Belgium loses a piece of history

Société Générale de Belgique, known among Belgians as the "Old Lady", came to the end of its days yesterday.

The 181-year-old holding company, once champion of Belgium's industrial revolution, the issuer of its bank notes and the financier of the brutal colonisation of the Congo, lost its name and identity in a merger with a larger energy holding company.

In the presence of 10 people and a public notary at Société Générale's ornate offices in Brussels, it was voted out of existence at an extraordinary shareholders meeting.

As part of a restructuring at its parent, French utility giant Suez, Société Générale merges with Belgian energy group Tractebel, to become Suez-Tractebel, the new name of the combined holding company.

Through this holding company, Suez controls Electrabel, Belgium's dominant power utility.

But this doyenne of Belgian industry, which once owned a third of the economy, was a ghost of itself for the past 15 years. Before today's merger, the holding company had shrunk to a staff of about 60 .

It lost its footing in 1988 when it was, in the eyes of most Belgians, assaulted by Italian tycoon Carlo De Benedetti, who sought to increase his 18.6 per cent stake.

A takeover battle ensued, with Société Générale finding a suitor in Suez.

A decade later, Suez bought the rest of Société Générale. By that time, the old lady had gone into a coma, historian Jean-Louis Moreau told La Libre Belgique.

Founded in 1822 by Dutch King William of Orange for the Belgian provinces under his reign, Société Générale is eight years older than Belgium itself. From the outset, it played a crucial role in pushing the country into the industrial age.

In 1837, it financed the mechanisation of the Flemish textile industry.

Its investments set the foundation for the Belgian economy, with stakes in such corporate stalwarts as Union Miniere (renamed Umicore) and CMB.

After the second World War, Société Générale renewed its push for the use of the latest technology to rebuild the country. - (Reuters)