The story
The Compagnie Générale de Transport et de Tourisme was created in 1919 by Jean Épinat. In 1928, it became an exclusive agent of General Motors in Morocco until 1945.
In 1934, it was rebranded into Omnium Nord Africain. During the same year, the ONA became a holding as it entered the mining sector.
In 1953, after World War II, all the assets of Jean Épinat became under the control of The Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas (Paribas). King Hassan II bought Paribas’ shares in ONA and became the main shareholder of the group in 1980.
In 1982, the group started getting involved in various sectors including dairy products, sugar, banks, chemicals and textile. In 1986, ONA acquired shares in Lesieur Afrique and obtained nearly 40% of Banque Commerciale du Maroc (Morocco's Commercial Bank).
In 1988, ONA invested in the first pay-TV in the Arab world with 2M.
In 1990, the group invested in the retail sector by opening its first hypermarket Marjane Bouregreg. In 2005, the group acquired Maroc Connect, the second internet provider in Morocco, which became Wana corporate and later Inwi in 2009.
In 2005, ONA launched Nareva Holding specialised in low carbon energy.
On March 25, 2010, the group announced that it will be going a strategic reorganisation, including its fusion with SNI and their withdrawal from Casablanca Stock Exchange.
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On December 31, 2010, the closure of ONA took place and its activities were integrated into Societe Nationale d'Investissement.
From Wikipedia’s article on ONA Group, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4