Royal Boskalis Westminster informed yesterday that it had reduced its holding in Fugro to 24.9%.
In its 2015 annual report, Boskalis stated that it held 28.6% of Fugro’s shares per 31 December 2015.
In March 2015, Boskalis acquired 25.14% Fugro’s shares, which triggered a legal dispute between the companies after Boskalis wanted to have a shareholders’ vote on one of Fugro’s measures protecting it from a hostile takeover. The District Court of The Hague then ruled in favour of Fugro.
In May 2016, the Court of Appeal in The Hague also dismissed Boskalis’ claim and ruled in favour of Fugro.
Last year, Boskalis said that Fugro is “an interesting company with strong market positions in its core activities”, adding that Fugro’s activities fit very well with the focus of Boskalis’ business strategy. However, Fugro denied that amount of similarity between the two businesses. “Fugro can only maintain its current market leading positions if it remains an independent service provider,” the company stressed.
With the yesterday’s announcement on reducing the stake in Fugro, Boskalis did not provide any further details.