History

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II Anant M P Shah OBE 2020

1904

Birth of our founder, Meghji Pethraj Shah in Dabasang, near Jamnagar in Gujarat State, India

1919

M. P. Shah emigrates to Mombasa, Kenya. Works as a shop assistant and book-keeper

1922

M. P. Shah moves to Nairobi

1922

M. P. Shah starts his own business, Raichand Brothers. The company begins in wholesaling and retailing, then expands into transport and trading

1928

Donations made to build a school and the Pethraj Jetha Building to house it in M. P. Shah's home village, Dabasang

1929

Forms a new partnership firm with Premchand V. Shah, Premchand Raichand, which sets up various businesses in Kenya

1930

Premchand Raichand expands into manufacturing aluminium utensils through Kenya Aluminium Works

1934

Premchand Raichand forms the Kenya Tanning Extract Co. to extract tannin from wattle bark

1936

Premchand Raichand forms Kenya Cotton & Produce Co.to open a cotton ginnery

1943

Premchand Raichand partnership ends, with M. P. Shah continuing to operate Kenya Tanning Extract Co.

1944

M. P. Shah starts Raitan Pvt Ltd in Mumbai to import tannin into India

1949

Starts Colonial Merchants to import textiles

1949

Acquires a 16,000 acre sisal plantation in Tanzania

1951

Acquires D. Abraham & Sons, a freight forwarding company in Mumbai

1952

Forms Guarantee Discount Co in Kenya to provide hire purchase financing

1953

From 1953 to 1964, M. P. Shah builds more than one hundred hospitals, medical facilities, colleges and schools, mainly in Gujarat and Kenya

1953

M. P. Shah retires from active management of his businesses and starts selling off all of his companies. He allocates all future income and most of his capital and time to his charitable trusts.

1954

Donations made of 38 acres of land in Jamnagar to Municipal Corp. for the M. P. Shah Industrial Estate

1954

Donations made of money and 19 acres of land in Jamnagar to build what is now the M. P. Shah Education Complex

1955

Donations made to build the M. P. Shah Medical College, Jamnagar

1955

M. P. Shah is appointed as a member of the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of the Indian Parliament

1956

Donations made to Shri Kasturba Stri Vikas Gruh, Jamnagar, which looks after women in distress

1957

Family moves to London

1961

Donations made to build the M. P. Shah Municipal College of Commerce & Law, Jamnagar

1962

Donations made to build the Parklands Nursing Home, Nairobi, which became the M. P. Shah Hospital

1964

M. P. Shah passes away at the age of 59; his sons, Vipin and Anant are still students

1964

Donations made to build the M. P. Shah Cancer Hospital, Ahmedabad

1968

From 1968, donations made to the Royal Postgraduate Medical School at Hammersmith Hospital, London, to build the Meghraj Lecture Theatre, the Meghraj Basic Research Cardiovascular Laboratories and the Meghraj Teaching Laboratories

1968

Donations made to build the M. P. Shah Municipal Vrudhashram, Jamnagar

1970

Donations made to build the Shrimati Maniben M. P. Shah Women’s College of Arts & Commerce, Mumbai

1973

Vipin and Anant Shah start the financial services business in London which evolves into Meghraj Group, including Meghraj Bank in London and Meghraj Bank (IOM) in the Isle of Man

1979

Kingsridge Trustee Company starts in Jersey beginning the Group’s trust and company services business

1980

Donations made to the M. P. Shah All India Talking Book Centre

1986

Donations made to build the M. P. Shah Technical Training Institute in Vaghodia

1987

Donations made to build the Maniben M. P. Shah Hall at the Jain Centre, Leicester

1991

Banking business refocuses from commercial to private banking

1992

Donations made to develop the M. M. Shah Mahila Arts College in Mehsana

1993

Meghraj Financial Services (now Meghraj Capital Advisors) starts in Mumbai, beginning the Group’s investment banking business

2000

Banking businesses in UK wound down – depositors repaid in full, and banking licences returned; the British Isles business focuses on trust and company services

2001

Merger of Kingsridge Trustee Company in Jersey with City Management, forming Minerva Trust & Corporate Services

2004

Donations made to redevelop the M. P. Shah Municipal Town Hall in Jamnagar

2006

Minerva acquires Professional Trust Company to become one of the largest independent trust businesses in Jersey

2008

Donations made to M. P. Shah Medical College

2009

Donations made to start the M. P. Shah Deafblind Unit in Jamnagar

2010

Donations made to Boys Hostel, M. P. Shah Education Complex in Jamnagar

2010

The Group begins its infrastructure consulting business in India through Meghraj Capital Advisors

2011

Donations made to rebuild primary schools in Jamnagar District

2011

Donations made to Chaitanaya Charitable Trust in Jamnagar for a day care centre

2012

Donations made to Business Bridge to fund pilot projects in India

2013

MTC Trust starts in Nairobi to offer onshore trust services, marking the Group's return to Kenya

2014

Meghraj Capital starts in Nairobi, expanding the Group's investment banking business to cover East Africa

2014

Meghraj Capital starts in London, further expanding the Group's investment banking business

2015

Meghraj Capital opens an office in Tokyo, expanding the Group's investment banking business

2016

Extension to the M.P. Shah Government Medical College in Jamnagar by the Government of Gujarat, at a cost of INR 1.1 billion

2017

New entrance built at the M.P. Shah Hospital in Nairobi, funded by the Meghraj Charitable Foundation

2018

Minerva Trust & Corporate Services merges with JTC Group PLC, with the combined business looking after USD 100 billion of client assets

2020

65th anniversary celebrations of the M. P. Shah Medical College in Jamnagar, India

2020

Inauguration of the M. P. Shah Municipal Vrudhashram in Jamnagar, India, with donations made by the Meghraj Charitable Foundation  

2021

Meghraj Group completes the sale of its infrastructure consulting business to the Indian subsidiary of Fichtner Group, a leading German engineering and consulting company

2022

Meghraj Group celebrates its centenary

2022

As part of Meghraj Group’s centenary celebrations, donations were made to the M. P. Shah Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya and the Shri M. P. Shah Municipal Commerce College in Jamnagar, India

2022

As part of Meghraj Group’s centenary celebrations, a donation was made to the MM Shah and MV Shah Academy in Mombasa, Kenya, to extend the primary school to be able to offer junior secondary education

2023

Chania High School in Thika, Kenya changes its name to M. P. Shah Chania High School. The school was built in 1962 with a donation from our Founder, and was originally called M. P. Shah High School