdings

Edwin and George John founded John Keells in the 1870s. They incorporated the company in Colombo, Ceylon with the name E.John & Co. It was initially set up as a manufacturer of tea and essential foods. In 1948 E. John & Co. merged with two UK based companies including Thompson and White & Co. Ltd.

In 1960, it merged with yet another broking company, Keells & Waldock. The merged entity was known as John Keells Thompson White Ltd.

During the 1970s, John Keells diversified by acquiring Walkers Ltd, a tour operator and Mackinnon’s Group which had interests in shipping.

During the 1970s and 1980s, the company mainly focussed on new opportunities in the tourist industry.

In 1986, the name was changed again, from John Keells Ltd to John Keells Holdings Ltd. In 1986/87 John Keells went public.

John Keells Limited remains today as the business within John Keells Holdings, and is the prominent company in the Sri Lankan tea sector, operates a tea auction system where tea is sold to various buyers.

Transportation

John Keells' total revenue from logistics was 10%, from transporting 12% and 5% from supply chain management.

John Keells Logistics (Pvt) Ltd. is a logistic, supply chain management and transportation management company. It is a subsidiary of John Keells. It is a recipient of the ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018 certifications.

Mackinnons is one of the oldest logistic companies in Sri Lanka. It was founded by India Steamship Company in 1917. Mackinnons Group was acquired by John Keells in the 1970s.

Startup accelerator

John Keells Holdings launched John Keells X in 2016 to boost creative and intellectual business talent in Sri Lanka via a competitive programme conceptualized and administered by John Keells Holdings PLC. It includes investment in Blue lotus 360, DirectPay, HeliosP2P, SenzAgro.