Dutch contracting and shipowning firm Boskalis is taking a neutral stance over shareholder HAL Holding’s intention to takeover the company
Boskalis directors and management have undertaken an intensive process to carefully consider all aspects of HAL’s intended offer, made in March, and believe shareholders could do better than accept HAL’s existing offer.
Weighing the options and independent valuations carried out by a Supervisory Board and the Board of Management, Boskalis has concluded that while HAL’s intended offer price per share “is not unreasonable”, it is not sufficiently convincing to recommend this price to its shareholders.
HAL Holding is Boskalis’ majority shareholder with a 46.5% stake and made an initial all-cash offer of €32.5 (US$34.8) per share.
Bokskalis’ advisors Rabobank and Axeco Corporate Finance have produced separate valuations for the group but so far the company has not succeeded in persuading HAL to increase its offer.
Since Boskalis does not consider the offer price to be unreasonable, but also not sufficiently convincing to recommend the offer price to its shareholders, it has decided, in the interest of all shareholders, to present the offer with a neutral view on price, while providing the shareholders the optionality to tender the shares under the intended offer (if and when launched) if they wish to do so.
If and when HAL launches the offer, Boskalis said it will convene an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (EGM) to further explain its views on the offer and publish its position statement in relation to the offer prior to the EGM.
Boskalis owns several dredgers and tugs in a combined fleet of over 200 ships and recently sold stakes in subsidiaries. In recent years it has branched into offshore windfarm work.
