Australian National Industries

Last updated

Australian National Industries
Company typePublic
Founded1911
FounderJohn McGrath
Defunct1999
FateAcquired by
Successor Smorgon Steel
Headquarters
Sydney
,
Australia
Revenue$2.05 billion (1997/98)
$73 million (1997/98)
Number of employees
7,000
Website www.ani.com.au

Australian National Industries was an Australian heavy engineering company with diverse range of holdings.

Contents

History

In 1911 John McGrath began to sell motor vehicles. It operated the first public garage in New South Wales. The company held motor vehicle franchises for many makes of cars. In 1929, it diversified into importing steel and engineering equipment. In the mid-1930s production of drop forgings commenced with motor dealerships opening in other states. [1]

In the early 1940s, the largest forging plant in Australia was opened in Lidcombe, producing forgings for the aircraft and munitions industry. Activities expanded and diversified to include general engineering. In February 1951 John McGrath Industries Limited was listed on the Sydney Stock Exchange. It was renamed Australian National Industries in 1956. [1]

Having acquired a 20% shareholding in ANI, Kerry Packer's Australian Consolidated Press (ACP) launched a takeover offer in April 1989. [2] ACP gained control with a 48% shareholding in June 1989. [3]

In 1991, ACP sold its struggling European waste management company ABT to ANI for $2 million, a decision which was not disclosed to ANI shareholders. Two weeks later, Packer, who had already reduced his shareholding in ANI from 48% to 30%, sold his remaining stake, making a $200 million profit. ABT had signed a contract to build a $150 million waste treatment facility in Madrid which some observers thought was more likely to cost about $400 million. In 2006, it was estimated that the final losses from ANI's venture into European waste management approached $1 billion.

In 1997, Bob Ellicott QC conducted an independent enquiry into the circumstances surrounding the sale of ABT to ANI, but his report was never made public by the corporate regulator, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission, because the ANI board claimed it was defamatory. [4] [5] [6]

In October 1998, Evans Deakin Industries, that held a 5% shareholding in ANI, announced its intention to launch a takeover offer. [7] In December 1998, Smorgon Steel launched a counter takeover offer that was successful, with ANI delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange on 17 March 1999. [8] [9] [10]

Subsidiary companies

Related Research Articles

GKN Ltd is a British multinational automotive and aerospace components business headquartered in Redditch, England. It is a long-running business known for many decades as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds. It can trace its origins back to 1759 and the birth of the Industrial Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skitube Alpine Railway</span> Electric rack railway in NSW, Australia

The Skitube Alpine Railway is an Australian standard gauge electric rack railway in the Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales. It provides access to the snowfields at Blue Cow Mountain and the Perisher Valley.

Toll Group operates a logistics and global freight forwarding network spanning 150 countries, with over 20,000 customers. Toll has more than 16,000 team members across 500 sites.

Paul Alexander Little is an Australian businessman and philanthropist. Little served as the managing director of Toll Holdings, an Australasian integrated logistics provider from 1985 until 2011 and retired from that position after 26 years service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ten Network Holdings</span> Australian media company

Ten Network Holdings Ltd., commonly referred as Paramount Australia & New Zealand, is a major media company in Australia. Headquartered in Sydney, its major asset is Network 10, a free-to-air television network. Formerly a public company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, since December 2019, it has been a subsidiary of Paramount Networks UK & Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boral</span> Australian building and construction material company

Boral Limited is an Australia-based integrated construction materials company. The company is engaged in producing and selling a broad range of construction materials including quarry products, cement, concrete, asphalt and recycled materials. The company's segments include construction materials and property. The company's construction materials segment operates across Australia and offers quarries, concrete, asphalt, landfill, cement, recycling, transport and placing. Its property segment is engaged in the development or divestment of surplus properties. The company's products are offered to end-use markets, which include residential and non-residential construction and the engineering and infrastructure markets. With revenue for total operations of A$3.46 billion (2023), Boral has about 7,500 employees and contractors working across 360 operating and distribution sites. Its headquarters are located in Sydney, New South Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downer Rail</span> Rolling stock manufacturer

Downer Rail is a business unit within the Downer Group. As well as manufacturing and maintaining railway rolling stock it holds maintenance contracts to maintain rail infrastructure. The head office is located in North Ryde.

The Smorgon family is a Jewish-Australian business family known for their establishment of Smorgon Steel.

