Dalgety plc

Until the second half of the 20th century when it moved operations to the Northern Hemisphere and transformed itself into a conglomerate the major portion of Dalgety's business was the Australasian wool trade pioneered by John Macarthur in New South Wales. Dalgety depended on the woolgrowers. Soon after F G Dalgety went into business on his own account Australia's sheep numbers had reached around 20 million. Thirty years later there were more than 100 million but by 1903 by prolonged drought flocks had almost halved and numbers did not come back to 100 million until 1926. By that time UK took about 50 per cent of Australia's total wool exports. UK demand rose during the Second World War but as the war ended it was found the UK government held 10.4 million bales. In conjunction with officials from Australia New Zealand and South Africa a joint arrangement was made in 1945 to ensure its orderly sale and the sale was completed in 1951. Later the same year American demand generated by the outbreak of the Korean War pulled wool prices up to nine times the UK contract price of five years earlier but the following year Australia's returns from wool were halved.Australian Bureau of Statistics, Year Book Australia, No. 85, 2003

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Wool prices continued to fall but bottomed in 1971 when there were a record 180 million sheep, the sheep numbers to some extent compensating for low wool prices. Price stabilisation schemes were organised with Australian government support. That support was withdrawn in 1999.

"It was during the 1990s that the Australian wool industry came to fully realise that wool is merely one of a number of fibres which apparel makers can choose to use in their garments, and that demand for wool depends significantly on the relative prices of substitute fibres, particularly the high quality but cheap synthetic fibres being produced today."Australian Bureau of Statistics, Year Book 2003, The Wool Industry looking back and looking forward

In 1998 synthetics provided 49 per cent of apparel fibres, cotton 42 per cent, cellulosic 5 per cent and wool only 3 per cent.

In December 1842 Canadian Frederick Gonnerman Dalgety arrived in Melbourne, first settled in August 1835, as manager of a new firm which he soon bought. By 1848 Dalgety was an independent and well-to-do merchant concentrating on the settlers' trade providing merchandise for the squatters and buying their produce. He visited England in 1849 to strengthen his facilities for both credit and the disposal of colonial produce and returned to Victoria in 1851. In the 1851 gold rush Dalgety continued with general business, enlarged his pastoral trade, sold merchandise to the gold diggers and bought much gold from them. In 1851-55 he made about £150,000 from his gold speculations alone.{{cite book|url=http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A040005b.htm|title=Biography - Frederick Gonnerman Dalgety - Australian Dictionary of Biography|chapter=Dalgety, Frederick Gonnerman (1817–1894) |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University|accessdate=21 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110409141753/http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A040005b.htm|archive-date=9 April 2011|url-status=live}}

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In 1854 Dalgety moved to London to establish the headquarters of his metropolitan-colonial enterprise though at that time it dealt mainly with the Victorian pastoral industry. He took with him as London partner Frederick Du Croz and left Charles Ibbotson as a colonial manager-partner in Geelong. He came back to Victoria in 1857 to establish James Blackwood as another manager-partner in Melbourne but after 1859 he lived permanently in England and his business headquarters remained there to the end of the 20th century.

By 1884 Frederick Dalgety had ten partners including managing partners and they had operations in London, Melbourne, Geelong, Launceston, Dunedin, Christchurch and Sydney.

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Dalgety, Du Croz and CoDalgety and Company, Limited. The Times, Monday, 11 January 1909; pg. 15; Issue 38853 and their various partnerships were forced into incorporation as a joint-stock company by their clients' increasing demand for capital and the competition from other joint-stock companies and banks. Dalgety and Company Limited was registered in London on 29 April 1884.UK register of companies, Companies House, Company No. 00019739 The new incorporation was listed on the London Stock Exchange in August 1884.{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/archive/article/1884-07-29/11/1.html|title=Dalgety|date=29 July 1884|work=The Times|access-date=19 May 2021}}

