Pacific Dunlop
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Pacific Dunlop was a highly diversified Australian conglomerate company that operated in, among other things, the Automotive,
textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
,
electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
and
biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...
industries. Products commercialised included
tire A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), t ...
s,
car batteries An automotive battery or car battery is a rechargeable battery that is used to start a motor vehicle. Its main purpose is to provide an electric current to the electric-powered starting motor, which in turn starts the chemically-powered intern ...
, cables,
clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...
, electronics,
bedding Bedding, also known as bedclothes or bed linen, is the materials laid above the mattress of a bed for hygiene, warmth, protection of the mattress, and decorative effect. Bedding is the removable and washable portion of a human sleeping environm ...
,
condom A condom is a sheath-shaped barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both male and female condoms. With proper use—and use at every act of in ...
s. Facing financial difficulties, it rapidly spun off and sold its non-core assets before renaming itself
Ansell Ansell is an Australian company which manufactures protective industrial and medical gloves. It was previously well known as a condom manufacturer but sold that division in 2017. History Early years Ansell was formed as Dunlop Pneumatic T ...
in 2002. In 2006, it sold its tyre making business to Goodyear to focus on the manufacturing of latex products.


History

Pacific Dunlop has its roots in the Irish
Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company Dunlop Ltd. (formerly Dunlop Rubber) was a British multinational company involved in the manufacture of various natural rubber goods. Its business was founded in 1889 by Harvey du Cros and he involved John Boyd Dunlop who had re-invented and ...
, which established the Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company of Australasia in 1893, which included a local finishing factory and office in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
to supply the market with bicycle tyres. In 1899 downturn in cycling's popularity and speculation from the parent company led to the sell-off of Dunlop's Australasian and
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
n operations, and the Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company of Australasia was floated with 80,000 shares, costing £1 per share. The company was listed on Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide stock exchanges. In 1906, the company changed its name to the Dunlop Rubber Company of Australasia.
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and the rise of the
automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...
proved to be a boom in demand for rubber products, and the company grew. In 1920, the company was incorporated in Victoria and Dunlop continued to expand merging with the Perdriau Rubber Company, a manufacturer of
raincoat A raincoat is a waterproof or water-resistant garment worn on the upper body to shield the wearer from rain. The term rain jacket is sometimes used to refer to raincoats with long sleeves that are waist-length. A rain jacket may be combined with ...
s and
boot A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is cle ...
s in 1929, again renaming itself Dunlop Perdriau. In 1941, it again changed its name to Dunlop Rubber Australia. in 1969, Dunlop acquired Ansell Rubber, a disposable glove and condom manufacturer, and continued to expand. Establishing operations producing footwear, bedding and clothes. During the 1970s, the company streamlined its rapidly growing operations and profits soared. In 1980, Dunlop merged with Olympic Industries, another manufacturer of tyres and cables, and owner of the
Beaurepaires Beaurepaires is an Australian and New Zealand tyre retail and repair chain started in 1922 by Frank Beaurepaire, a former Olympic swimmer for Australia and Australasia, with money he received for rescuing a shark attack victim from the water a ...
automotive service chain. The company was also renamed Dunlop Olympic. By 1984, the Dunlop Olympic severed all ties with Dunlop UK. In 1986, Dunlop Olympic changed its name to "Pacific Dunlop", to reflect its region-wide status. The company was listed on the
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
and
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
Stock Exchanges. Pacific Dunlop and Goodyear formed a joint venture that consolidated both companies tyre manufacturing operations in the
Asia Pacific Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific Is ...
region named South Pacific Tyres, or SPT. SPT made tyres featuring the Dunlop, Goodyear and Olympic brands. During the 1980s, the company continued to expand, acquiring
Nucleus Limited Nucleus Limited began as a private company in Sydney, Australia, in 1965. It was founded by former Watson-Victor executive Paul Murray Trainor, after acquisition of X-ray sales & service company Scientific & General. Other companies to be controll ...
and buying assets from the failing
Adelaide Steamship Company The Adelaide Steamship Company was an Australian shipping company and later a diversified industrial and logistics conglomerate. It was formed by a group of South Australian businessmen in 1875. Their aim was to control the transport of goods b ...
, notably Petersville Sleigh, owners of
Peters Ice Cream Peters Ice Cream is an Australian ice cream brand, now a subsidiary of European food firm Froneri. It was originally developed by an expatriate American, Frederick (Fred) Augustus Bolles Peters in 1907, using his mother's recipe. History The c ...
,
Birds Eye Birds Eye is an American international brand of frozen foods owned by Conagra Brands in the United States, by Nomad Foods in Europe, and Simplot in Australia. The former Birds Eye Company Ltd., originally named "Birdseye Seafood, Inc." had be ...
and Edgell. By 1991, Pacific Dunlop's Ansell had become the world's largest latex product manufacturer. Pacific Dunlop became the third foreign company allowed to operate in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
in 1993. By the mid 1990s, Pacific Dunlop was one of the 20 largest companies in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, with sales of over $6.3 billion and profits totalling the hundreds of millions. But by 1999 the company was facing financial difficulty and had a debt of $2.1 billion, Pacific Dunlop had already sold or spun off most of its food subsidiaries, as well as the
Telectronics Telectronics Pty Ltd was an Australian company best known for its role in developing the pacemaker. It was located in Lane Cove, Sydney. In 1988 the business was acquired by Pacific Dunlop. and also However, legal claims resulting from the sale ...
and Cochlear businesses. In 2001, it sold
Pacific Brands Pacific Brands was an Australian consumer products company. On Tuesday, 28 June 2016, the company suspended trading on the ASX in order to be acquired by Hanesbrands. Corporate changes/details were to be announced thereafter. This acquisiti ...
to
CVC Asia Pacific CVC Capital Partners is a Luxembourg-based France, French private equity and investment advisory firm with approximately US$133 billion of assets under management and approximately €157 billion in secured commitments since inception across Amer ...
and in 2002, it was renamed Ansell, the subsidiary which now accounted for the majority of its revenue. Ansell maintained 50% ownership of South Pacific Tyres with Goodyear until 2006. SPT was closed in 2008.


See also

*
Wesfarmers Wesfarmers Limited is an Australian conglomerate, headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. It has interests predominantly in Australia and New Zealand, operating in retail, chemical, fertiliser, industrial and safety products. With revenue o ...
, another Australian conglomerate *
Pacific Brands Pacific Brands was an Australian consumer products company. On Tuesday, 28 June 2016, the company suspended trading on the ASX in order to be acquired by Hanesbrands. Corporate changes/details were to be announced thereafter. This acquisiti ...
*
Cochlear Limited Cochlear is a medical device company that designs, manufactures, and supplies the Nucleus cochlear implant, the Hybrid electro-acoustic implant and the Baha bone conduction implant. Based in Sydney, Cochlear was formed in 1983 as a subsidiar ...
*
List of companies of Australia This is a list of notable companies based in Australia, a country in Oceania. For further information on the types of business entities in this country and their abbreviations, see " Business entities in Australia". Australia is a wealthy country ...


References

{{Authority control Conglomerate companies of Australia Defunct companies of Australia Holding companies of Australia Companies based in Melbourne Holding companies established in 1899 Holding companies disestablished in 2002 Australian companies established in 1899 Australian companies disestablished in 2002