Suez Canal Company

Suez Canal Company
12/15/1858 AD founded

The Compagnie Universelle du Canal Maritime de Suez was the concessionary company that constructed the Suez Canal between 1859 and 1869 and operated it until the Suez Crisis that had occurred in 1956.

In late Spring of 1858, the French Academy of Sciences released a public report approving of the engineering plans for the canal. The report noted that in the previous two decades, Europeans had spent 12 billion francs building railroads, and that at a cost of 200 million francs (or £8 million), the canal was affordable.

Lesseps pushed ahead without formal British or Ottoman approval. In October 1858, Lesseps notified international press and company agents that 400,000 shares at a price of 500 francs each would be publicly offered beginning 5 November 1858. In the notification, Lesseps estimated an annual revenue of 30 million francs based on freight fees, and a construction period lasting 6 years. In preparation for the offering, shares were sent to brokerage houses across Europe and in the United States.

At the close of offering on 30 November 1858, about half of the shares (around 200,000) belonged to French citizens with the next largest block owned by citizens of the Ottoman Empire (Sa'id bought around 60,000). None of the shares reserved for Britain, Russia, Austria, or the United States were bought.

Sa'id purchased the remaining unbought shares (for a total of 177,000 shares) in order to ensure that the company reached its necessary capitalization amount (to become a legal entity as defined in the 1856 concession). The average number of shares bought by French investors amounted to nine shares each.

Lesseps declared the company as being officially formed on 15 December 1858.

Ismailia

Lattitude: 30.5833° N
Longitude: 32.2666° E
Region: Middle East

Modern Day Egypt

Events in 1858 MORE