The world's local bank
| 2000 to present day | 1980 - 1999 | 1946 - 1979 | 1900 - 1945 | 1865 - 1899 |
During the 1980s HSBC concentrated on moving into those markets where it was not yet fully represented. In the United States this expansion centred on the purchase of Marine Midland Bank. After taking a 51 per cent interest in the bank in 1980, full ownership was completed in 1987. In Europe the bank sought a similar investment and in 1987 it took a 14.9 per cent share in Midland Bank in the UK. A co-operation agreement between HSBC and Midland allowed the two banks to consolidate and rationalise their international activities by reciprocal transfers of business.
The formation of HSBC Holdings plc in 1991, creating a holding company for the entire Group with its shares quoted in London and Hong Kong, showed that the Group viewed Europe, and the London market in particular, as a vital part of its future development. This strategy was made clear when HSBC Holdings announced that it would make a recommended offer for full ownership of Midland. The final offer, which became unconditional in July 1992, valued Midland at £3.9 billion and lifted the Group’s total assets from £86 billion in 1991 to over £170 billion in 1992. HSBC’s acquisition of Midland created one of the largest financial organisations of its kind in the world.
HSBC continued to grow through strategic acquisitions in both the developed and emerging markets: purchases in Argentina and Brazil in 1997 were balanced by the addition of the Republic New York Corporation to the HSBC Group in 1999. In November 1998 the Group announced the adoption of a unified brand, using HSBC and the hexagon symbol everywhere it operates, with the aim of enhancing recognition of the Group and its values by customers, shareholders and staff throughout the world.
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HSBC A Brief History