As the title says, suppose that somehow the Habsburg established Ostend Company were to survive (and begin to thrive). Originally it might be little more than a vanity project (I've never seen records for its returns in its brief existence, and since the British/Dutch made its closure conditional for their agreement to Karl VI's Pragmatic Sanction, I'm guessing they saw the prospective threat), but let's assume its closure is either NOT necessary for Anglo-Dutch acceptance of the Sanction, or it gets re-opened after the WotAS under a different name. George II voted for Karl VII IIRC, so Maria Theresia could argue that since the English didn't keep their side of the bargain - voting for a Habsburg (candidate) - she's under no obligation to keep the company closed. Not likely, but her husband, although viewed as a cowardly French spy and a skirt-chaser by the Austrians DID have a brain for finance (it was one of the few (if not the only) government portfolio Maria Theresia allowed him to touch AFAIK). So, if he can see it as a good investment, and persuades her to maintain it (or perhaps he re-establishes it as a private venture a la EIC or VOC).
How would an Austrian Habsburg colonial empire fare? Where would they colonize (the Americas/Caribbean? India and Asia? Africa? Australia)? Or would it simply be a trading company? How would Habsburg colonies abroad affect the European situation - if at all?