The next significant takeover after Cyclone came about two years later with the acquisition of Australian Gypsum Industries in 1978. Because of the worldwide oil price crisis in the 1970s, Boral had been looking at insulation as a possible product. The first leaps in the price of oil occurred in the mid- 1970s, followed by a further leap in 1978. These oil price movements alerted the world community to the importance of energy conservation. Australian Gypsum Industries had an insulation division and Neal was also interested in its gypsum board manufacturing in relation to Boral's construction activities. Finley recalled, 'Australian Gypsum, like many companies of the era, had a number of directors on the board who believed in having a lot of Commonwealth Bonds on the balance sheet as they were very liquid. They also believed in not having any borrowings. For the times (the early 1970s) this wasn't a bad strategy, but in subsequent years it worked against them, because as soon as a company has an attractive balance sheet it becomes an attractive takeover target.' In early 1978, press speculation was mounting about Boral being the likely suitor for Australian Gypsum. Neal flew to Hong Kong as a smokescreen for Boral's offer. His strategy worked; the overseas trip was interpreted as Boral's lack of interest in buying the plaster products group. With media attention effectively diverted, Neal directed the takeover from the South China Sea. At the time, the $55 million takeover was the largest in Australian business history, indicative of the escalation of acquisitions during the period. Boral moved from a few per cent shareholding to more than 54 per cent in three working days. The plasterboard side of the business turned out to be of particular benefit to Boral, tying in as it did with the company's other building material products. Ironically, the insulation side of the business was eventually sold, even though this had been the focus of Boral's initial interest.         Australian Gypsum Industries History In 1892 the Earl of Kintore, Governor of Her Majesty's Province of South Australia and the Dependencies, signed an indenture granting the Australian Gypsum and Whiting Company Limited and its successors 'full and free liberty . . . to dig, sink, drive, make and use all such pits, shafts, levels, watercourses and other works which it may be necessary to use in seeking for finding, winning, working and obtaining the metals and minerals not being gold therein contained'.         The first gypsum mining lease to be issued in South Australia in 1892.   This lease permitted the first gypsum mining operations to begin at. Marion Lake in the Hundred of Warrenaben on Cape Yorke in South Australia. The name 'Australian Gypsum' was derived from a Sydney company that began producing plaster more than fifty years before at Duck Creek near Parramatta in Sydney's west. Initially its gypsum supplies came from Roto, in western New South Wales, but in the early 1920s leases were obtained at Lake Macdonnell in South Australia where gypsum was bagged for shipment to Sydney. During the 1920s four major gypsum and plaster companies operated on the Yorke Peninsula. Financial difficulties caused by the major decline in building activity in the 1930s Depression, led to talks between these companies which culminated in the merger of their businesses under the name Australian Gypsum Products Pty Ltd. This rationalisation of the group operations meant that all mining activities were stopped except on the Marion Lake deposit. This period of consolidation saw an improvement in trading results from a loss of 3500 pounds in the year ending 30 June 1931 to a 110,000 pound profit in 1939. To meet the demands of a buoyant market, a new plaster mill was established in the Sydney suburb of Camellia in 1930. Boral still produces plasterboard from this site. The United States armed forces took over the factory between 1942 and 1946 as a torpedo repair base. In 1939 internal reorganisation saw the establishment of Australian Plaster Industries to conduct plaster manufacturing for the company. On the eve of World War II, Australian Gypsum Products reached agreement with the United States Wallboard Manufacturing Company to purchase a plasterboard plant. This new product revolutionised the plaster industry; fibrous plaster manufacture soon became obsolete with the introduction of the paper-covered plaster sheet. The war delayed the construction of this new plant until 1946 and production and sale of Victorboard' plasterboard did not begin until 1948. Boral has only two major Australian competitors in the gypsum market - CSR and, more recently, Pioneer. Before Pioneer entered the market Boral and CSR were the only operators. Both companies had major gypsum leases in South Australia and manufacturing facilities in the eastern states. In 1983 Boral and CSR formed a joint venture company, Gypsum Resources Australia Pty Ltd. This company mines and transports the gypsum as required by the partners. In 1984, a modern bulk carrier vessel, MV Kowulka was commissioned to maintain the flow of product to the manufacturing plants and an associated company in New Zealand.   Gypsum en route to Melbourne and Sydney, circa 1900.     »»