Over the next three years Dalgety branches opened in Queensland and Western Australia and the properties and other assets of the company increased by 50 per cent. Dalgety continued in active management as largest shareholder and chairman of directors until his death in 1894. He left at least seven stations in New Zealand but his Australian properties had been sold in the 1880s. Dalgety and Company Limited continued to grow after its founder died. In July 1898 an agreement was reached with the Russian consul in Melbourne for the use of Russian ships to transport wool from Australia to Europe.{{cite web |url=http://www.australia.mid.ru/0img/60_Years.pdf |title=60th Anniversary of the Russian-Australian diplomatic relations |publisher=Embassy of Russia to Australia |accessdate=2009-04-06 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081227005540/http://www.australia.mid.ru/0img/60_Years.pdf |archivedate=2008-12-27 }} at WebCite

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By 1909 there were branches at Melbourne and Geelong; Sydney and Newcastle; Brisbane, Rockhampton and Townsville; Adelaide; Perth, Fremantle, Kalgoorlie, Albany, Geraldton and Carnarvon; and in Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Napier and Wellington.

In 1927 operations were broadened to include East AfricaDalgety And New Zealand Loan Limited. The Times, Tuesday, 5 November 1963; pg. 17; Issue 55850 and then in 1959, by exchange of shares, the majority shareholding in African Mercantile Company was bought. African Mercantile Company was like the Australian business but in East Africa with eleven branches in Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda and Zanzibar.Dalgety And Company. The Times, Wednesday, 11 November 1959; pg. 20; Issue 54615

In the late 1950s Dalgety's business sector began to decline.

By 1961 Dalgety's core business was the operation of wool stores in the state capital cities along with wool broking in which it had built its position and become the world's largest wool-selling house. As stock and station agents Dalgety arranged the sale of livestock and maintained a strong merchandise operation. It also operated freight and passenger agencies for leading air and shipping lines. There was a substantial business as insurance agents.

Business was carried on at 446 centres; Australia 275, New Zealand 154, Kenya 7, Tanganyika 6, Uganda 3, Zanzibar 1 together with numerous subsidiaries. A United Kingdom subsidiary was developing the group's agricultural and trading interests within the UK.

File:Mactaggarts Cooperative Woolstore, Brisbane 02.JPG, Mactaggart place, Brisbane built 1926]]

To shore up declining profit margins various decisions were made. Multi-storey wool stores on valuable sites were sold off and replaced with single storey buildings on city outskirts. The single storey stores allowed the operation of modern more efficient handling machinery but the sale of old stores did not pay for new wool stores and Dalgety raised more capital by issuing debentures to investors in London.

Dalgety and Company Limited merged in November 1961 with New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company Limited, one of its principal competitors in Australia's eastern states and New Zealand. Dalgety and Company Limited changed its name to Dalgety and New Zealand Loan Limited marketed as Dalgety NZL. With assets of £44 million in 1963 the merged entity was the largest pastoral combine operating in Australasia.

The East Africa activities were sold into a new combine with Smith Mackenzie and Company, trading from Zanzibar since the early 19th century and now the East African subsidiary of Inchcape and Company both parties taking equal shares.Dalgety And New Zealand Loan Limited Inchcape and Co. Limited. The Times, Tuesday, 7 December 1965; pg. 17; Issue 56498

File:Dalgetys wharf No.1 at Darling Harbour (NSW) (6888857347) (3).jpg|Dalgety wharf No. 1 Millers Point
(Darling Harbour)
bond store at top left

File:SS MEDIC departing Dalgetty's wharf at Millers Point (10829008336).jpg|SS Medic departing Millers Point

File:StateLibQld 1 83347 Cargo ship Pericles at Dalgety and Co's Wharf, New Farm, Brisbane, 1908.jpg|Dalgety wharf at New Farm, Queensland
SS Pericles loading

File:StateLibQld 1 166315 Loading cargo at Dalgety's Wharf, Brisbane, ca. 1911.jpg|Loading frozen beef for London, Dalgety's wharf Brisbane

File:Dalgety building 1902.jpg|Fremantle, Western Australia 1902

In which Dalgety begins to switch investment and operations from agribusiness to northern hemisphere food.

