Founded in 1901 by Julius & Oscar Philipp, this prototypical commodities trading house has developed an entrepreneurial approach to capitalizing on physical market dislocations.

 

Timeline

  • 1901 Founded by Julius Philipp in Hamburg, Germany  

  • 1909 Julius and Oscar Philipp open the London office at 118 Leadenhall Street

  • 1915 Philipp Brothers open NY office at 29 Broadway

  • 1942 Retained by the US government to assist in the acquisition and development of strategic mineral reserve

  • 1960 Philipp Brothers merged with Minerals and Chemicals Corporation of America (MCCA) and becomes publicly traded

  • 1967 Philipp Brothers/MCCA merged with Engelhard Minerals and Chemicals (EMC)

  • 1969 Anglo American purchases a controlling interest in EMC

  • 1981 Phibro acquired Salomon Brothers for $550MM

  • 1988 Phibro becomes the largest independent oil refiner in the US

  • 1998 Through the Citigroup / Travellers Merger, Phibro became the commodity trading subsidiary of Citigroup

  • 2009 Phibro is sold to Occidential Petroleum

  •  2016 Phibro LLC is purchased by Energy Arbitrage Partners, a firm founded and controlled by Simon Greenshields.

History

From its humble origins in Hamburg, Germany through its first incorporation and opening of Philipp Brothers London in 1909, Phibro (as it became known) expanded rapidly. The business established itself as the prototypical London commodities trading house and developed a flexible and entrepreneurial business model that evolved to capitalize on the opportunities that existed at the time. 

Phibro was an early pioneer in the development of liquidity and price transparency of the global commodities markets. Recognized as such, in 1942, the US government retained Phibro to assist it in the acquisition and development of a strategic metals reserve. In the early years, the majority of Phibro's activity involved the trading marketing, and processing of metal ores and concentrates.  

Phibro also expanded aggressively into other products including oil, refined products, chemicals, and fertilizer. The firm subsequently developed a related asset strategy designed to strengthen its increasingly important role as the world's largest commodities trading company.

In 1988 Phibro became the largest independent oil refiner in the US.

In 1981, Phibro acquired Salomon Brothers and in 1998 the firm became a subsidiary of Citigroup.

In January 2016 Phibro LLC was acquired by Energy Arbitrage Partners (EAP).  

Today, Phibro is an independent firm headed by Simon Greenshields (CEO).