Boskalis to buy MNO Vervat

Royal Boskalis Westminster plans to buy MNO Vervat which it described as holding a leading position in the Dutch civil infrastructure market.

Boskalis ­- the Dutch services provider operating in the dredging and earthmoving, maritime infrastructure and maritime services sectors - intends to acquire MNO Vervat's activities and said it expected to sign the final agreement within the next few months.

MNO Vervat was established in 1917 and is a family-owned business specialising in road construction, concrete and other civil construction work.

On the international front, MNO Vervat operates mainly in Suriname. It has annual revenue of around € 300 million and employs around 1000 staff.

Boskalis said MNO Vervat's order book, worth more than twice the annual revenue, contained several large projects such as the N201/A4 road connection to the south of Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, the construction of the outer ring road at Parkstad in the southern Dutch province of Limburg, and several dyke reinforcement projects in Suriname.

With the acquisition of MNO Vervat, Boskalis said it was implementing one of the objectives formulated it its recently presented Corporate Business Plan - to reinforce its civil infrastructure competencies and activities at national and international level.

It said that at a national level the planned transaction would enable Boskalis to respond to rapidly changing market conditions as well as strengthen the prominent position it has long held on the Dutch infrastructure market.

It added that this market was in a state of flux as a result of government policy, which it claimed was aimed at upsizing contracts and pushing alternative contract forms such as design, build, finance and maintain.

Boskalis said this trend meant that it was strategically important to broaden and expand the scale of this activity.

The tie-up of Boskalis Nederland and MNO Vervat will create a player with combined revenue of around € 500 million with the ability to play a leading role at the upper end of the Dutch market, it said.

In terms of its international activities, the acquisition of MNO Vervat will allow Boskalis to gain knowledge and expertise in the area of concrete and other civil construction.

Boskalis said this would enable it to respond to the increasing demand for all-round solutions for complex port and offshore projects. It said a similar partnership was already successfully applied within the group on a regional scale in the Middle East through its link with Archirodon.

Boskalis and MNO Vervat will seek to sign the final purchase contract in the short term and to obtain all the necessary clearances and statements as well as to complete the procedures with the relevant employee representation bodies as soon as possible.

The completion of the transaction, expected to take place shortly after the summer, is subject to various customary conditions being met, including a due diligence audit yet to be performed, and the necessary clearances being obtained.