As of 30 June 1970 Dalgety New Zealand Loan changed its name to Dalgety Limited —much later changed by legislation to Dalgety plc. On the same date it made itself a holding rather than operating company when new Australasian operating subsidiaries Dalgety Australia and Dalgety New Zealand took over Dalgety's two branch businesses.Dalgety. The Times, Friday, 6 February 1970; pg. 20; Issue 57787Dalgety. The Times, Tuesday, 10 November 1970; pg. 29; Issue 58019 The group had 66 per cent and 23 per cent of its net assets in the two countries.Dalgety's Entrenchment Down Under. The Times, Saturday, 17 January 1970; pg. 14; Issue 57770

Dalgety Australia took over the Stonyfell winery in the eastern foothills of Adelaide in 1972, but by 1978 it had been taken over by Seagram's, at which time the winemaking part of the business at Stonyfell was wound up.{{Cite book |last1=Warburton|first1=Elizabeth | author2=Burnside (S.A.). Corporation | title=The paddocks beneath: a history of Burnside from the beginning |year=1981 | publication-date=1981 | publisher=Corporation of the City of Burnside | isbn=978-0-9593876-0-5 }}

Smithfield's Peter Dumenil & Co specialising in meat processing and supply of meat, poultry and game for the catering industry was bought.Dalgety builds up in Britain. The Times, Friday, 28 February 1969; pg. 32; Issue 57497

A small English livestock and animal feeds business was brought into the group, Grossmith Agricultural Industries.Dalgety £1.5m. bid. The Times, Saturday, 17 May 1969; pg. 11; Issue 57562

Intending to move their activities nearer the consumer Dalgety had expanded into North America in 1966 acquiring Balfour Guthrie, a San Francisco-based import-export and insurance business owning a Canadian business in wholesale lumber and a Californian business growing poultry.Dalgety Crosses The Pacific. The Times, Wednesday, 10 August 1966; pg. 13; Issue 56706 In 1974 Balfour Guthrie bought Spiegel Frozen Foods In Salinas California which harvested and froze "own brand" vegetables.Change of Diet. The Times, Thursday, 12 August 1976; pg. 17; Issue 59780

In 1968 Dalgety acquired one of the largest potato marketing organisations in BritainDalgety expands UK farming business. The Times, Wednesday, 17 April 1968; pg. 26; Issue 57228 and in 1969 a pastoral property business, New Zealand and Australian Land Limited, by exchange of shares.Dalgety takes control. The Times, Thursday, 6 March 1969; pg. 26; Issue 57502

In 1970 Dalgety set up joint ventures with Tata and Consolidated Goldfields but most significantly of all acquired a biotech interest, a UK-based hybrid pig breeder which supplied live boars to pig farmers.Hybrid. The Times, Wednesday, 9 September 1970; pg. 23; Issue 57966Dalgety moves into Pig Improvement. The Times, Wednesday, 9 September 1970; pg. 26; Issue 57966 The pig breeder, Pig Improvement Company, incorporated in 1962 would make very strong growth towards the very end of the 20th century. As the new heart of the old Dalgety business, an international pig and now also a shrimp breeder, PIC merged in 2005 with another biotechnology leader, cattle breeder Genus plc.{{cite web|url=http://www.thepigsite.com/swinenews/10541/genus-completes-acquisition-of-sygen|title=Genus Completes Acquisition Of Sygen|work=The Pig Site|access-date=28 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209234541/http://www.thepigsite.com/swinenews/10541/genus-completes-acquisition-of-sygen|archive-date=9 February 2012|url-status=dead}}

