In 1859, Charles Evrard acquired "Parmentier Freres et Cie." based in La Croyère, (La Louvière, Belgium) and merged it with the "Ateliers Charles Evrard" (of Brussels, Belgium) to form the "Compagnie Belge pour la Construction de Machines et de Matériels de Chemins de Fer" (1862), with a capital of 1 million francs. Charles Evrard was the company's director. At the Exposition Universelle (1867) in Paris, the company exhibited a locomotive, passenger coaches, an iron goods wagon, and a steam rail crane.