Pathé, Gaumont and Seydoux: chronology

Chronology

This chronology is indicative only. It covers -

Beginnings

1872 Compagnie des Chargeurs Reunis founded to operate steamship service between Le Havre and Brazil

1883 Chargeurs buys the Societe Postale de l'Atlantique

1894 Charles Pathé opens gramophone shop, establishes phonograph factory at Chatou

1895 August & Louis Lumiere gain a patent in France for Cinématographe movie device and give first public showing in Paris of La Sortie des Usines Lumière

1896 Lumieres' Cinematographe projector used for exhibitions in London, Vienna, Mexico City, New York, Buenos Aires, Malmo, Bucharest, Turin, Copenhagen, Rome, Belgrade, Lwow, St Petersburg, Mumbai and Helsinki

1896 Passengers Alighting from Ferry 'Brighton' at Manly screened at Salon Lumiere at 237 Pitt Street in Sydney

1896 Societé Pathé Freres founded

1897 launches record label

1897 Bazar de la Charite fire in Paris attributed to faulty projector

1897 Lumiere's catalogue boasts 1,600 titles

1897 Pathé Freres goes public as La Compagnie générale des phonographes, cinématographes et pellicules Pathé Frères

1898 Gaumont Co formed in UK as subsidiary of France's Gaumont

1902 Pathé buys Lumiere patents

1902 Pathé opens office in London, later builds exhibition chain

1904 Pathé opens offices in Brussels, New York and Moscow; claims 12,000 title catalogue

1905 Lumiere Bros cease production

1905 Leon Gaumont moves into film production

1906 Etablissements Gaumont founded

1907 Lafitte Brothers in France found Compagnie des Films d'Art

1908 first aerial film made by Pathé

1908 Charles Pathé & Edmond Benoit-Levy found Omnia cinema chain in France

1908 100 cinemas in Paris, 25% owned by Pathé

1909 Pathé has 200 cinemas in France and Belgium

1910 Pathé launches Australian Animated Gazette newsreel

1910 Bernard Natan founds Ciné Actualités production company

1911 West's Pictures buys Pathé's Australian offshoot

1911 Pathé Weekly is first US-wide newsreel

1912 Conrad Schlumberger uses electrical measurements for geological mapping

1912 Charles Pathé releases La Femme Fatale

1913 Natan founds Rapid Films processing company

1914 Pathé ceases production in US

1915 Kashii Film buys Pathé interests in Japan

1915 Pathé's US arm becomes Pathé Exchange

1918 Pathé splits into Pathé-Frères (phonographs and recordings) managed by Emile Pathé and Pathé-Cinéma (exhibition, distribution, production) managed by Charles Pathé

1920 merger of Agence Havas and Société Générale des Annonces advertising agency

1920 Pathé-Cinéma transfers production and distribution to new Pathé-Consortium-Cinéma company

1922 Gaumont-British production, distribution and exhibition taken over by Ostrer brothers

1923 Pathé-Exchange sold for 26 million francs, comes under control of Merryl Lynch

1924 Seagram family forms Distillers Corporation Limited in Canada

1924 Music Corporation of America (MCA) talent agency founded

1926 Schlumberger brothers form Société de Prospection Electrique

1926 Natan founds Les Productions Natan, builds two studios

1926 Joe Kennedy gains control of Pathe-Exchange, subsequently part of RKO

1927 Piccadilly/Gainsborough absorbed by Gaumont-British

1927 Pathé studios sold to Eastman Kodak, cinema and distribution arm remains independent

1928 Leon Gaumont retires

1928 Gaumont-British buys UK cinema chain, becomes Gaumont-British Picture Corporation

1928 Pathé-Consortium becomes Paris-Consortium-Cinéma

1928 Herriot Decree in France provides quota protection for local production

1928 Columbia Phonograph takes control of Pathé-Frères

The Natan era

1929 Charles Pathé sells interests to Natan, who forms Pathé-Natan

1929 Paramount opens European studios in Paris

1929 Léon Gaumont cedes control to Banque Nationale de Crédit (BNC)

1929 Rapid-Film and Pathé-Cinéma merge, gain control of new Société de Gérance des Cinémas Pathé

1930 Gaumont-Franco-Films-Aubert (GFFA) - combining Gaumont, Aubert-Franco-Film and Etablissements Continsouza - established as integrated production, distribution and exhibition group

1930 Pathé-Cinéma gains non-exclusive licence for RCA patents for France and its North African colonies

1930 Pathe-Exchange absorbed by RKO

1933 Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC) consolidates BIP, BIF, Pathe, Wardour Films and Associated British Cinemas