At the end of 1970 The Times "Top 1000" ("a guide to the performance of major British and international groupings") listed Dalgety at 17th in sales but 121st in profits. Dalgety's 65-68 Leadenhall Street, London EC3 head offices were sold for three times the cost of the hybrid pig investment.Dalgety sell head office for £3m. The Times, Friday, 22 January 1971; pg. 17; Issue 58079 Another year of drought continued its serious effect on profits and commentators inspired speculators by suggesting a bidder for the business might come along.Dalgety Hopes Confounded. The Times, Friday, 5 March 1971; pg. 18; Issue 58114 In August Dalgety announced the purchase of South Australian vineyards with a liquor distribution business and BDH an electrical appliance manufacturer.Dalgety Invests in Australia. The Times, Monday, 9 August 1971; pg. 19; Issue 58245

USA poultry operations were phased out after substantial losses.US Losses Jolt Dalgety. The Times, Friday, 8 October 1971; pg. 24; Issue 58293

Late in 1972 Dalgety made a successful take-over bid for Associated British Maltsters.Maltsters Gives In. The Times, Saturday, 21 October 1972 Profits rebounded in 1973; Australia contributed £5.34 million and New Zealand £4.7 million.Dalgety's commodity prices bonanza. The Times, Thursday, 6 September 1973; pg. 21; Issue 58880

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The Dalgety rural division in Western Australia was sold to Western Livestock in August 1974.Dalgety sells rural division for £3.8m. The Times, Tuesday, 13 August 1974; pg. 18; Issue 59164 ICI bought Tasman Vaccine Laboratories. Dalgety New Zealand was now only 67 per cent owned.Dalgety New Zealand in deal with ICI. The Times, Thursday, 29 April 1976; pg. 24; Issue 59691 To handle agricultural commodities from Brazil Dalgety formed a new company with Munchmeyer Petersen of Hamburg.Dalgety's new offshoot. The Times, Monday, 14 June 1976; pg. 18; Issue 59729

By 1975 the United Kingdom division was the largest contributor to profits and that was repeated the following year. Commentators now considered the 67 per cent owned New Zealand business, its 1976 profit was £5.3 million, was inherently more profitable than Australia's.As commodity prices rise. The Times, Friday, 17 September 1976; pg. 21; Issue 59811

Dalgety paid £10 million for Federated Chemical Holdings (without its minority shareholding in Tioxide Group) at the end of 1977 because it would fit well with the procurements as well as with marketing the products of their ABM Chemicals. Federated was a distributor of chemicals and allied raw materials in North America, Europe and the Far East.Dalgety to pay £10m for chemical group. The Times, Saturday, 17 December 1977; pg. 17; Issue 60189.

At the end of 1978 Dalgety raised a total of $125 million by a rights issue to existing shareholders and through a ten-year borrowing facility arranged by Lazard BrothersDalgety raises $125m for North America projects. The Times, Saturday, 11 November 1978; pg. 17; Issue 60456 and it launched a bid for Spillers, a flour milling, bread, pet food and animal feeds business. The planned takeover was strongly defended and an agreement between parties not settled until a year later.Dalgety / Spillers saga. The Times, Tuesday, 27 November 1979; pg. 17; Issue 60485Dalgety Plc. The Times, Thursday, 8 December 1983; pg. 19; Issue 61707 Spillers closed 23 bakeries with the loss of 8,000 jobs and sold 13 of its plants to Ranks Hovis McDougall.RHM ends flour deal for £7m. The Times, Tuesday, 18 October 1983; pg. 16; Issue 61666

In 1979 Dalgety also bought one of the world's largest distributors of frozen, dry and refrigerated foods and packaging materials for the fast food industry, Martin-Brower{{Cite web |url=http://martinbrower.com/our-story.html |title=Martin-Brower |access-date=2017-03-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606031509/http://martinbrower.com/our-story.html |archive-date=2017-06-06 |url-status=live }} of USA, supplier of Ray Kroc's first paper napkins and distributor of McDonald's products.[http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/pic-international-group-plc-history/ FundingUniverse PIC plc] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312061825/http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/pic-international-group-plc-history/ |date=2017-03-12 }} accessed 11 March 2017

According to an interview published in September 1979 by the New York Times Dalgety had made itself USA's second largest processor of frozen foods behind United Brands.Dalgety: Bon Appétit on Coast, Pamela G Hollie. New York Times, 6 September 1979

By 1979 The shift to the Northern Hemisphere was nearing completion. 22 per cent of Dalgety's business was in North America and 35 per cent in Britain.

