The founders of Paris Orléans, in 1838, would certainly never have originally imagined that their company would one day become one of the flagships of the Rothschild family, with its seven generations of dedicated services to finance worldwide. It started life as a French rail company which was nationalised in 1937, but then discontinued. At the time of its take-over by the Rothschild group, following the Second World War, it was a simple property company.

How the company developed

A second nationalisation by the French government, the one of Banque Rothschild in 1982, decided the company's fate. In 1983, David and Eric de Rothschild decided to restart their family's business with six colleagues, using Paris Orléans as a launch pad. At this time, the company held majority stakes in Paris Orléans Gestion, now Rothschild & Cie Banque, in the public property management company SGIM (Société de Gérance d'Immeubles Municipaux) , and smaller investments in the insurance broker SIACI, in the wine business with SGDBR, now Domaines Barons de Rothschild (DBR) and in Francarep, which was initially an oil exploration company.

A new profile

Paris Orléans took on its current profile gradually. Francarep slowly started to shed its oil and gas operations in favour of a private equity activity. Paris Orléans bolstered its presence in the capital of Francarep by contributing its holdings in SGIM, then SIACI and, finally, DBR. Paris Orléans took a minority stake in Rothschild Concordia AG (a banking group operating in the UK and the rest of the world). This stake was increased in 2000 and then 2001.

A UK and French business link-up

In July 2003, the French and UK businesses were merged, a plan that had been in the pipeline for some time. The aim was to unify and optimise their control and management structures for all of the financial entities held in France, the UK, Europe, North America, Switzerland and the rest of the world. To do this, a new lead entity was created: Concordia BV, 50%-50% by the UK business and Paris Orléans.

Merger-absorption: rationalising the structures

In October 2004, Paris Orléans streamlined its French structure even further, absorbing its private equity subsidiary, Francarep. It is now ready to focus entirely on its two major lines of business: banking and private equity.

Paris Orleans takes control of banking group

January 2008 -  The Rothschild family banking group has crossed a historic milestone in its development with the reorganisation of its shareholdings. Nearly two centuries after their separation, the French and English branches of the family have completed their unification by unifying their capital under a single company registered in France, a shareholder of Paris Orleans. This reorganisation places Paris Orleans at the heart of the organisation chart.

"This transaction is a logical next step after the creation of Concordia BV in 2003 and the takeover of Francarep by Paris Orleans in 2004. It allows us to simplify the group's structure and perpetuate the control of the family with the creation of this family company, and it strengthens the role of Paris Orleans as the group's chief holding," David de Rothschild stated.

Visit the Rothschild family site at www.rothschild.info