Thread: Muttaburra Qld then and now

Effectively, the company was shut down, and the assets (including the brand) were sold by the liquidators in a fire sale, with even the design assets being acquired for almost nothing. This resulted from the decision to borrow heavily and unwisely followed by a large rise in interest rates, after a hundred years of cautious and successful management. (See "Southern Cross Engines", Rob Laurent, ISBN 0-958921-0-3, Brisbane, 2nd Edn. 2004, 2009)

John

Big business never stands still. It's sad, but there would be very few large Australian companies without some foreign ownership. Even in the early days, Southern cross changed its identity several times. Have to admit, I've learned more about Southern cross in the last few days than I knew before.




"Southern Cross was acquired by Tyco Flow Control Pacific in late 1999, then in 2002, Tyco relocated Southern Cross to a new world-class manufacturing facility at Withcott near Toowoomba, Queensland. In October 2012, Pentair Water and Tyco Flow merged to become a united business called Pentair.

Pentair also owns the iconic pump brand Onga which was established in 1967 by Don Davey in Tooronga Victoria and starting out as a manufacturer of farm and domestic pumps. Onga remained as a privately owned enterprise until 1986 when it was purchased by Sta-Rite USA. (Sta-Rite was owned by Wicor, part of the Wisconsin Energy Group) It was at this time Sta-Rite moved to their Notting Hill premises and ?New Zealand? was formed.

In August 2004, Pentair Water Technologies sold off their Tool Division an acquired WICOR's (part of the Wisconsin Energy Group) Pump Division and creating Pentair Water. In October 2012, as a result of the Pentair merger, Pentair Onga moved to their new purpose-built manufacturing plant at Dandenong South. The new 6,800sqm facility incorporating the manufacturing, spare parts and research and development projects."

Originally Posted by bob10

Big business never stands still. It's sad, but there would be very few large Australian companies without some foreign ownership. Even in the early days, Southern cross changed its identity several times. Have to admit, I've learned more about Southern cross in the last few days than I knew before.


......

Toowoomba Foundry, the owner of the Southern Cross brand was a family company from the 1870s to the 1980s, but as you point out, its manufacturing focus changed over the years - pumps, steam engines, kerosine engines, windmills, locomotives, diesel engines, munitions, machine tools and other products!

To some extent its changes in the 90s (and the loss of family control) were simply the effects of globalisation, but perhaps even more due to, and certainly precipitated by, poor management.

John

Originally Posted by J RAD

Very true. There is a big shed in town that holds a full skeletal reconstruction of the Muttaburrasarus.

Also a display at Hughendon with full skeleton on show

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