1934 Fédération Nationale des Cinémas Français (FNCF) founded

1934 GFFA collapses, bailed out by French government

1936 Pathé-Natan faces cash flow crisis, taken into administration

1940 French legislation splits Agence Havas, with news service nationalised as Office Français d'Information (later Agence Française de Presse)

1940 Comité d'Organisation de l'Industrie Cinématographique (COIC) established to 'coordinate' industry

1940 Schlumberger headquarters moved to Houston, Texas

1941 Ostrers sell Gaumont-British stake to J Arthur Rank

1943 Adrien Ramauge reorganises Pathé as Societe Nouvelle Pathé Cinema

1946 Universal Pictures merges with independent production company International Pictures to become Universal International

1949 Union Aeromaritime de Transport founded

1949 Associated British Pathé founded

1952 Universal International sold to Decca Records

1955 Rank merges its Odeon and UK Gaumont cinema chains

1963 UAT merges with Compagnie de Transports Aeriens Intercontinentaux (TAI) to form Union de Transports Aeriens (UTA)

1970 Groupement d'Intérêt Économique (GIE) formned by Gaumont and Pathé

1970 L'Union Générale de Cinématographie (UCG) established

1971 UCG privatised

1972 Philips and Siemens merge recording interests as Polygram, buy Verve records

1972 CGE constructs la Défense office complex in Paris

1972 Sartre and associates found Libération

1980 Polygram buys Decca

1980 CGE buys Compagnie Generale de Chauffe, becomes largest private energy group in France

Parretti and Chargeurs

1983 CGE and Havas media group establish Canal+ pay television group (CGE has 15% stake)

1987 French government sells stake in Havas

1987 CGE establishes telephone subsidiary

1987 Giancarlo Parretti takes control of Cannon Group

1988 CGE buys global construction group Société Générale d'Enterprises

1989 Parretti increases stake in Pathé to 46.5%

1989 Paretti rebadges Cannon as Pathe Communications Corporation

1990 Sony rival Matsushita buys MCA for US$6.1bn

1990 Parretti pays US$1.3bn for MGM/UA Communications

1991 Credit Lyonnais bank takes control of MGM/UA (later sold to Kirk Kerkorian and Seven Network). Parretti charged with fraud

1992 CGE sells hospital and healthcare operations for US$1.8bn

1992 Canal+ establishes CanalSatellite

1992 Chargeurs buys Pathé for 1.2bn Francs

1992 Air France absorbs UTA and Aeromaritime

Seagram moves into media

1994 Seagram buys 14.5% stake in Time Warner

1995 Seagram sells Du Pont stake, buys MCA from Matsushita for US$5.7bn and renames it Universal Studios

1995 Seagram buys Dole global fruit juice group

1996 Seagram sells Putnam Berkley book publishing group to Pearson for US$300m

1996 CGE subsidiary Cegetel becomes second largest telecommunications operator in France

Pathé spun off

1996 Pathé spun off from Chargeurs and floated on Paris Bourse

1996 increases stake in Liberation

1996 Havas corporate and leisure travel arm Havas Voyages SA forms joint venture with American Express

1997 Seagram buys remaining 50% of USA network from Viacom for US$1.7bn

1997 Pathé sells 16% stake in Tobis Filmkunst

1997 CGE buys 30% of Havas

1997 buys NetHold, second largest pay-TV operator in Continental Europe

1998 CGE group renamed Vivendi, buys rest of Havas

1998 Seagram buys Polygram from Matsushita rival Philips for US$10.4bn

1998 Bolloré acquires 20% stake in Pathé

1999 Vivendi sells Havas' outdoor advertising operations to J C Decaux of France for £652m

1999 buys 15% of Canal+ from Compagnie Financiere Richemont

1999 Vivendi and Canal+ buy 20% of Pathé from Bolloré

1999 Pathé establishes Pathé International as international sales arm

1999 Vivendi sells property and construction divisions

Bought and sold by Vivendi

2000 Vivendi buys Seagram for US$34bn, becomes Vivendi Universal

2000 Vivendi takes 35% stake in Moroccan telco Maroc Telecom

2000 Vivendi Environnement listed on Paris Bourse (Vivendi retains 63% stake)

2000 Vivendi sells alcohol arm for US$8.1bn. Partial sale of civil engineering and construction operations

2000 Vivendi buys rest of Pathé for US$2.59bn, then sells name and most assets back to Seydoux

Merger of Gaumont and Pathé cinemas

2001 Gaumont and Pathé cinema chains merged as EuroPalaces SA

2001 Pathé reduces stake in Libération to 21.77%

2001 buys Village Roadshow's French cinema chain

2002 Pathé Sport sold to Canal+

2002 Pathé buys control of Monagesque des Ondes

2003 Pathé gains control of Télé Monte Carlo

2003 Bollore increases stake in Gaumont to 10.6%