The Universal Company of the Maritime Canal of Suez (French: 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 1956 Suez Crisis. It was formed by Ferdinand de Lesseps in 1858, and it operated the canal for many years thereafter. Initially, French private investors were the majority of the shareholders, with Egypt also having a significant stake.
When Isma'il Pasha became Wāli of Egypt and Sudan in 1863, he refused to adhere to portions of the concessions to the Canal company made by his predecessor Said. The problem was referred during 1864 to the arbitration of Napoleon III, who awarded £3,800,000 (equivalent to £347 million in 2016)[2] to the company as compensation for the losses they would incur by the changes to the original grant which Ismail demanded. In 1875, a financial crisis forced Isma'il to sell his shares to the government of the United Kingdom for only £3,976,582(equivalent to £379 million in 2016).
The company operated the canal until its nationalization by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1956, which led to the Suez Crisis. In 1962, Egypt made its final payments for the canal to the Universal Suez Ship Canal Company and took full control of the Suez Canal. Today the canal is owned and operated by the Suez Canal Authority. ---- Sourced via Wikipedia
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