HISTORY

An event which positively changed the course of the family business occurred when four tons of rice was ordered from a supplier. The request was processed incorrectly and an order of 40 tons was recorded. The supplier further misunderstood the order and 400 tons of rice was actually delivered. Despite the confusion, the Louis brothers chose to honour the relationship with their supplier and the dispatch was accepted. Shortly thereafter, the company found itself in the fortunate position as the only wholesaler with rice available at a time when food had become very scarce.

By 1950, the Louis family business had grown into one of the largest wholesale merchants in South Africa. It was at this time that Colia Louis, Salim’s son, advanced the business by making the strategic transition from a wholesale concern to a property investment and brokerage business. As Colia’s five sons graduated in their various professions, they all in turn joined forces with their father in expanding the enterprise.

In 1994, the Louis family, by then styled the ‘Louis Group’, relocated its headquarters to Cape Town and continued to apply the principles of Christian and family values upon which all their business interests are founded. Shortly thereafter in 1997, Alan Louis was invited by his father to take over the reins as company CEO and he continued to apply the family’s highly relationship-minded and solution-driven approach both to the Group’s property-related activities and investments (which remain at the core of the business) as well as leading its expansion through strategic acquisitions into financial services, technology and hotels.

In 2002, Alan Louis took the decision to move his family to England, choosing Stratford-upon-Avon as his base of operations in the UK from which to extend and expand Louis Group’s highly successful investment strategy through the acquisition of properties in England, Germany, Switzerland and the Isle of Man. Louis Group also established a strong presence in the Isle of Man, taking advantage of the powerful combination of transparency, firm regulation and regulatory compliance which, together with its AAA ratings by both Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s, makes the Island such an attractive jurisdiction.

Louis Group (UK) has also recently moved into the offices of its new headquarters in Stratford-upon-Avon where it provides a comprehensive property management service, including the maintenance, letting and project management of the Group's property portfolio.

The culmination of this growth and development in Europe was the granting of a private Swiss banking license in February 2009 and the opening in Zurich of Banque Louis shortly thereafter – the first family-owned Swiss private bank with South African origins. Banque Louis is also the holding company of many of Louis Group’s European business interests and offers a full suite of private banking services.