Baalbaki Group

About the Founder & Founding Story

Izzo Baalbaki was a traveling merchant who traded between Baalbek, his hometown in what is now Lebanon, and Damascus. Known as “Al-Baalbaki,” meaning “the one from Baalbek,” Izzo’s nickname eventually became the family’s surname.^[5] His business activities trace back to the late Ottoman era, when trade routes were expanding across the Levant. In the mid-1870s, Izzo transitioned from trade to manufacturing, establishing a textile production plant in Syria and thus laying the foundation for the family’s future business endeavors.^[6]

Growth Phase

In 1907, Izzo passed away, and his eldest son Sobhi took over the family business. Sobhi’s three younger brothers, Rushdi, Kamel, and Omar, joined the business, and together they opened the family’s first store dealing in food commodities and textiles. The main store was located in Midhat Pasha Souq in Damascus, with additional branches in Amman and Beirut.^[7]

Following in their father’s footsteps, the brothers sourced textiles and clothing in Damascus, transporting the goods to Al-Karak in modern-day Jordan, exchanging them for wheat and other food products to be sold back home.^[8] The Baalbakis took advantage of the recently completed Hejaz Railway, which ran from Damascus to Medina. Built by the Ottomans with the needs of pilgrims and the military in mind, the new railway proved vital to the growth of trade throughout the region.^[9]

Trade was disrupted during World War I as the Hejaz Railway became a key military target in the Arab Revolt of 1916–1918.^[10] Ottoman rule in the Levant collapsed, and Greater Syria was divided under the Sykes–Picot Agreement into British and French mandates.^[11]

Despite this instability, the Baalbaki family’s trade persisted. In 1928, Omar Baalbaki established business operations in Amman.^[12] The Amman operations enjoyed substantial growth throughout the 1930s under Omar’s leadership, while his brother Rushdi remained in Damascus, where he maintained close ties with commercial and political elites.^[13]

In 1946, coinciding with the independence of Jordan and Syria, Rushdi, Kamel, and Omar Baalbaki officially split up their partnership. Omar had become a prominent figure in Jordanian society, known for his contributions to social and community development alongside his business endeavors.^[14] Under his leadership, his three sons—Hassan, Ihsan, and Tahseen—pursued business opportunities around the region. In 1947, Hassan founded Baalbaki International in Damascus through a merger with the Basrawi family’s operations, creating a trading enterprise that specialized in office supplies and consulting services.^[15]

In 1957, Omar and his son Ihsan founded Barada Metallic Industries in collaboration with the Smadi and Halbuni families of Damascus, specializing in the production of refrigerators, ovens, and steel furniture. Ihsan and Tahseen jointly managed the company. The Syrian Ba’th party that took power a few years later undertook an intense wave of nationalization as it sought to create a socialist-style state economy.^[16] In 1964, Barada Metallic Industries and Omar Baalbaki’s real estate holdings and other Syrian assets he owned were nationalized.^[17]

Following this massive disruption, Ihsan moved to Beirut, where he established a marketing consultancy firm, IMIC, which found quick success in consulting for companies in the refrigeration sector.^[18] IMIC grew into the Beirut-headquartered Baalbaki Group, which partnered with Germany’s Linde AG to launch Linde Middle East.^[19] The family gradually diversified into chemical manufacturing, laying the groundwork for what would become Baalbaki Chemical Industries (BCI).^[20]

While Beirut became the center of the group’s operations, its business activity in Jordan also grew. Throughout the 1960s, Omar and Tahseen opened stores on King Talal Street, selling food and household goods. At the end of the decade, Tahseen was introduced to the growing supermarket refrigeration industry by a group of Italian salesmen. Gambling on what was then a niche market, Tahseen began importing Italian refrigerators, freezers, and display units. With the support of Italy’s Arneg firm, he became one of Jordan’s first major suppliers of supermarket refrigeration. Demand steadily grew, competition remained small, and profits were higher than traditional retail trade.^[21] In 1966, the family founded Ihsan and Tahseen Baalbaki Company (now Mohammad Tahseen Baalbaki & Partners) in Amman, Jordan, while their factories remained in Syria.^[22]

In Lebanon, the growing Baalbaki Group continued to forge new international partnerships. In 1973, IMIC entered a venture with L’Unité Hermétique and Pechiney, establishing Unimetco Sarl, a Paris-based trading and confirming house. A couple of years later, Baalbaki Real Estate & Investment Co. was established in Beirut.

Despite the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975 and the resulting instability, Baalbaki Group continued to thrive. In 1977, the group acquired shares in BLOM Bank sal, which would grow into Lebanon’s largest commercial bank, with subsidiaries in countries including France, Switzerland, the UK, UAE, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt.^[23] The group established strong relations with the Norwegian Export Council, promoting Norwegian exports to the Middle East, and later founded a Norwegian Export Institution in Lebanon. The group also diversified into children’s wear and accessories, acquiring the Nataly’s franchise.^[24] Despite the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975 and the ensuing instability, the Baalbaki Group continued to grow. Between 1994 and 1999, BCI expanded its polyurethane business through a licensing agreement with Bayer AG, establishing production facilities in Lebanon to serve rising regional demand.^[25]

Today

Today, Baalbaki Group operates as a family-owned conglomerate, with key businesses in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and the UAE, including Baalbaki Chemical Industries, Baalbaki International, and Mohammed Tahseen Baalbaki & Partners. The family enterprises are primarily run by members of the family’s third and fourth generations, including Hassane, Karim, and Mohammad Kheir.^[26]

The conglomerate’s operations span Asia, Africa, and Europe.^[27] Baalbaki Chemical Industries continued its expansion into new markets, including Egypt and Turkey between 2008 and 2010.^[28] Baalbaki International still operates in Damascus with a focus on renewable energy and construction.^[29] In Jordan, meanwhile, Mohammed Tahseen Baalbaki & Partners has expanded in a major way. Its operations, focusing on the provision, installation, operation, and maintenance of machinery, now encompass 32 branches in cities across the country.^[30]