Kanoo
Kanoo (Arabic: كانو) is the family name of an Arab business family, controlling the Yusuf Bin Ahmed Kanoo Group.
The family is based in Bahrain, and has wings in several Persian Gulf countries controlling the family's business interests.
History
Beginning as traders in Bahrain, which at the time was a British protectorate, the Kanoo family expanded into shipping, sending different branches of the family to establish themselves – eventually becoming citizens – in the UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia. Today, the Kanoo Group's activities in each of the countries are managed by the local family wing, though they all remain under the ultimate control, and ownership, of the Bahrain-based Yusuf Bin Ahmed Kanoo Holdings.
The Kanoo Group is one of the largest and oldest independent, family-owned group of companies in the Persian Gulf region. Established in Bahrain in 1890 by Yusuf Ahmed Kanoo, it grew from its early trading and shipping business to become one of the most diversified business houses in the gulf region and beyond.