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Home > Shareholders > Your Company > Corporate History

Your Company

Corporate History

 

• December 14, 1853: Compagnie Générale des Eaux was created by Imperial Decree and won its first public service water distribution concession in Lyons. In the following years the company expanded in France, to Nantes in 1854, Nice (1864), Paris (1860), and the Paris suburbs in 1869. The French model began winning converts abroad too, with Venice in 1880, and Istanbul.       

• 1884: the company widened its array of activities to include wastewater treatment at Rheims, for example. Its scientific research produced a world first in 1909, with the construction of an ozone water sterilization plant, near Nice in the South of France.

• 1918-1924: Compagnie Générale des Eaux further added to its activities with the formation of project engineering and water treatment specialist SADE in 1918, and the takeover of Tuyaux Bonna, a pipe maker, in 1924.

• 1st-half 20th Century: Compagnie Générale des Eaux grew strongly in its historic business in France.

• 1967: Expanding into environmental services, Compagnie Générale des Eaux brought its first household waste incinerators and composting plants into service in 1967. Meanwhile, Compagnie Générale des Eaux built up its waste management business and also gained a foothold in mass transit, first taking a stake in, then acquiring, CGEA, in 1980. Also in that year it combined all of its subsidiaries specializing in the design, project engineering and construction of drinking and waste water treatment plants within a single entity, OTV.

• 1981: The acquisition of Compagnie Générale de Chauffe propelled Compagnie Générale des Eaux into the number one spot in energy services in France.

• 1980s: Compagnie Générale des Eaux accelerated its international expansion in the 1980s, especially in the United Sates (with the acquisition of PSG and a contract to operate Miami’s waste treatment plant) and in Europe (with the acquisition of General Utilities).

• 1983: At the same time it entered the media and communications business, acquiring a stake in CANAL+ pay-TV channel in 1983, and founding mobile telephone operator S.F.R. in 1987. The trend gathered pace in the 1990s, with extensive commercial developments on five continents.

• 1998: Compagnie Générale des Eaux changed its name to Vivendi, better reflecting its two core businesses, media and communications, and environmental services. The original name was sold to a specialist subsidiary.

• 1999: Vivendi formed Vivendi Environnement, combining all of its environmental services activities, now carried on under the Veolia Water, Veolia Environmental Services, Veolia Energy, and Veolia Transport names.

• 2000: Vivendi Environnement’s first full operating year as lead company for all Vivendi Universal’s environmental services businesses.

• July 20, 2000: Vivendi Environnement’s shares were listed on the Euronext Premier Marché in Paris.

• December 2000: Vivendi Environnement signed an agreement with EDF, the French electric utility, allowing Vivendi Environnement to provide energy services in partnership with EDF. Under the agreement, EDF notably acquired stakes in Dalkia subsidiaries between December 2000 and January 2001, while Dalkia purchased a number of energy businesses from EDF.

• August 2001: the company’s shares joined the CAC 40, the main index published by Euronext Paris, and in October 2001 they were listed on the New York Stock Exchange in the form of American Depositary Receipts (ADRs).

• December 2002: Vivendi Environnement was spun off, Vivendi Universal having gradually wound down its stake in the capital to 20.4.

• April 30, 2003: the shareholders approved the group’s name change to Veolia Environnement.

• December 2004: Vivendi Universal reduced its stake in Veolia Environnement to 5.30%. By retaining a stake in Veolia Environnement, Vivendi Universal expressed its confidence in Veolia Environnement’s growth outlook and its shares’ upside potential.

• Since November 2005, Veolia Environnement has reorganized its brand system around its core business – the environment. By bringing together its divisions under a single name, Veolia, the company is pursuing its long-term strategy and fostering the development of a shared and unified culture.