Générale Occidentale is a French

investment company An investment company is a financial institution principally engaged in holding, managing and investing securities. These companies in the United States are regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and must be registered under t ...

History

The company was founded in 1969 by

James Goldsmith Sir James Michael Goldsmith (26 February 1933 – 18 July 1997) was a French-British financier, tycoon''Billionaire: The Life and Times of Sir James Goldsmith'' by Ivan Fallon and politician who was a member of the Goldsmith family. His con ...

, rapidly absorbing a large number of companies. In 1973, it took control of Générale Alimentaire and its brands Amora, Vandamme, Carambar, La Pie qui Chante and Francorusse. In 1979, it bought Chocolat Poulain from Clin-Midy, and SEGMA (french:

Société d'exploitation des grandes marques alimentaires Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA. Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the se ...

) with its brand Maille. Only one year later, the entire food arm of Générale Occidentale was sold to

Boussois-Souchon-Neuvesel Danone S.A. () is a French multinational food-products corporation based in Paris. It was founded in Barcelona, Spain. It is listed on Euronext Paris where it is a component of the CAC 40 stock market index. Some of the company's products are ...

(BSN) (which became

Danone Danone S.A. () is a French multinational corporation, multinational food-products corporation based in Paris. It was founded in Barcelona, Spain. It is listed on Euronext Paris where it is a component of the CAC 40 stock market index. Some of t ...

in 1994). Simultaneously, the group grew its publication arm, taking control of ''

L'Express ''L'Express'' () is a French weekly news magazine headquartered in Paris. The weekly stands at the political centre in the French media landscape, and has a lifestyle supplement, ''L'Express Styles'', and a job supplement, ''Réussir''. History ...

'' in 1977 and

Presses de la Cité Presses de la Cité is a French publishing company founded in 1943 by Sven Nielsen, the son and grandson of booksellers, who came to Paris in 1924. Before becoming a publisher, Nielsen specialised in exporting French books. In 1988, with its merg ...

in 1986. In 1987, James Goldsmith sold his share to Compagnie Générale d'Electricité (CGE). Générale Occidentale was no longer a subsidiary of CGE, and its assets were dispersed. Goldsmith's financial director Gilberte Beaux became the managing director of Générale Occidentale.

References

Investment companies of France {{france-company-stub