Groupe Bruxelles Lambert

Type: Public
On the web: http://www.gbl.be

Groupe Bruxelles Lambert's groupe includes some pretty haut companies. The investment firm has stakes in several major French companies, including oil giant TOTAL, utilities company GDF SUEZ, and materials makers Imerys and Lafarge. Groupe Bruxelles Lambert seeks stable, long-term investments, but is not limited by industry. It prefers investments that are closely linked to the European economy. Through affiliated entities, chairman Albert Frère and Canada's Power Financial together own nearly half of Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (which is also known as GBL).

Key numbers for fiscal year ending December, 2008:
Sales: $676.3M
One year growth: 3.0%
Net income: ($7,193.2)M

Officers:
Chairman, Managing Director, and CEO: Baron Albert Frère
Director Finance: Investment Firms

Competitors:
HM Capital Partners
KKR
Thomas H. Lee Partners

Groupe Bruxelles Lambert
Groep Brussel Lambert

Type	Public (Euronext: GBL)
Founded	4 January 1902
Headquarters	Brussels, Belgium
Key people	Albert Frère (Chairman of the board), Gérald Frère (Managing director)
Industry	Holding company
Products	Industrial holdings
Profit	▼ (€687.5 million) (2008)[1]
Total assets	€14.04 billion (2008)[1]
Employees	35 (2008)[1]
Website	en.gbl.be

Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL) (Euronext: GBL) is a Belgian industrial holding company. It is one of the ten biggest Belgian companies, and part of the BEL20. It has been listed in Brussels since 1956.

Shareholdings as of 31 December 2008 were:^[1]

Company	% of share capital	% of voting rights
GDF Suez	5.3%	5.3%
Iberdrola	0.6%	0.6%
Imerys	30.5%	37.0%
Lafarge	21.1%	28.5%
Pernod Ricard	8.2%	7.4%
Suez Environnement	7.1%	7.1%
Total	4.0%	3.6%

As of 31 December 2004, a company Pargesa Holding S.A. holds 48.0% of the shares of GBL. As GBL holds 4.4% in treasury stock, Pargesa is a majority owner. Pargesa in turn is owned 54.3% by Parjointco, a company owned 50/50 by Agesca, a dutch holding company and Power Financial Corporation, a subsidiary of the Canadian conglomerate Power Corporation of Canada. Agesca is owned 89.5% by Compagnie Nationale à Portefeuille, a Belgian holding controlled by Albert Frère, and 10.5% by the holding Frères Bourgeois, the holding company of Albert Frère and his family. Groupe Bruxelles Lambert formerly owned the Bank Brussels Lambert (BBL), which is now part of the ING group.

GBL was also involved in Drexel Burnham Lambert, having made a sizable investment in the early 1980s.^[2]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "Annual Report 2008". Groupe Bruxelles Lambert. http://en.gbl.be/Images/9_3502.pdf. Retrieved 2009-05-25. 
2. ^ Den of Thieves. Stewart, J. B. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991. ISBN 0-671-63802-5.

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