Robert Fleming & Co.

{{short description|Merchant bank founded in 1873 and sold to Chase Manhattan Bank}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Robert Fleming & Co.

| logo = Flemings logo.jpg

| logo_size =

| type = Private

| caption =

| fate = Acquired

| successor = Chase Manhattan Bank

| foundation = 1873

| founder = Robert Fleming

| defunct = 2000

| location = London, England

| industry = Banking

| key_people =

| products =

| num_employees =

| parent =

| subsid =

}}

Robert Fleming & Co., known as Flemings, was an asset manager and merchant bank founded in Dundee, Scotland, in 1873. In 1909, the firm moved its headquarters to London, England. It was sold to Chase Manhattan Bank for over $7 billion in 2000. Flemings was a 50% partner in the Asian investment bank Jardine Fleming.

History

The firm of Robert Fleming & Co. was founded in Dundee, Scotland, in 1873 by Robert Fleming, a successful manufacturer of jute fabrics used for sandbags in the American Civil War. The firm was originally formed as a series of investment trusts, pooling money from Scottish investors into overseas ventures, and later moved into merchant banking. In 1909, the firm moved its headquarters to London.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eZkaMjTzBdcC&pg=PA498|title=The History of Foreign Investment in the United States to 1914|first= Mira |last=Wilkins|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2004|isbn= 978-0674013087|page=498}}

In 1873, Robert Fleming cofounded the Scottish American Investment Company for the purpose of investing in high risk, high return American railroad bonds.{{Cite book|title = Ian Fleming's Commandos: The Story of 30 Assault Unit in WWII|last = Rankin|first = Nicholas|publisher = Faber & Faber|year = 2011|isbn = 978-0571277803|pages = 43–44}} Flemings assumed a central role in the 1886 battle with Jay Gould for control of the Texas & Pacific Railway, in which the Flemings bondholder group ultimately triumphed. Overall, Flemings claimed to have made a 40% return on investments in US railroads.Quoting Fleming Family Partners partner Mark Graber in [https://archive.today/20060315091954/http://www.gateway2russia.com/st/art_19226.php Gateway to Russia, 18 March 2002]

In 1970, Flemings entered into an investment banking joint venture with Hong Kong–based Jardine Matheson, forming Jardine Fleming.{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/how-a-blue-chip-fund-manager-lost-its-way-1312149.html|title=How a blue-chip fund manager lost its way|date=30 August 1996|work=The Independent|access-date=3 June 2020}} Despite restructuring, Flemings saw its investment banking and asset management market share decline in the 1990s as global investment banks like Morgan Stanley and Lazard moved into their markets.{{cite news|last=Garfield|first=Andrew|title=Fleming cements ties with Keswicks |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/fleming-cements-ties-with-keswicks-1189112.html|access-date=27 May 2010|newspaper=The Independent|date=4 Dec 1998}} The Fleming name was tarnished by a scandal in 1996, when Jardine Fleming was ordered to pay $19 million to fund investors for alleged abusive and unsupervised securities allocation practices by its asset management division.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/30/business/worldbusiness/IHT-jardine-fleming-is-told-to-pay-cheated-clients.html|title=Jardine Fleming Is Told To Pay Cheated Clients|date=30 August 1996|work=New York Times|access-date=3 June 2020}}

In April 2000, Robert Flemings Holdings was sold to Chase Manhattan Bank for $7.7 billion.{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB955444046817267542|title=Chase to Acquire Robert Fleming In $7.73 Billion Stock-Cash Deal|date=12 April 2000|publisher=Wall Street Journal|access-date=3 June 2020}} Although the sale came about partially as a result of Flemings’ weakened position, it was part of two larger trends: consolidation in the financial services industry as large U.S. commercial banks acquired investment banks upon the repeal of the Glass–Steagall Act, and the sale of U.K. merchant banks to foreign acquirors. Flemings, with almost no U.S. assets, was considered a particularly good fit for increasingly globally minded Chase, whose assets lay largely in the United States. In the sale, about 130 Fleming family members pocketed approximately $2.3 billion for their 30 percent stake. When Chase merged with J.P. Morgan & Co. in 2001, the Flemings asset management business was rebranded J.P. Morgan Fleming, and Fleming Premier Banking was sold to Abbey National's Cater Allen subsidiary.{{cite news|last=Griffiths|first=Katherine|title=Abbey buys Fleming Premier for £106m|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/abbey-buys-fleming-premier-for-pound106m-684801.html|access-date=27 May 2010|newspaper=The Independent|date=15 May 2001}}{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{cite news|last=Treanor|first=Jill|title= Abbey National pays £106m for 'premier' bank|url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2001/may/15/business.personalfinancenews|access-date=27 May 2010|newspaper=The Guardian|date=15 May 2001}}

Members of the Fleming family set up an asset management company, Fleming Family & Partners, which in November 2014 merged with Stonehage Group, an international family office with its roots in South Africa, to create Stonehage Fleming Family and Partners.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-11-06/fleming-family-office-to-merge-with-competitor-stonehage|title=Fleming Family Office to Merge With Competitor Stonehage|work=Bloomberg.com|access-date=2017-08-02}}{{Cite web |last=Foster |first=Mike |title=Wealth management: Fleming Family sets its sights on global expansion |url=https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/wealth-management-fleming-family-sets-its-sights-on-global-expansion-20060130 |website=Financial News London}}

References

External links

[http://www.flemingcollection.com The Fleming Collection ]
Spinprofiles [http://www.spinprofiles.org/index.php/Robert_Fleming_%26_Co. Robert Fleming and Co.]

Category:British companies established in 1873

Category:1873 establishments in Scotland

Category:Companies based in Dundee

Category:Financial services companies based in the City of London

Category:History of Dundee

Category:JPMorgan Chase

Category:Jardines (company)

Category:Former investment banks

Category:Financial services companies of Scotland

Category:Defunct companies of Scotland

Category:Defunct financial services companies of the United Kingdom

Category:Financial services companies disestablished in 2000