Dalgety Australia, the Australian activities of Dalgety plc, agreed in July 1983 to merge with Bennetts Farmers{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article116418679 |title=Pastoral firm signs deal to merge with Dalgety |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=57 |issue=17,460 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=19 July 1983 |accessdate=3 March 2017 |page=14 |via=National Library of Australia}} and Farmers Grazcos Co-operative forming Dalgety Farmers, the largest pastoral house in Australia aside from Elders. Dalgety Farmers was then owned 65 per cent by Dalgety plc, 20 per cent by Farmers shareholders and 15 per cent by Bennetts shareholders.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article116404425 |title=Business & Economics |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=58 |issue=17,506 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=3 September 1983 |accessdate=3 March 2017 |page=18 |via=National Library of Australia}}

At this time ANZ Bank acquired a pre-emptive right to buy Dalgety Farmers shares from Dalgety plc.Frederick Dalgety was for many years chairman of the Union Bank of Australia, the forerunner of ANZ Bank. These transactions were likely to be a return of a favour suggesting at some point the bank has risked its own survival to save Dalgety from collapse. During 1985 Dalgety UK reduced its holding in Dalgety Farmers to 49 per cent. ANZ reached 25 per cent in 1989{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122273050 |title=ANZ ups Dalgety stake as buffer |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=63 |issue=19,622 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=29 June 1989 |accessdate=3 March 2017 |page=16 |via=National Library of Australia}} and 95 per cent in 1992{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article126942898 |title=ANZ takes control of Dalgety group |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=67 |issue=20,974 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=15 September 1992 |accessdate=3 March 2017 |page=19 |via=National Library of Australia}} in a debt-for-equity swap. Ownership passed to Wesfarmers Limited in 1993.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article127244313 |title=Dalgety Pastoral sold |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=67 |issue=21,324 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=2 September 1993 |accessdate=3 March 2017 |page=19 |via=National Library of Australia}} Wesfamers was renamed Wesfarmers Dalgety in 2000 when the two businesses were rolled into one but the Dalgety name was dropped the following year.{{cite web|url=http://www.farmweekly.com.au/news/agriculture/agribusiness/general-news/curtain-rises-on-wesfarmers-landmark/5078.aspx|title=Curtain rises on Wesfarmers Landmark|date=23 March 2001|publisher=Farm Weekly|accessdate=3 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170304051040/http://www.farmweekly.com.au/news/agriculture/agribusiness/general-news/curtain-rises-on-wesfarmers-landmark/5078.aspx|archive-date=4 March 2017|url-status=dead}}

Dalgety announced in August 1983 purchase of the animal feeds, seeds and crop control businesses of the agricultural division of Ranks Hovis McDougall. At the time it was almost Dalgety's most expensive purchase second only to Spillers.Dalgety pays £58m in deal for RHM agricultural division. The Times, Wednesday, 10 August 1983; pg. 13; Issue 61607

Dalgety was now a food and agricultural group and referred to as the Dalgety Spillers combine and had cut the Australian share of its turnover to just over 10 per cent.Diversified Dalgety beats the drought. The Times, Wednesday, 16 February 1983; pg. 14; Issue 61458 Eighteen months later it sold the last of what was Dalgety New Zealand (since 1857) to Cable Price Downer.Dalgety sells New Zealand stake. The Times, Tuesday, 4 September 1984; pg. 19; Issue 61927 Dalgety Farmers was formed the year before and over the next few years its control was moved to the ANZ Bank.

