49IA Hsbc Bk.22

RNS No 0102n
PACIFIC DUNLOP LTD
30th July 1998

                   ANSELL IN $50 MILLION ACQUISITION

Ansell, a division of Pacific Dunlop Limited, will acquire the Thailand-based
Suretex Group for $50 million, reinforcing its position as the world's largest
marketer and manufacturer in the growing market for latex and synthetic barrier
protective products.

The acquisition, which follows the announcement last month of the $12 million
acquisition of Bangalore (India) based Kemwell International, takes to more than
$110 million the amount committed in the past six months to adding capacity and
range across Ansell's Key product categories and on geographic expansion.

Suretex, which has annual sales of approximately $50 million, has modern condom
and medical examination glove manufacturing facilities in Surat Thani in
southern Thailand, a recently-constructed condom manufacturing plant in
Bangalore in India and a condom packing facility in South Africa.  International
quality accreditations have been granted for all products.

The purchase also includes an additional parcel of land surrounding Suretex's
main Thailand site to allow for large-scale further expansion.

The Managing Director of Pacific Dunlop, Mr Rod Chadwick, said the Suretex
acquisition provided significant benefits for Ansell which included:

* A highly-trained management and workforce with excellent operating
  experience in medical gloves and condoms, capable of substantial expansion;
* Opportunities to replace high cost condom outsourcing used to supplement
  current production, as well as to convert U.S. condom manufacturing facilities
  to thin nitrile gloves for "critical environments" such as electronics and
  other high-tech applications;
* A critical mass in latex products manufacturing in India, with two facilities
  in Bangalore and the joint venture with Raymond Limited in Aurangabad;
* Immediate additional medical examination glove and condom sales;
* An entry into condom markets where Ansell currently has a limited presence,
  including South Africa, Middle East and Middle Europe; and
* A further 20 latex centrifuge machines to provide quality control over the
  latex used in manufacturing gloves and condoms.  Increasing emphasis on
  quality is becoming a major barrier to new entrants.

"This announcement underscores Ansell's position as the principal growth vehicle
for the company," he said.

"The Ansell strategy has three major thrusts.  Firstly, we are aggressively
developing powder free medical glove capacity through conversion of existing
facilities and the construction of additional automated production lines at
Bangkok and Colombo."

"Secondly, we are aggressively pursuing the world market for "critical
environment" gloves through new product development and further manufacturing
investment in the U.S. and Asia."

"And thirdly, we have accelerated Ansell's program to be the lowest cost
producer across its entire product range."

U.S. based Managing Director/CEO of Ansell, Mr Harry Boon, said in addition to
the Suretex and Kemwell acquisitions, Ansell had also invested $50 million in
the past six months in new production capacitiy in its plants in Thailand,
Malaysia and Sri Lanka.


He said the $110 million committed over the past six months to acquisitions and
capital expansions was expected to generate additional annual sales of
approximately $150 million within three years and would meet each of Ansell's
three strategic thrusts.

The $50 million capital is being invested as follows:

* Adding further thin Nitrile dip lines and increasing yield and capacity of
  exisiting lines in Troy, U.S. These products, branded "Nitrilite TM"
  Touch n Tuff TM" and "Nitratouch TM" are central to Ansell's growth in 
  critical environment gloves.

* Installing nine additional powder free medical examination glove dip lines in
  Bangkok and Colombo to meet increasing demand for the product.

* The addition of more than 200 automated knitting machines at Ansell Golden
  Needles at Wilkesboro, U.S., to increase the production of fine gauge
  inspection gloves using high-tech fibres, required to service existing demand
  and anticipated market growth.

Mr Boon said Ansell continued to grow strongly, maintaining an emphasis on
driving internal growth while making strategic acquisitions such as Suretex and
Kemwell.

"This announcement is totally consistent with Ansell's growth plans and the
development of a first-rate organisation which will ensure continued outstanding
performance within Pacific Dunlop," Mr Boon said.

For further information:

John Hine
61 3 9270 7140
0412 254 952


END

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