How the takeover king of the 1980s came undone
John Spalvins controlled the biggest industrial group in Australia at the end of the decade but it all came crashing down.
They were all there – members of the South Australian business establishment; stockbrokers, Labor premier John Bannon, eastern states blow-ins – walking tall in dinner suits and bow ties.
No one stood taller at the 1990 Back to Business dinner in Adelaide than Janis Gunars (John) Spalvins, the 192cm Latvian migrant with piercing blue eyes and a commanding presence. At the time, he controlled Adelaide Steamship, the biggest corporate empire in Australia.
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