1984 was Dalgety's centenary year. When it was floated in 1884 Vanity Fair accused the promoters of "foisting a disreputable issue on an unsuspecting public".Dalgety marks centenary, The Times, Tuesday, 14 February 1984; pg. 18; Issue 61757 The centenary was marked by a city banquet attended by Princess Anne.Dalgety. The Times, Thursday, 16 February 1984; pg. 21; Issue 61759

It also announced the sale of Dalgety Foods, its American vegetable and soft fruit freezing business.

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1985 saw the acquisition for £126 million of Gill and Duffus a commodities trader. It was meant to create synergy by expanding the firm's geographical coverage.Dalgety weds but must wait for the honeymoon. The Times, Friday, 24 May 1985; pg. 21; Issue 62146

Dalgety is now described as a diversified foods groupStock Market Report. The Times, Thursday, 6 June 1985; pg. 17; Issue 62157 holding just 50 per cent of Dalgety Australia. It is now the fifth largest lumber producer in British Columbia.Way looks smoother after ups and down for Dalgety. The Times, Monday, 14 October 1985; pg. 19; Issue 62268

However within twelve months difficulties in the tin market and London Metal Exchange led to a write-off of almost £28 million and Gill and Duffus withdrew from metals and "rationalised" their organisation. A further write off amounted to another £10 million that same year.Dalgety's small step towards better times. The Times, Tuesday, 16 September 1986; pg. 34; Issue 62564 £30 million was realised from the sale of ABM Chemicals to RTZ.Strong chemical reaction at RTZ. The Times, Friday, 19 September 1986; pg. 24; Issue 62567

In 1986 Dalgety paid £87 million in a mixture of cash and shares for Golden Wonder, potato crisp manufacturers, along with the Ross potato distribution business and FlavouriteImps sells Golden Wonder to Dalgety. The Times, Saturday, 15 March 1986; pg. 25; Issue 62405Golden Wonder deal nets £87m for Hanson. The Times, Saturday, 11 October 1986; pg. 21; Issue 62586 and the press again began to see Dalgety as a takeover target.he Times (London, England), Friday, 24 October 1986; pg. 24; Issue 62597 Inchcape Insurance paid £43 million for Dalgety's Clarkson Puckle insurance operation.£43m buy expands Inchcape's insurance arm.The Times, Thursday, 11 December 1986; pg. 26; Issue 62638

Homepride Foods was launched by Spillers covering these Dalgety businesses: packaged flour and sauces, Romix, Pearce Duff and Sundora foods.Dalgety. The Times, Friday, 15 May 1987; pg. 24; Issue 62769

Dalgety "the food and commodity group" sold Associated British Maltsters to Harrisons & Crosfield for a net £29 million.Stock Market. The Times, Saturday, 4 July 1987; pg. 26; Issue 62812 The sale of Balfour Guthrie, Dalgety's Canadian lumber business, to its existing management realised £74.5 million. The proceeds were to be used to repay indebtedness and improve Dalgety's financial gearing. There was speculation that Dalgety might sell recent acquisition Gill and Duffus.Dalgety out of lumber in Canada. The Times, Wednesday, 12 August 1987; pg. 19; Issue 62845 Small Australian subsidiaries in engineering and air conditioning and heating are sold off and then a record profit of £92.5 million is announced and it is also announced that since June the previous year £194 million has been received from divestments, £45 million more than book value, and acquisitions in the same period cost £105 million.Dalgety at record £92.5m. The Times, Tuesday, 15 September 1987; pg. 21; Issue 62874

Management protested "Dalgety is not a rag bag of unrelated businesses with little strategic direction and a patchy earnings record". Now committed to foods, agribusiness and commodities trading as core activities, branded foods accounted for 53 per cent of profitsCommodities cast shadow over Dalgety. The Times, Tuesday, 16 February 1988; pg. 24; Issue 63004 Holder of 99 per cent of the pot noodle market Dalgety announced the raising of £87 million by the breaking up and sale of their commodities trader, Gill and Duffus. Three of the four parcels were bought by existing management. The fourth, sugar, was bought by a Japanese consortium.Dalgety raises £87.4m via break-up of Gill & Duffus. The Times, Thursday, 12 October 1989; pg. 27; Issue 63523

