The Olayan Saudi Holding Company (OSHCO) is Saudi Arabia-based multinational investment company with healthcare, industrial equipment, construction, real estate and consumer goods segments. The company was founded by Suliman Saleh Olayan in 1947.
OSHCO began as a general contracting company that aided in the construction of the Trans-Arabian Pipeline after WWII. The company expanded into fuel, food and consumer products distribution during the early 1950s.
In 1954, they established what would become the Middle East’s largest insurance and reinsurance broker, Arab Commercial Enterprises. The company secured key distribution partnerships with Kimberly-Clark, General Foods, Pillsbury, Hunt Wesson, Cummins Engine, Kenworth and Atlas Copco in the 1950s and 1960s.
The Olayan Group diversified into international investing in the 1960s, eventually branching into private equities, real estate and other asset classes. The Group built on its portfolio during the 1990s with stakes in Credit Suisse First Boston and the Chase Manhattan Corporation, while also securing joint ventures with Colgate-Palmolive and Coca-Cola.
Throughout the 2000s, the company further developed its other business segments, such as healthcare and real estate, which included the purchase of the Hotel Ritz Madrid in 2015. Today, the Group’s commercial business segments comprise more than 40 companies.
- Family name: Olayan family
- Sector: Consumer Products & Retail
- Founded: 1947
- Founder: Suliman Saleh Olayan
- Country: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
- Company headquarters: Riyadh, KSA
- Chairman: Khaled S. Olayan
- Revenue: US$7 billion (2017)
- Family ownership: >50%
- Employees: 12,000
- Website: https://olayan.com/
