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 by Robert Fleming, a successful investment manager, in Dundee, Scotland, in 1873. Fleming had worked at first for a 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.[1]
In 1873, Robert Fleming cofounded the Scottish American Investment Company for the purpose of investing in high risk, high return American railroad bonds.[2]