Group of mills under the Agency of Currimbhoy Ebrahim & Sons Ltd., taken by an unknown photographer circa 1917

Group of mills under the Agency of Currimbhoy Ebrahim & Sons Ltd., taken by an unknown photographer circa 1917

Goldstein, Roth & Co. is a part of the Currimbhoy Ebrahim & Sons Group, which celebrates its 200th anniversary this year. The company is run by the 9th generation from the founder Ebrahim Pabaney who incorporated E.Pabaney & Co in 1821 and his son Sir Fazalbhoy Currimbhoy Ebrahim who founded Currimbhoy Ebrahim & Sons in 1856.

Goldstein Roth & Co. is a subsidiary of Waterfront Ventures LLP which focuses on creating sustainable development through wealth creation

Other Group Businesses:
Consumer Goods:
The founding family runs Shahnaz Herbals, India’s leading cosmetics company. Shahnaz Husain, the founder of the company, is considered a living icon and is still actively running all aspects of the company’s growth.

Real Estate: The family owns a retail mall in New Delhi, commercial office space in Mumbai and New Delhi, land parcels and residential investment assets in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, London and New York.

Family Office: The investment focus is on online education, health tech, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.

 

History

The Currimbhoy business empire started in the early 1820's in the ancient Indian dhow port of Mandvi. It was from here that Ebrahim Pabaney, a wealthy and enterprising trader, who owned his own ships, traded with Arabia, Zanzibar and Bombay. Later, he moved his business to the bustling English port city from where he expanded into sending cotton-yarn to Canton (Guangdong), China. 

His son, Sir Fazalbhoy Currimbhoy Ebrahim, established E. Pabaney & Co. in 1856 in Bombay as a trading company. In 1857, it opened an office in Hong Kong on Duddell street for trading in opium, yarn, cotton, silk and tea, and soon set up offices all over the Far East. Ships belonging to their company E.Pabaney & Co. traded between India, Africa, China, Hong Kong and the Far East. In Shanghai, the company was listed as the "8 Bali Foreign” company (八巴利洋行 / bā bālì yángháng ). In 1903, the company established itself in Singapore for the trading of opium and yarn. 

In 1888, Sir Fazalbhoy Currimbhoy purchased and revitalized a group of defunct mills which he dubbed the Currimbhoy Mills; ten years later he acquired the Mahomedbhoy Mills; in 1900 he purchased the Crescent Mills, by which time the business controlled four mills in Bombay. In 1905 he set up the Currimbhoy Bleaching and Dyeing Works, and finally, in 1915 he acquired the Pearl Mills. Under Currimbhoy’s skilful management these mills yielded very high dividends, and conferred upon him the reputation of being one of the leading industrialists of Bombay.

King George V issued Letters Patent conferring the "dignity, state and degree" of a Baronet on Sir Currimbhoy Ebrahim of Bombay and to "the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten and to be begotten".

In order to provide for the upkeep and dignity of the Baronetey, the then Governor General of India in Council enacted the Sir Currimbhoy Ebrahim Baronetcy Act, 1913. By this, considerable properties belonging to Sir Currimbhoy Ebrahim were settled upon the trustee to support the dignity of the hereditary title for the first baronet and his heirs, following the precedent set by the Cowasji Jehangir Baronetcy Act of 1911. The first trustees included the first baronet and three officials of the Government of Bombay.

Under Currimbhoy’s skilful management, the empire grew to thirteen very profitable mills sometimes giving public dividends of up to fifty percent. He became a leading business personality of Bombay and sat on the Board of Directors of the Bank of India, one of the best-run banks at the time. By 1920, Sir Currimbhoy Ebrahim was the wealthiest Indian in the world.

 The business is run by Sir Currimbhoy Ebrahim’s VII make descendant, Sharik Currimbhoy Ebrahim.

 

 

 

 

Share Certificate from The Currimbhoy Mills Ltd. issued in 1913

Share Certificate from The Currimbhoy Mills Ltd. issued in 1913

Currimbhoy Ebrahim Baronetcy Crest

Currimbhoy Ebrahim Baronetcy Crest

A marketing stamp used on bales exported to Japan by Currimbhoy Ebrahim & Sons Ltd. circa 1877

A marketing stamp used on bales exported to Japan by Currimbhoy Ebrahim & Sons Ltd. circa 1877