# Lonrho

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London-based conglomerate

For the company known as Lonrho until 1999, see [Lonmin](/source/Lonmin). For the similarly named racehorse, see [Lonhro](/source/Lonhro).

Lonrho Type Private Industry Conglomerate Founded 26 February 1998 (as Lonrho Africa plc) Revenue £206.5 million (2013) Total assets £328.5 million (2013) Number of employees 3,415 (2013) Website www.lonrho.com

**Lonrho** is a London-based [conglomerate](/source/Conglomerate_(company)) with operations primarily focused on Africa. The company was established in 1998 as **Lonrho Africa plc** following a corporate demerger from [Lonmin](/source/Lonmin), and operates across multiple sectors including [agribusiness](/source/Agribusiness), infrastructure, transport, hospitality, and support services.[1]

Although it shares its name with the earlier mining-focused Lonrho plc (now Lonmin), the present-day Lonrho is a distinct corporate entity formed to hold and manage non-mining African assets.

## History

### Origins (1909–1998)

Lonrho traces its historical roots to the original **Lonrho plc**, which was incorporated in the United Kingdom on 13 May 1909 as the **London and Rhodesian Mining and Land Company Limited**.[2][3]

By the late 20th century, Lonrho plc had grown into one of the world's largest conglomerates, reportedly controlling more than 800 subsidiary companies across 80 countries.[2]

From 1962 to 1993, the company was led by businessman [Tiny Rowland](/source/Tiny_Rowland), whose tenure attracted significant public and academic scrutiny. While criticised in political discourse—including being described by Prime Minister [Edward Heath](/source/Edward_Heath) as the "unacceptable face of capitalism"—subsequent scholarship has argued that Lonrho plc operated in close alignment with British governmental and commercial interests in post-independence Africa.[4]

### Formation of Lonrho Africa plc

The modern company known as Lonrho was incorporated on 26 February 1998 as **Lonrho Africa plc**, following a [demerger](/source/Corporate_spin-off) from Lonrho plc, which was subsequently renamed [Lonmin](/source/Lonmin).[5][6]

Under the terms of the demerger, Lonrho Africa plc assumed ownership of Lonmin’s non-mining African assets, while the mining businesses were retained by Lonmin.[7]

The company formally adopted the name **Lonrho plc** on 10 May 2007 following shareholder approval.[8]

### Operations and investments

Lonrho pursued investments across several African markets, with business interests including agricultural production, logistics, hospitality, infrastructure development, and aviation-related services.

The company was an early funding partner in the African low-cost airline [Fastjet](/source/Fastjet). This followed the exchange of its stake in [Fly540](/source/Fly540) for shares in Rubicon Diversified Investments plc, which was subsequently renamed Fastjet in August 2012.[9][10]

### Takeover and delisting

In 2013, Lonrho plc agreed to a £174.5 million takeover by FS Africa, a bid vehicle controlled by Swiss investors [Thomas Schmidheiny](/source/Thomas_Schmidheiny) and [Rainer-Marc Frey](/source/Rainer-Marc_Frey).[11][12]

Following the acquisition, the company was delisted from the [London Stock Exchange](/source/London_Stock_Exchange), [JSE Limited](/source/JSE_Limited), and the [OTCQX](/source/OTC_Markets_Group).[13][14]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Lonrho Plc's Strategy & Vision"](http://www.lonrho.com/About_Lonrho/Strategy_~_Vision/Default.aspx?id=745). Retrieved 29 October 2012.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_2-1) ["1988 – Directory of the World's Largest Companies: Lonrho PLC – Corporate Information"](https://web.archive.org/web/20141207114147/http://unctc.unctad.org/data/stctc110z2.pdf) (PDF). United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations. Archived from [the original](http://unctc.unctad.org/data/stctc110z2.pdf) (PDF) on 7 December 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Page, Melvin E., ed. (2003). *Colonialism: An International Social, Cultural and Political Encyclopedia*. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. pp. 350–351. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-57607-335-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-57607-335-1).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Uche, Chibuike (2015). "Lonrho in Africa: The Unacceptable Face of Capitalism or the Ugly Face of Neo-Colonialism?". *Enterprise & Society*. **16** (2): 354–380. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1017/eso.2014.31](https://doi.org/10.1017%2Feso.2014.31).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Market Access Profile – Lonrho Plc"](http://reports.standardandpoors.com/aidata/maccess/pdf/54337710.pdf) (PDF). McGraw Hill Financial. 22 August 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Lonmin plc History"](http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/lonmin-plc-history/). International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 66. 2004. Retrieved 6 December 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Lonmin – 2012 Rights Issue Prospectus"](https://www.lonmin.com/downloads/media_centre/news/press/2012/Rights%20Issue%20Prospectus%20-%209%20for%205%20-%20FINAL%20-%20Nov'12.pdf) (PDF). Lonmin Plc. 11 December 2012. p. 156. Retrieved 6 December 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Lonrho plc / Lonrho Africa plc / Lonmin plc"](https://help.shareview.co.uk/4/Help/Default/En/Shareholder/Documents/factsheets/lonmin_and_lonrho.pdf) (PDF). Equiniti. February 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Fastjet plc Annual Report 2013"](http://www.fastjet.com/img/stand_alone_files/file/original/fastjet-2013-annual-report-final-1-0-with-electronic-signatures---ed-winter-edit-74.pdf) (PDF). Fastjet plc. 31 December 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Lonrho departs Fastjet's share register"](http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/63248/lonrho-departs-fastjets-share-register-63248.html). Retrieved 5 April 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Osborne, Alistair (15 May 2013). ["Lonrho bows out after sale to Swiss investors for £175m"](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/10060469/Lonrho-bows-out-after-sale-to-Swiss-investors-for-175m.html). The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 December 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Allix, Mark (15 May 2013). ["FS Africa to buy Lonrho for £175m"](http://www.bdlive.co.za/africa/africanbusiness/2013/05/15/fs-africa-to-buy-lonrho-for-175m). Business Day Live. Retrieved 6 December 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["Thomas Eggar acts for Lonrho Plc in £170m takeover and de-listing"](http://www.thomaseggar.com/news-and-events/firm-news/a/2013/07/29/thomas-eggar-acts-for-lonrho-plc-in-170m-takeover-and-de-listing-from-stock-exchange-deal). Thomas Eggar. 29 July 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** ["Takeovers"](http://www.investorschronicle.co.uk/r/FT%20Publications/IC/Assets/PDF/TakeOverTables_20130607.pdf) (PDF). Investors Chronicle. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2014.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Lonrho](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonrho) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonrho?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.