Dockwise Ltd. confirms it has received an unsolicited intended offer from Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. ('Boskalis') for the acquisition of all outstanding shares of Dockwise at an offer price of EUR 17.20 per share cum dividend.
The intended offer by Boskalis is subject to certain specified and unspecified conditions.
The Board of Directors of Dockwise, together with its financial and legal advisers, will consider the intended offer of Boskalis to assess its merits, risks and the consequences for Dockwise and its shareholders, as well as its employees and other stakeholders, compared with the stand-alone strategy of Dockwise and other alternatives.
In preliminary discussions, initiated by Boskalis, the strategic rationale for a combination of Dockwise and Boskalis was presented by Boskalis. As part of the evaluation process by the Board of Directors, Dockwise will seek clarification from Boskalis with regard to its intended offer.
André Goedée, CEO of Dockwise, comments on the developments: "This unsolicited approach for our Company has arrived not only during a phase of successful strategic development, but also during a period of intense tendering in the upstream arena. With the strategic acceleration in logistic management and the addition of new vessels, such as the Dockwise Vanguard and the Dockwise White Marlin, the Company is well positioned in the Oil and Gas upstream and downstream environment. From this position the Company is well suited to manage its next steps on a standalone basis.
The medium term outlook in the Oil and Gas upstream and downstream environment clearly emphasises that there will be opportunities to establish new backlog records for Dockwise in the near future. Our position built in our individual markets, on top of our unrivalled leadership in Heavy Marine, Transport, leads to the conclusion that any offer made for the Company should fully reflect our strong market position and should clearly serve the interests of the Company as a whole, including all our shareholders, as well as our employees, clients and other stakeholders."