 The Company was formed by Sir Moses Montefiore and some of his colleagues based in London in 1824 as the "Imperial Continental Gas Association" to establish gas utilities in other counties.It commenced operations distributing gas in Hannover in 1825 and providing gas lighting in Berlin in 1826 under the supervision of the Prussian Count Eduard of Dyhrn-Waldenburg-Schoenau.During the course of the 19th century it established gas works in Antwerp, Brussels, Berlin and Vienna.