Dutch dredging and offshore contractor Boskalis has received a takeover offer from compatriot investment firm HAL.
HAL, which already owns 46.2 percent of Boskalis, said in a statement on Thursday it would offer 32.50 euros ($35.9) per share, a premium of 28 percent to Boskalis’ closing price of 25.30 euros on Wednesday.
This puts the value of Boskalis at 4.2 billion euros ($4.64 billion).
HAL said it believes that given Boskalis’ business characteristics, the long-term nature of its larger projects and the cyclicality of its underlying markets, Boskalis could “benefit from private ownership with a long-term investment horizon.”
The investment firm said it supports Boskalis’ existing strategy, and has no intention to change its management or governance.
In a separate statement, Boskails confirmed it has received the offer from HAL.
“The board of management and supervisory board of Boskalis will carefully consider all aspects of the proposed offer in accordance with their fiduciary duties. Boskalis will update the market if and when appropriate,” it said.
Prior to this announcement, Boskalis reported a 2021 net profit of 151 million euros, compared to a loss of 97 million euros in the year before.
Revenues also rose 17.1 percent to 2.96 billion euros.
Boskalis has previously won contracts to work on several LNG projects around the globe.
These include the El Salvador LNG-to-power project and Shell’s giant LNG Canada development.
