Who owns Keells?
Keells is owned by Ceylon Cold Stores (Sri Lanka, CSE: CCS.N0000).[1]
This ownership is reported in official statements but has not yet been matched to a regulatory filing.
Evidence: Ceylon Cold Stores PLC Integrated Annual Report 2025/26. Last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Ceylon Cold Stores PLC reported
- Owner HQ
- 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka, Colombo
- Origin
- 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
- Founded
- 1991
- Category
- Home, garden & DIY › Retailer own brands › Grocery own brands
- Parent ticker
- CSE: CCS.N0000
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About Keells
Keells is a Sri Lankan supermarket chain run by Jaykay Marketing Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ceylon Cold Stores. Its first outlet opened at Liberty Plaza in 1991, and it had 147 outlets at 31 March 2026. Its Keells Nexus loyalty programme has more than 2.8 million members, and the chain also sells its own-label products. LMD named it the most loved supermarket brand in Sri Lanka in 2025.
Ownership timeline of Keells
- Current owner Ceylon Cold Stores [1] reported
Where Keells sits in Ceylon Cold Stores
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Ceylon Cold Stores ownership tree →
See the full Ceylon Cold Stores brand portfolio (4) →
Other brands owned by Ceylon Cold Stores
Ceylon Cold Stores controls 4 brands on Brandtree.
- Elephant House (1883)
- IMORICH
- Wonder
Other brands in grocery own brands, and who owns them
The 170 brands in grocery own brands on Brandtree belong to 55 owners. The largest is Cencosud, with 12.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Bretas | Cencosud | 🇨🇱 Chile |
| Lucerne | Albertsons | 🇺🇸 United States |
| City Gross | Axfood | 🇸🇪 Sweden |
| Chalo | Empire | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| Checkers | Shoprite Group | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| Amanhecer | Jerónimo Martins | 🇵🇹 Portugal |
| K-Citymarket | Kesko | 🇫🇮 Finland |
| Farmer's Market | Loblaw | 🇨🇦 Canada |
About the owner: Ceylon Cold Stores
Ceylon Cold Stores is a publicly listed company headquartered in Colombo, Sri Lanka, founded in 1866. Brandtree records 4 brands under its control, and it is listed as CSE: CCS.N0000.
Ceylon Cold Stores began in 1866 as the Colombo Ice Company, founded by Arthur Von Possner around what it describes as the first ice-making machine used in the country, and took its present name in 1941. It came under John Keells Holdings in 1991 with the acquisition of the Whittalls Group, and John Keells held 70.66 per cent of it at 31 March 2026. It makes soft drinks and ice cream under Elephant House and runs the Keells supermarket chain through its wholly owned subsidiary Jaykay Marketing Services.
Ceylon Cold Stores: full profile, brands and acquisition history →
🇱🇰 Keells and other Sri Lankan brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 60 brands that began in Sri Lanka. 1 of them (2%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; Keells is not one of them.
- Cargills Food City — Cargills 🇱🇰
- Causeway Paints — Asian Paints 🇮🇳
- Ambewela — Lanka Milk Foods 🇱🇰
- Atlas — Hemas 🇱🇰
- Bison — DCSL 🇱🇰
- Cinnamon Air — Saffron Aviation 🇱🇰
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Keells?
The parent company of Keells is Ceylon Cold Stores, a publicly listed company headquartered in Sri Lanka.
Is Keells Sri Lankan?
Yes. Keells originated in Sri Lanka in 1991 and its owner, Ceylon Cold Stores, is also headquartered in Sri Lanka.
Is Keells still owned by Ceylon Cold Stores?
Yes. As of 16 September 2026, Keells is still owned by Ceylon Cold Stores. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Ceylon Cold Stores PLC Integrated Annual Report 2025/26 — Ceylon Cold Stores PLC, Annual report; retrieved 16 September 2026.
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