Commentators publicly noted Australian businessman Robert Holmes à Court had been stalking Dalgety for some time.Dalgety rebels fail to block directors' share options rise. The Times, Saturday, 18 November 1989; pg. 18; Issue 63555

There were dramatic changes. Chief Executive Officer Terry Pryce went in July 1989.Dalgety asks chief to stand down. The Times, Tuesday, 18 July 1989; pg. 25; Issue 63449. Pryce was replaced by Maurice Warren. Warren then pushed through the Dalgety restructuring determined by their 1989 strategic review.Dalgety profits up. The Times, Tuesday, 18 September 1990; pg. 28; Issue 63814 Warren retired (after three years as chairman) aged 63 at the end of 1996. Another one-third of its remaining holding in Dalgety Farmers was sold to Commercial Union Assurance, ANZ Bank and their retirement funds. When the sale was completed Dalgety's Australian investments would be valued at less than £30 million including its remaining 41 per cent of Dalgety Farmers.Dalgety reduces Australian stake. The Times, Saturday, 28 July 1990; pg. 37; Issue 63770.

In 1990 Dalgety was added to the FTSE 100 share index.PPI cashflow 'suffers over foreign deficits'. The Times, Tuesday, 2 October 1990; pg. 25; Issue 63826

In May 1991 Dalgety sold its USA fresh produce business for almost £29 million payable in 1994 and 1996 to an investment group which included Dalgety Produce's management.Dalgety to sell US business. The Times, Thursday, 23 May 1991; pg. 28; Issue 64026.

In February 1992 Dalgety bought Sooner Snacks for Golden Wonder paying £43 million to give Golden Wonder 20 per cent of the snack food market.Snacks add weight to Dalgety's results. The Times, Tuesday, 15 September 1992; pg. 17; Issue 64438

Federal Bakery sold to Ranks Hovis McDougall for £24 million.The Times, Saturday, 17 October 1992; pg. 22; Issue 64466

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Paragon Petcare was bought in 1993 from BP Nutrition for £42 million.Dalgety to buy Paragon. The Times, Tuesday, 30 November 1993; pg. 24

Dalgety bought Quaker Oats European Pet Food's European pet food business for £442 million, the second biggest on the Continent after Mars, to merge with Spillers' pet foods and planned to sell Golden Wonder and Homepride to raise £300 millionShare prices buoyant as US economy slows down. The Times, Saturday, 4 February 1995; pg. 24; Issue 65182 At the time these transactions were viewed as a part of a continuing exchange of important brands between the various big food manufacturers.Favourites emerge for Dalgety auction. The Times, Monday, 8 May 1995; pg. 40; Issue 65261

Then Pot Noodle was sold to US's mayonnaise maker, CPC for £180 million.Dalgety sells Pot Noodles.The Times, Wednesday, 5 July 1995; pg. 26; Issue 65311 Homepride sauces went to US's Campbell Soup for £59 million.Homepride bought by Campbell. The Times, Saturday, 5 August 1995; pg. 22; Issue 65338 Golden Wonder went to a management buyout for £54.6 million.Stock Market. The Times, Wednesday, 25 October 1995; pg. 28; Issue 65407

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BSE was a known disease of cattle but there had been no cases in British humans until 1993. They were farmers with infected dairy herds but it was unclear where the disease originated. Between 1992 and 1993 BSE cases in animals exceeded 100,000 then the incidence began to fall. The first known human victim of variant CJD died 21 May 1995 and 10 months later in March 1996 the British government acknowledged there is a link between the human disease and the cattle disease. The European Commission announced a worldwide ban on British beef exports and by April 1996 the British government responded with a plan to slaughter all cattle over the age of 30 months. In 2000 there seemed to be no more cases in humans.[https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/oct/26/bse3 The Guardian —BSE] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312084439/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/oct/26/bse3 |date=2017-03-12 }} accessed 11 March 2017

