Pacific Dunlop was a highly diversified Australian conglomerate company that operated in, among other things, the Automotive, textile, electronics and biotechnology industries.

Products commercialised included tires, car batteries, cables, clothing, electronics, bedding, condoms.

World War I and the rise of the automobile proved to be a boom in demand for rubber products, and the company grew.

In 1980, Dunlop merged with Olympic Industries, another manufacturer of tyres and cables, and owner of the Beaurepaires automotive service chain.

By the mid-1990s, Pacific Dunlop was one of the 20 largest companies in Australia, with sales of over $6.3 billion and profits totalling the hundreds of millions.

But by 1999 the company was facing financial difficulty and had a debt of $2.1 billion,[5] Pacific Dunlop had already sold or spun off most of its food subsidiaries, as well as the Telectronics and Cochlear businesses.