Ansell - History

History

Ansell was formed as Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company of Australasia Ltd in 1899, when the Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company of the United Kingdom incorporated its Australian branch, formed in 1893, and floated it on the Australian stock exchanges. In 1906 the company changed its name to the Dunlop Rubber Company of Australasia Ltd, and in 1929 changed it again, following a merger with the Perdriau Rubber Company, to Dunlop Perdriau Ltd.

At this time the company's main business was the production of automobile tyres. The company expanded into other rubber products, including footwear in 1948. In 1967 the company changed its name to Dunlop Australia, and continued to diversify.

In 1969 Dunlop Australia acquired the Ansell Rubber Company, which had been founded in 1929 (originally as E. N. Ansell & Sons) by Eric Norman Ansell, at the time a worker for Dunlop Rubber Company of Australasia. Ansell started out developing condoms before moving into other areas such as gas masks and weather balloons as well as developing the first mass produced disposable latex gloves.

Dunlop Australia continued to expand. In 1986 it entered into a joint venture with Goodyear Tire to manufacture and distribute tyres in Australasia. In 1980 it acquired a competitor and became known as Dunlop Olympic, and in 1986 changed its name to Pacific Dunlop, reflecting its geographic expansion. Pacific Dunlop diversified into clothing, batteries, healthcare products and food, and by the mid 1990s was one of the 20 largest companies in Australia, with operations in 20 countries.

In the later 1990s Pacific suffered from falling profits and a high debt burden. It began a programme of divestment, selling its food and battery businesses. The clothing a footwear businesses were floated off as Pacific Brands in 2001, and the company determined to focus on the healthcare products of its Ansell subsidiary. Finally, in 2002, the company changed its name to Ansell Limited.