closebrothers-140-digital-172x240-v14 - Flipbook - Page 33
1853
William Brooks
(WB) Close born
to prominent banker
James Close,
financial adviser to
Ferdinand II, the King
of Naples.
1878
Close Brothers is
founded by WB
Close and his
brothers Fred and
James as a London
based partnership.
1995
The acquisition of
Rea Brothers Group
plc takes assets
under management
to £2.5 billion and
supports the launch
of the high net worth
client business.
Close Brothers
opens an office in
Sioux City, Iowa.
1993
Close Brothers announced
its twentieth year of
unbroken profit increase.
Close Brothers Fund
Management started.
1999
1879
1884
The business
moves to Chicago.
1991
Winterflood Securities
is acquired.
1897
Close Brothers
Investment is formed
and Close Brothers Motor
Finance is established.
WB Close paid
£10,000 to the
US government
for the right to
build a railway from
Skagway,
Alaska into the
Yukon.
1985
Close Brothers rescues
Acorn Computers from
the brink of a collapse.
1898
1900
1923
Service starts
on 1 August.
Construction of the
White Pass & Yukon
Railway begins.
1984
1978
Close Brothers
listed on the
London Stock
Exchange.
Close Brothers
centenary year.
The three directors
embark on the
first management
buy-out of a UK
merchant bank.
2003
2007
2008
2011
2015
Nelson Money
Managers Purchased.
Close Brothers
launches its brewery
rentals business
and founds Close
Brothers Leasing.
Purchase of
Commercial
Acceptances,
Amber Credit
Premium and
Kaupthing, Singer
& Friedlander
Premium Finance.
Allenbridge
Group and
Cavanagh are
acquired to build
out Close Brothers
Asset Management’s
adviser force to 116.
Close Brothers Technology
Services is established.
The Green Energy team is
set up.
William Brooks Close
dies but the Close Brothers
business carries on.
1972
Close Brothers
acquired by London
& Western Trust.
Close Brothers starts
specialising as a
lender to smaller
companies often
overlooked by
larger firms.
2016
Loan book grows to
over £6 billion and
Close Brothers
maintains its
unbroken 30
year record
of never
cutting its
dividend.
1935
Under the control of
Arthur Martens, the bank
launches South Western
Gas Corporation which
acquires some 100 utility
companies in the UK.
1955
1945
Close Brothers
sets up Bramalea
Consolidated
Developments, a
Canadian real estate
developer which built
Bramalea, Canada’s
first satellite city.
Close Brothers
helps to organise
the nationalisation
of many of the UK’s
utility companies.
2017
2018
Close Brothers acquires
Notivas Loans.
Close Brothers celebrates
its 140th anniversary.
£6
billion
