Wesfarmers

• Year founded: 1914
• Industry: Retail; manufacturing; mining
• Corporate headquarters: Perth, Australia
• Type: Public

Wesfarmers Limited is one of Australia's largest private employers with over 120,000 employees. Headquartered in Perth, Western Australia, its divisions include companies in the retail, chemical, fertiliser, coal mining and industrial products sectors, notably including the Coles Group retail business and the Kmart and Target brands in Australia. Founded in 1914 as a cooperative for Western Australian farmers, it restructured as a public company in 2001 and acquired numerous other businesses in order to diversify its portfolio. By 2017 the portfolio included supermarkets, convenience stores and department stores; hotels; home improvement stores; and industrial sector businesses. The conglomerate's operations are based in Australia but include operations in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Bangladesh.

History

In 1912, farmers in Western Australia formed the Farmers' and Settlers' Association, an agricultural organisation formed in part in response to complaints about farmworkers' wages by the Rural Workers' Union of Australia. Like many agricultural organisations, the Farmers' and Settlers' Association (later known as the Western Australian Farmers Federation) was active in both economic and political concerns, forming a farm-friendly political party, the Country Party (ancestor of the National Party of Australia). Together with the similar Producers' Union, it formed Westralian Farmers Limited, which acquired the Producers' Union's assets and established itself as an agricultural cooperative to provide goods and services to the rural communities of Western Australia.

Westralian Farmers Limited briefly operated Western Australia's first public radio station and, by World War II, had expanded its concerns to include insurance underwriting, wheat and farm goods wholesale, grain and fruit export, oil distribution and auctioneering. At the end of the 1940s they expanded by acquiring two competitors, Ashburton Transport and Gascoyne Trading.

In 1984, Westralian Farmers began its transition to a public company. It was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, with the cooperative retaining a controlling 60 per cent share. More acquisitions continued, including the rural agency Dalgety Farmers. The cooperative was disbanded in 2001, with all of the company's shares publicly traded.

In 2007, Wesfarmers acquired the Coles Group retail conglomerate for A$22 billion, the largest corporate takeover in Australian history. The group's businesses included Coles Supermarkets, BI-LO, Coles Express, and others. Wesfarmers also acquired Bunnings Warehouse, a home improvement retail chain; Officeworks, an office supply chain; and Homebase, a home improvement chain in the United Kingdom and Ireland that was rebranded as Bunnings.

Until 2014, Wesfarmers' portfolio included insurance broker and underwriting operations, which it sold off to the Insurance Australia Group and Arthur J. Gallager & Co. Former Wesfarmers insurance brands include WFI, Lumley, Lumley Finance, Crombie Lockwood and OAMPS.

In 2015, Wesfarmers restructured its industrial businesses in the chemicals, energy, fertilisers and industrial and safety products sectors into a single Industrials division. The next year, the group similarly restructured its department store holdings into a single Department Stores division, consisting of independently operating brands.

In 2022, Wesfarmers purchased Australian Pharmaceutical Industries to supplement Wesfarmers Health. The following year, Wesfarmers Health purchased InstantScripts for $135 million.

Impact

Wesfarmers is the largest private-sector employer in Australia, and as such is a significant factor in the Australian economy. It employs over 120.000 people, and earned roughly $43.5 billion in revenue during the 2023 financial year. In 2016–17 it made a concerted effort to recruit Indigenous employees from across Australia.

Wesfarmers' subsidiaries operate in Australia, New Zealand, India, the United Kingdom, New Caledonia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Bermuda and Singapore. Brands in the portfolio include BBC Hardware, Coles Group Superannuation Fund, Coles Property Management, Coles Ansett Travel, Comnet, Fosseys, Grocery Holdings, Harris Technology, Howard Smith, Katies Fashions, Loyalty Pacific, Masters Home Improvement, Morley Shopping Center, Theo's Liquor, Tooronga Shopping Centre, Tyremaster, Viking Direct and World 4 Kids.

Wesfarmers' retail businesses include the Coles Group, one of the largest supermarket, liquor, fuel and convenience retailers in Australia, consisting of 756 full-service supermarkets, 810 dedicated liquor stores, 635 fuel stations (including those with convenience stores) and 92 hotels, as well as Coles Online. There are 210 Bunnings warehouse stores in Australia, 67 smaller-format Bunnings stores and 150 Officeworks stores in its home improvement and office supplies division, in addition to the Homebase stores that have been rebranded as Bunnings in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The Department Stores division includes 190 Kmart discount department stores and 263 Kmart Tyre & Auto Service centres. The Target-branded stores include 183 Target stores and 125 Target Country stores.

In the Industrials division, WesCEF produces chemicals, fertilisers and gas products, including production facilities for ammonia and ammonium nitrate, sodium cyanide, PVC resin, liquefied petroleum gas and liquefied natural gas, fertiliser, PVC resin and specialty chemicals. Wesfarmers Resources is the company's mining segment, operating coal mines in Australia and the production of metallurgical coal for export. Wesfarmers Industrial and Safety makes industrial and safety products and services for Australia and New Zealand, with brands including Blackwoods, NZ Safety, Greencap, Coregas, Safety Source, King Gee, Hard Yakka, Stubbies and GotStock.

Bibliography

Dedovic, Amila. "Wesfarmers'm API Acquires Telehealth Giant InstantScripts for $135m, Bailador Technology Bags $52m." Business News Australia, 13 June 2023, www.businessnewsaustralia.com/articles/wesfarmers--api-acquires-telehealth-giant-instantscripts-for--135m--bailador-technology-bags--52m.html. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.

Janda, Michael. "Wesfarmers Profit Surges on Coal Not Coles, Dividend Jumps." ABC News, 16 Aug. 2017, www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-17/wesfarmers-profit-surges-in-absence-of-write-downs/8815618. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.

Knight, Elizabeth. "The Sleeper Issue Keeping Wesfarmers' Shareholders Awake." The Sydney Morning Herald, 26 Oct. 2017, www.smh.com.au/business/retail/the-sleeper-issue-keeping-wesfarmers-shareholders-awake-20171025-gz7vpn.html. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.

Mitchell, Sue. "Wesfarmers CEO Rob Scott Rejects Bunnings Demerger Call." Financial Review, 21 Nov. 2017, www.afr.com/business/retail/wesfarmers-ceo-rob-scott-rejects-bunnings-demerger-call-20171121-gzpr94. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.

"Wesfarmers Annual Report 2017." Westfarmers, www.wesfarmers.com.au/docs/default-source/reports/j000901-ar17‗interactive‗final.pdf?sfvrsn=4. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.

"Wesfarmers Sells Coal Mine to US Buyer." SBS News, 22 Dec. 2017, www.sbs.com.au/news/wesfarmers-sells-coal-mine-to-us-buyer. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.