Royal Boskalis Westminster NV announces that good progress is being made in the preparations for the merger with Smit Internationale NV, which was communicated in a joint press release on 12 November 2009. The due diligence is progressing well and the intention remains to realize the merger through an all-cash public offer of EUR 60 (cum dividend) for all outstanding shares in Smit.
At the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of Boskalis earlier today, shareholders approved the issue of ordinary shares up to a maximum of twenty per cent of the number of currently issued shares, excluding any preemptive rights. To (partly) finance the public offer, Boskalis intends to place a share issue up to an amount of EUR 200 to 230 million.
Next Steps
Boskalis and Smit have started preparations for filing with the competition authorities and have informed the relevant works councils and unions of the intended public offer. Boskalis intends to apply for approval of the offering memorandum with the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten) as soon as possible, but no later than 4 February 2010.
