Boskalis drops plan to acquire Smit

Dredging and maritime infrastructure giant Boskalis Westminster nv (AMS:BOS) said today that it has dropped its plans to make a public offer for all the issued and outstanding ordinary shares in the issued share capital of Smit Internationale nv (AMS:SMIT).

“Over the past couple of months we have had discussions with Smit, both at the level of the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board,” said Peter Berdowski, CEO of Boskalis. “In these meetings various Smit break-up scenarios were suggested and discussed by both parties.”