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A company transformedWebster Limited is Australia’s fourth oldest business. It started in 1831, just 28 years after the settlement of Van Diemen's Land, as a traditional pastoral house but is now a diversified food and agribusiness with a growing reputation locally and internationally for the quality of its natural produce. Webster Limited has been listed on the Australian stock exchange since 1974 (ASX:WBA). Using its traditional rural services, merchandising and transport segments as a base, Webster has emerged as a leading producer and seller of premium Tasmanian foods. The company is already renowned for the growing and marketing of horticultural crops through its specialist Field Fresh enterprise and is gaining a reputation for quality walnuts. Webster broadened its interests in the food sector with the acquisition of Aquatas in 1999, adding to its long and vibrant history as an innovative Tasmanian company. More recently, Webster positioned itself in a strong strategic position in the salmon industry through the merger of Webster Aquatas with the ASX-listed Tassal Group Limited (ASX:TGR).Webster emerged from that transaction as the largest shareholder in Tassal Group Ltd with a 25% stake. Its current ownership is 20.05%. Webster is already Australia’s biggest commercial walnut grower through its ownership or management of more than 2,000ha of orchards at Swansea on Tasmania’s East Coast and at Griffith and Leeton in NSW. It also owns the only Australian commercial walnut nursery at Forth on Tasmania’s North-West Coast. Heavy and industrial machinery and equipment was a part of the Webster history for more than 100 years. At the turn of the century, Webster introduced early generators and refrigeration equipment into Tasmanian dairies and supplied pumps and motors for the Hydro Electric Commission and the first Tasmanian paper making mills. In the 1960s, Webster also established itself as a specialist in bearings and engineering supplies. These industrial businesses operated as Webster Trucks & Machinery, and Webster Bearings and Engineering Supplies. In October 2007, Webster sold both industrial businesses to focus on its horticulture and aquaculture interests, being Field Fresh, Walnuts Australia and its strategic interest in Tassal Group Ltd. |
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