This BSE or mad cow disease outbreak was blamed for collapse of Spillers sales of stock food because so many cattle had been slaughtered. For Dalgety an EU ban on export of beef products was the most expensive result and there was also a contamination scare in their Dutch pet food factory.BSE scare costs £25m at Dalgety. The Times, Tuesday, 4 June 1996; pg. 27; Issue 65597. Dealing with BSE distracted managers so that Quaker Oats integration costs turned out to be higher than expected. The integration programme was two years behind schedule and the value of sterling fell. When the full year profits were announced in September 1996 they were half those expected by the market.Dalgety. The Times, Monday, 16 September 1996; pg. 43; Issue 65686 BSE was still blamed in the next half year profits.Dalgety. The Times, Tuesday, 11 February 1997; pg. 28; Issue 65810

By May 1997 some senior executives had moved on and a falling profit warning was published. The chief executive resigned in September. A £300 million corporate restructuring was announced and Spiilers and the rest of the food ingredient business together with USA fast food distributor, Martin-Brower, which supplied bread rolls to McDonald's, was put up for sale.ABF seeks to buy Spillers. The Times, Tuesday, 18 November 1997; pg. 31; Issue 66050

Homepride went to Kerry Group in January 1998 but Kerry did not take Martin-Brower.Sale of Dalgety subsidiary lifts buyback hopes. The Times (London, England), Tuesday, 27 January 1998; pg. 25; Issue 66109 Martin-Brower went to Reyes Holdings in USA.{{cite web|url=https://www.reyesholdings.com/about/history|title=History|publisher=Reyes Holdings|access-date=19 May 2021}}

The various disposals totalled £1.2 billion and around a quarter of the old business remained. Dalgety still had: pig breeding, cattle feed, fertiliser and seeds.Dalgety £835m sale to trigger share buyback. The Times, Thursday, 5 February 1998; pg. 25; Issue 66117

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Dalgety was renamed PIC International Group plc. The PIC name, originally pig improvement company, came from the subsidiary bought by Dalgety in 1970. As well as the remaining activities the Dalgety board found they held rather more than £1 billion. Approximately two-thirds went as a return of capital to the shareholders. They received a total of £675 million in cash.PIC plans California relocation. The Times, Tuesday, 21 July 1998; pg. 25

PIC International was renamed Sygen International in 2002.Sygen International. The Times, Thursday, 12 September 2002; pg. 26; Issue 67554 to hold PIC international and new enterprise SyAqua. Syaqua provided breeding stock to shrimp farmers with operations in Thailand, Mexico and Brazil.Snouts move out of the trough. The Times, Saturday, 29 October 2005; pg. 61; Issue 68531

Sygen, live boar supplier to pork farmers (pig semen cannot be frozen) was bought by bull breeder Genus plc which provided GM-free bull semen to cattle farmers.Genus. The Times, Saturday, 29 October 2005; pg. 58; Issue 68531 Genus, based in Crewe, had grown from the dissolved Milk Marketing Board acquiring MMB's 29,000 shareholders.Alchemy is catalyst for change on Genus's farm. The Times Monday, 20 October 1997; pg. 46; Issue 66025

Genus, now a world leader in animal genetics, developed sexed semen which provided only female calves saving the slaughter of male calves and doubling useful fertility. There was an echo of old times in Sygen's report for 2006. Profit had been affected by drought in Australia.Genus.The Times, Wednesday, 14 March 2007; pg. 67; Issue 68959

The group's stock market value, less than £30 million in 1997, had risen by 2011 to just under £600 million.Bowing out of a bull market. The Times, Thursday, 26 May 2011; pg. 51; Issue 70269 and its business was recognised as the world leader in the science of bovine and porcine animal breeding. At that time its niche seemed safe because the length of the natural breeding cycle would hold back any competitor for years.A licence to print money: introducing the niche leaders. The Times, Saturday, 1 October 2011; pg. 83; Issue 70379

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