An additional hurdle for any takeover would be the blocks of Generale stock held by large Belgian institutional investors.

Mr. Leysen's alliance of Belgian investors and institutions, many of them Flemish, holds 27.5 percent of the company's shares.

Initially created by French and Belgian investors, it was sold to Spanish investors in 1920, only to gradually come back under French control in the early 21st century.

In October 1992 the 28 Belgian Hubo stores were sold to three Belgian investors.

His brother claimed that during a meeting with two Belgian investors in a restaurant, Meyer suddenly ran outside, saying "They poisoned me".

The agreement would transfer stock in Ladd & Co. to the Belgian investors in exchange for a badly needed infusion of cash.

Shortly thereafter, he met a group of Belgian investors who backed his U.S. expansion plans.

The Banca Romana was founded by French and Belgian investors in 1835.

Instead, a group of French and Belgian investors, led by the Paris-based Compagnie Financiere de Suez, assumed control.

Plans are being developed with Belgian investors and financial institutions, and with Virgin Express, to start a smaller more adequate airline, Mr. Chaffart said.