Boustead Holdings Berhad (MYX: 2771) was founded in 1828 as Boustead & Co in Singapore by Edward Boustead, an English businessman. The company was incorporated in 1961 under the Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges.
After World War II, Malaya declared independence from the British (1957) and Singapore declared independence from Malaysia (1965). This saw Boustead & Co split into three entities in 1975, Boustead Plc in London (which was later reorganized as Boustead & Co), Boustead Holdings Berhad in Malaysia, Boustead Singapore Limited, and Boustead China Co, Ltd.
In 2008, Boustead has 133 subsidiaries of which 3 companies are listed and 16 associate companies, of which one is listed. It has total assets in excess of RM8 billion and more than 18,000 employees. The major shareholder of Boustead today is Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) the Malaysian Armed Forces Pension Fund. The Boustead Group's operations and business activities can be categorised into six core business areas, namely Plantation, Heavy Industries, Property, Finance & Investment, Trading and Manufacturing & Services.
Boustead, through its Boustead Petroleum Marketing subsidiary, is also a major shareholder of BHP Petroleum, a chain of refilling stations inherited from BP in 2005 after BP's pullout from the Malaysian petrol retail business in 2004.