Vivendi Universal: In a Strategic Flux

VU's origins can be traced back to 1853, when the Compagnie Générale des Eaux (CGE) was established as a joint stock company by the French government in Paris as a civil engineering and utilities company. CGE was founded with two main objectives: to irrigate land for cultivation and to supply drinking water to the cities of France. The company began operations by supplying water to the city of Lyon. In 1854 the company began supplying water to Nantes and in 1860 to Paris.

Inspired by the success of the utilities business, CGE's services were expanded to various places in the years to come. CGE expanded its operations to other countries by supplying water to Venice in 1880 (this was the company's first international contract). CGE was awarded utility contracts to supply water to the cities of Istanbul (1882) and Porto (1883). By 1953, CGE, which had a utility network of ten thousand kilometers, supplied drinking water to eight million people in France. Over the next two decades, CGE further strengthened its utility services business by offering district heating services and waste disposal (in 1967) by setting up plants for domestic waste disposal (for composting as well as heating purposes).