Matheson & Company

In 1843 his uncle had invited him to join Jardine Matheson in Hong Kong, but he declined due to moral scruples about that firm's involvement in the opium trade.

[5] In the late 1850s Matheson and Company was appointed Jardine Skinner's principal agent in London, handling imports of commodities such as tea, rice, silk, cotton, jute and indigo.

[2] Jardine Skinner entered into joint ownership arrangements with Matheson & Co. of a number of tea estates in the early 1860s.

[3] After World War I (1914-1918) Matheson & Company generally withdrew from venture capital opportunities and focused on providing banking and merchanting services in London for Jardines.

[11] In 1947, Jardine Matheson and Company also represented Westinghouse Inc. as agent in Taiwan, supplying the country's boiler tube requirement for its railway engines.

In practice, the proprietors in Scotland made the decisions and transmitted them to Hong Kong through the London office.

[13] As London grew as an international financial hub, in the 1960s Matheson & Co. expanded their merchant banking operations.