The J. Safra Group is a conglomerate comprising an international network of companies controlled by the Vicky Safra family, comprising banking and financial institutions and industrial operations. It is present in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, Asia and the Caribbean.
History
In the early nineteenth century, Safra Frères et Cie., the family's first financial institution, was founded in the Ottoman Empire in Aleppo, Syria. Further economic expansions prompted the family to open new branches in Beirut, followed by Istanbul and Alexandria. In the early 1900s, Beirut was chosen as headquarters of the newly founded Bank Jacob Safra. Following the end of World War II, Jacob Safra expanded the new banking activities toward Europe and later to Latin America and the United States.
In May 2011, it purchased 20% of the pulp and paper company Eco Brasil Florestas for R$160 million.[1] In November 2011, it bought 46% of Swiss bank Sarasin for US$1.13 billion.[2] In 2012, the J. Safra Group came to hold all of Sarasin's shares after making an offer to acquire stakes from minority shareholders.