Boskalis seeks majority stake in Dockwise
Dutch marine contractor, Royal Boskalis Westminster NV, has proposed a cash offer for all issued and outstanding shares of Dutch maritime solutions provider, Dockwise Ltd, to accelerate its growth in the offshore energy market.
The cash offer is for €17.20 per share for a total consideration of €682m.
Boskalis says that the main shareholder of Dockwise, HAL Investments BV, has expressed its support for the transaction and has announced it will tender its 31.7% of the outstanding Dockwise shares under the intended offer.
Meanwhile, Boskalis has already acquired 11.5 million shares in Dockwise in the course of trading, which represents 29% of the shares in the company – so if it acquired the HAL shares it would become the majority shareholder in Dockwise.
Fons van Lith, Dockwise, told Maritime Journal: “Boskalis has acquired shares in Dockwise on the free market. But no agreement between the two companies has been reached yet, we are still in talks and haven’t yet reached a two way understanding.”
Boskalis has invited Dockwise to meet for further discussions on the proposed offer in order to get the deal to move forward.
The next step is for the Dockwise board of directors, together with its financial and legal advisers, to analyse the deal on the table, along with its merits and risks together with the consequences for Dockwise and its shareholders. The company says it will compare the deal carefully in comparison with a stand alone strategy and other alternatives.
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