Brambles Limited

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Brambles Limited

Type	Public (LSE: BXB)
Founded	1875
Headquarters	Sydney, Australia
Key people	Don Angus, Chairman David Turner, CEO
Industry	Business Services
Revenue	£3,307 million (2006)
Operating income	£452 million (2006)
Net income	£219 million (2006)
Employees	circa 30,000 (2006)
Website	www.brambles.com

Brambles Limited is a support services business which, with effect from 27 November 2006 has a primary listing on the Australian Securities Exchange and a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange.

The majority of the board is Australian-based, as is the board chairman Don Argus. Chief executive officer David Turner was the Finance Director of GKN plc, the former joint venture partner of Brambles' European operations. David Turner announced his retirement from the group and Michael Ihlein, CFO of Brambles since 2004, will replace him effective June 30, 2007 ^[1].

Brambles traces its history to 1875, when Walter Brambles began his career in Newcastle, north of Sydney, Australia. Brambles Industries Limited first listed in Australia in 1954. The British side of the group traces its origins to 1759, with the establishment of the Dowlais Iron Company in Dowlais, Wales, which later became part of GKN. The two companies began a joint venture in 1975 to operate CHEP, a shipping pallet-pooling operation already run by Brambles in Australia, in the UK, and a second joint venture followed in the waste management sector. In 2001 GKN demerged its support services activities, which were then listed on the London Stock Exchange as Brambles Industries plc. The new plc and Brambles Industries Limited of Australia were then combined in a dual-listed company structure.

Brambles operates on all six inhabited continents. The group has four main businesses, which each operate in a number of countries:

CHEP: the world's largest in pallet and container pooling services business. Its customers include some of the world's largest consumer goods manufacturers and retailers.
Until 2006, Cleanaway: a waste management operator with a leading market position in Australia, as well as operations in several other countries. It previously included a major UK operation, but in 2006 this was sold to Veolia of France in a £651 million deal.^[2] Brambles sold Cleanaway Australia and Brambles Industrial Services to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 2006 for about $A1200 million. In May 2007, KKR sold the Cleanaway Australia business to Transpacific Industries Ltd.
Recall: operates document management centres, computer back-up data protection centres and secure destruction centres.
Until 2006, Brambles Industrial Services: primarily provides support services to the steel industry, including the construction and maintenance of factories and logistics. Brambles sold Cleanaway Australia and Brambles Industrial Services to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 2006 for about $A1200 million.

Brambles also owns several regional businesses. Group turnover for the year ended 30 June 2006 was £3,307 million. Profits were £347 million before tax and £219 million after tax. Brambles employs approximately 30,000 people worldwide.

Brambles share register contains no one single dominant representative, a number of investment funds owning the biggest slices. These include Maple-Brown Abott, The Capital Group Companies, Lehman Brothers, and the National Australia Bank, amongst others. No investor holds more than about 13% of the company.