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

History

In 1911 John McGrath began to sell motor vehicles. It operated the first public garage in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. 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.History
Australian National Industries 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. Having acquired a 20% shareholding in ANI,

Kerry Packer Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. The Packer family company owned a controlling ...

's Australian Consolidated Press (ACP) launched a takeover offer in April 1989. ACP gained control with a 48% shareholding in June 1989. 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 Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

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 The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is an independent commission of the Australian Government tasked as the national corporate regulator. ASIC's role is to regulate company and financial services and enforce laws to pro ...

, because the ANI board claimed it was defamatory. In October 1998, Evans Deakin Industries, that held a 5% shareholding in ANI, announced its intention to launch a takeover offer. In December 1998,

Smorgon Steel 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. In 1997, Smorgon purchased structural materials Wel ...

launched a counter takeover offer that was successful, with ANI delisted from the

Australian Securities Exchange Australian Securities Exchange Ltd (ASX) is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary Exchange (organized market), securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or c ...

on 17 March 1999.

Subsidiary companies

*Spedley Holdings *

Bradken 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 ...

* Coates Hire * Cockatoo Docks & Engineering Company * Comeng * Comsteel *Queensland Bus BuildersDeliveries '' Fleetline'' issue 172 November 1989 page 178 * Union Carriage & Wagon

References

{{Australian Consolidated Press Auto dealerships of Australia Companies based in Sydney Companies formerly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange Conglomerate companies of Australia Defunct manufacturing companies of Australia Engineering companies of Australia Australian companies established in 1911 1999 disestablishments in Australia