John Spalvins

John Spalvins, (born Jānis Gunnars Spalviņš, 1936)[1] in Latvia, was Managing Director of the Adelaide Steamship Company from 1977 until the company's collapse in 1991. During this period under Spalvins' control, "Adsteam" became Australia's major corporate entity with interests and significant holdings in retailing, food, wine, dairy, hardware, building, banks, and numerous other companies.[2] "Spalvins built up one of Australia's largest industrial conglomerates, which took in David Jones, Woolworths, Metro Meat, food company Petersville Sleigh, beer and wine company Tooth & Co, as well as a tugboat business, before it was put into receivership in 1991."[3]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Porter2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Damon Kitney (2011) "Spalvins breaks silence on Adsteam collapse", The Weekend Australian, 9–10 July 2011, pp 4, 25-26
  3. ^ Glenda Korporaal (2007) This time it's different, says '87 crash victim John Spalvins The Australian 13 October 2007