Société Générale de Belgique

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The Société Générale de Belgique (Dutch: Generale Maatschappij) was one of the largest companies that ever existed in Belgium. It was founded in 1822 by William I, and existed until 2003, when its then sole shareholder, Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux, merged it with Tractebel to form SUEZ-TRACTEBEL.

[edit] History

William I, King of the Netherlands, founded the company in 1822 under the name Algemeene Nederlandsche Maatschappij ter Begunstiging van de Volksvlijt, a company that had the goal of increasing the welfare of the country. After the Belgian Revolution of 1830, the company became Belgian, under the French name Société Générale de Belgique. It then served until 1850 as the National Bank of Belgium.

In the years before the Second World War, the company invested in roads, railroads and canals. It was also the main operation in the Belgian colonies, like in the Belgian Congo. After the 1929 Crash, the company split off its banking segment (1934), becoming the Generale Bank (now Fortis), but remained its largest stockholder.

Starting in the end of the 1980s, the SUEZ company started to obtain a large portion of the Société Générale's stock, which resulted in the full take-over of the company in 1998, by Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux.