E D Sassoon and Company Limited xx D K Investments (Crosby Square) Limited

E D Sassoon and Company Limited xx D K Investments (Crosby Square) Limited

In 1867 Elias David Sassoon set up the mercantile house, E D Sassoon and Company with offices in Bombay, India and Shanghai, China. The company also operated in the Gulf ports, Baghdad and Japan. The company bought up poorly performing cotton mills in Bombay and turned them into successful profitable operations. After the death of Elias David Sassoon in 1880, his eldest son Jacob took over the business and further branches were opened in Calcutta and Karachi. The firm also purchased property in Shanghai.

In the early twentieth century Jacob Sassoon played a very prominent role in forming the Eastern Bank. E D Sassoon and Company took advantage of the facilities provided by the Eastern Bank, making themselves less vulnerable to fluctuations of the rupee currency. On 1 January 1921, E D Sassoon and Company Limited was incorporated as a private trading and banking company. After the death of Sir Edward Sassoon and his younger brother Meyer, Jacob's nephew Victor Sassoon and his widowed Aunt Mozelle became the main beneficiaries of the combined business assets, then valued at £15 million. Sir Victor Sassoon became the chairman of the company and Meyer and Mozelle's son-in-law, Derek Fitzgerald was appointed manager of the London and Manchester branches.

In 1927, E D Sassoon and Company Limited was the largest mill owner in Bombay where the headquarters were then based. The company moved to new head quarters at Sassoon House in Shanghai, China in 1930. In order to facilitate investment a banking subsidiary was formed, E D Sassoon Banking and Company Limited. This new company took on the majority of the parent companies functions and continued to exist until it was taken over by Wallace Brothers and Company (Holdings) Limited and renamed Wallace Brothers Sassoon Bank Limited in November 1974. E D Sassoon and Company continued to operate as a separate company from 1972 until 1978 when it became DK Investments (Crosby Square) Limited, 4 Crosby Square, City of London.