Triester East India Company
The "Triester Handelsgesellschaft" (Société du Commerce d'Asie & d'Afrique) was the last great colonial enterprise by the Habsburger. Empress Maria Theresia gave Guillaume Bolts permission to start the company in Trieste, mainly financed by Antwerp bankers.
After Trieste had been declared a free port together
with Fiume by Emperor Karl VI, it held a major significance for the
trade of the Habsburgs. Since to them the access to the seas via the
Austrian Netherlands remained barred, Trieste was to become the base for
the East India trade. In 1775 Guilleaume Bolts received the permission
of Empress Marie Theresia to found an East Indian trade company in
Trieste.
In 1781 the first shares were
disbursed with great success. The famous Antwerp merchant Charles de
Proli (son of the founder of the Imperial Indian Company), who was also
involved in the insurance industry of Antwerp, became the manager.
However, the company finally deteriorated due to the French and British
resistance and the failed expedition to China, which put the company into
insolvency.
The Trading Compagnie of Trieste
went down in history as one of the last great colonial companies of the
Habsburgs.