Dutch offshore contractor and shipowner Boskalis will be delisted in Amsterdam next month following a takeover deal.
The group’s biggest shareholder, Monaco investment fund HAL Holding, has sealed a $2.3bn purchase, reaching 98.3% ownership.
The last day of trading on Euronext Amsterdam will be 8 November, bringing an end to a public listing of more than 51 years.
HAL has said it will start a statutory buy-out process to acquire the remaining stock in the fourth quarter.
To get the takeover through, HAL had to up its offer to €33 ($33.56) per share after months of talks, following an initial approach of €32.50 in March.
The two sides said “continued talks” had done the trick on the price, which was 32% above the share price in March.
Boskalis management had said it would cooperate with restructuring efforts if HAL gained control of at least 85% of the company.
HAL has been a shareholder since 1989.
Boskalis said in June that it could not recommend the original offer after receiving independent valuations.
The new deal valued the group at €4.27bn.
Acquisitions on the cards?
HAL believes that private ownership could enhance merger-and-acquisition opportunities, as well as long-term investment.
Boskalis owns 211 ships and is best known for its dredgers and tugs.
But the group also has a big fleet of anchor-handling tug supply units, platform supply vessels, cable layers, research ships and semi-submersible heavylift vessels.
Two ships are on order: an anchor-handling tug and a multipurpose support vessel for delivery this year.
VesselsValue assesses the 79 offshore and heavylift ships as worth $228m.
