Boral Roofing history

1964: Diversification into construction materials begins.

In 1967 Merry Land and Investment Co. was set up as a wholly owned subsidiary to handle the use and development of company owned land that was not needed for the brick operations.

In the year Neal retired the operating profit was $178.1 million, compared with $12.6 million in 1973, a rise of 141.3 per cent - an unbroken sequence of higher profits.

In 1973 Elton Griffin retired as CEO and was succeeded by Eric J. Neal.

The company had been established in 1974 with the merger of Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers - the Australian subsidiary of a UK company - and Southern Portland Cement, which was owned by BHP. Blue Circle Southern Cement, was a partnership between the two.

In October 1976 Guignard Brick Works management reached an agreement with Merry Companies Inc. that Merry would lease the Guignard Brick Works and other related assets.

The company was called Johns and Waygood Perry Engineering and did not change its name to Johns Perry until 1976.

The new CEO was quick to direct other diversification moves, and in 1976 Boral purchased Cyclone Company of Australia, which became Boral Cyclone.

Peter Finley was named Boral's fourth chairman in 1976.

1976: Cyclone Company, a maker of fencing, prefab building, window frames, and other products, is acquired.

1979: Company enters United States market through purchase of partial interest in California Tile.

From 1980, Neal maintained contact with Brian Loton of BHP and Sir John Milne, the managing director of Blue Circle Cement PLC. Both Brian Loton and John Milne had politely acknowledged Boral's advances, said they had no present intention of selling, but noted Boral's interest.

Under an agreement with Esso Exploration and Production Australia, Boral began oil and gas exploration in Queensland's Galilee Basin in 1980.

The first success came in 1981 in the Jackson oil field in the Naccowlah block and the Merivale gas field in the Denison Trough.

In 1980, Boral bought its second New South Wales brickworks, Pacific Bricks at Badgerys Creek, west of Sydney. It also made a far less publicised acquisition in 1981, taking over Launceston Gas Company for $2.35 million.

In 1982 management decided to increase its activities in this area and bought 18 per cent of Oil Company of Australia Limited (OCA).

During 1982 general industrial disputes, connected with wage claims and campaigns for a thirty-five hour week, affected the profitability of many Boral operations.

City Bricks' brickworks in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern (above). Its neighbouring Tooronga Quarry (below) was closed in 1983.

At the Annual General Meeting on 9 November 1987 Peter Finley, Boral's chairman, announced that the issue would have to be abandoned and shareholders who had applied for shares were free to request a refund.

There was no sector of Boral that Kean had not actively managed except resources - concrete and quarries - and in 1987 he was invited to become managing director.

In 1987 Boral had purchased Calsil's masonry operations Australia-wide.

Kean then found himself in a bidding match with Pioneer, which eventually backed out and Boral acquired Midland Brick in 1990.

Boral purchased Midland Brick from the family in late 1990.

Finley, a chartered accountant, would in 1990 become vice-chairman of the National Australia Bank and chairman of Email Limited, a company of which Elton Griffin had once been a board member.

In December 1991 Mobil veteran Jim Leslie succeeded Finley as chairman of Boral.

1993: Manufacturing division is spun off as Azon Limited; Sagasco Holdings, a gas firm, is acquired.

Boral entered the rapidly opening Chinese market for the first time in 1995 when it established a joint venture with a local firm to construct the first plasterboard factory in Shanghai.

Although there were no acquisitions completed on the scale of the Sagasco purchase, Boral did gain the leading position in the United States brick market through the 1995 purchases of Bickerstaff Clay Products Company and Isenhour Brick and Tile Company. For example, in 1995 Boral sold its elevator business to Otis Elevator Co. of the United States.

2000: Through a demerger, the energy operations are separated from the building and construction materials operations, which form the core of the new Boral.