Lloyd J. Williams is an Australian property developer and businessperson, with significant interests in thoroughbred horse racing. He holds the record as a thoroughbred owner to have won the Melbourne Cup on the most occasions, his most recent in 2020 with Twilight Payment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commonwealth Engineering</span> Former Australian manufacturer of railway rolling stock

Commonwealth Engineering was an Australian engineering company that designed and built railway locomotives, rolling stock and trams.

Email Limited was a manufacturing conglomerate operating mainly in Australia, best known for domestic electricity meters and major appliances.

Smorgon Steel was an Australian steel manufacturing company. It was the last remaining part of Smorgon Consolidated Industries, founded in 1958 by Victor Smorgon, member of the Smorgon family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bradken</span> Manufacturing company

Bradken is a manufacturer and supplier of differentiated consumable and capital products to the mining, transport, general industrial and contract manufacturing markets with operations in Australia, China, Canada, India, Malaysia and the United States. It is a subsidiary of Hitachi Construction Machinery.

CIMIC Group Limited is an engineering-led construction, mining, services and public private partnerships leader working across the lifecycle of assets, infrastructure and resources projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Nationwide Transport</span> Australian logistics company (1946–1998)

Thomas Nationwide Transport, commonly known by its TNT acronym, and in its later years as TNT Limited, was an Australian logistics and transport company. Founded in 1946, it was taken over by KPN in 1996 and in 1998 became part of the TNT Post Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evans Deakin and Company</span> Australian engineering company and shipbuilder

Evans Deakin & Company was an Australian engineering company and shipbuilder. In 2019, the company was inducted into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame in recognition of its major contributions to the Queensland economy for nearly a century through excellence in heavy engineering, construction and ship building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Carriage & Wagon</span> South African railway vehicle manufacturer

Union Carriage & Wagon (UCW) is a rolling stock manufacturer in South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steel & Tube</span> New Zealand iron and steel company

Steel & Tube Holdings Limited is a New Zealand-listed company that was established in 1953 with the merger of Stewarts & Lloyds of New Zealand, The Iron & Steel Company of New Zealand and McLean & Todd to form a steel company with a national reach.

Howard Smith Limited was an Australian industrial company. Founded in 1854 as a shipping company, it later diversified into coal mining, steel production, stevedoring, travel, railway rolling stock building, sugar production and retail. Its divisions began to be sold off in the 1990s with the remainder taken over by Wesfarmers in August 2001.

Comsteel is an Australian manufacturer of steel products based in the Newcastle suburb of Waratah. It is a subsidiary of American Industrial Partners.

References

  1. 1 2 History Australian National Industries
  2. ↑ Packer in surprise bid for ANI Canberra Times 22 April 1989 page 17
  3. ↑ Packer snatches control of ANI Canberra Times 9 June 1989 page 15
  4. ↑ ANI hold on ABT report Australian Financial Review 29 April 1997
  5. ↑ Mayne, Stephen (28 February 2006). "Time for ASIC to release the ANI files". Crikey. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  6. ↑ Mayne, Stephen (1 March 2006). "Kerry Packer and ANI: time for the truth". Crikey. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  7. ↑ Takeover Offer by Evans Deakin Industries Limited for Australian National Industries Limited Evans Deakin Industries 6 October 1999
  8. ↑ Smorgon Steel Offer $1.10 All Cash Alternative for ANI Smorgon Steel 17 December 1998
  9. ↑ Smorgon Steel now Set to Acquire 100% of ANI Smorgon Steel 29 January 1999
  10. ↑ Australian National Industries Limited Suspension from Official Quotation Australian Securities Exchange 10 March 1999
  11. ↑ "Who's Who in the Spedley Disaster". 5 May 1989.
  12. ↑ History Bradken
  13. ↑ Our History Coates Hire
  14. ↑ ANI expecting $16m in damages Canberra Times 27 October 1995 page 15
  15. ↑ ANI winds down Comeng and raises UK investment Australian Financial Review 21 March 1988
  16. ↑ Engineering giants sell joint venture Canberra Times 24 December 1985 page 11
  17. ↑ Deliveries Fleetline issue 172 November 1989 page 178
  18. ↑ Dunn, John (2013). Comeng: A History of Commonwealth Engineering Volume 5 1985-2012. Dural: Rosenberg Publishing. ISBN   9781922013521.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.