Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. has successfully closed an inaugural USD 450 million US Private Placement Notes program with 26 institutional investors in the United States and United Kingdom. The significantly oversubscribed program consists of three tranches with maturities of 7, 10 and 12 years and was issued in both US dollars and Sterling. The US dollar and Sterling proceeds have been swapped into euro’s, for a total amount of € 354 million. The weighted average annual interest rate is 4.76%.
The proceeds of the private placement, together with available cash, will be used to fully repay the existing bridge facility of € 400 million, whose purpose was to partly finance the acquisition of SMIT Internationale N.V. With this program, in addition to a three and five year bank facility of € 650 million, which was signed in March 2010, Boskalis will continue to have a solid balance sheet with ample headroom to accommodate further growth.
Barclays Capital and RBS acted as Bookrunners and Placing Agents, with Rabobank and Fortis Bank Nederland as Co-Agent.
Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. is a leading global services provider operating in the dredging, maritime infrastructure and maritime services sectors. We provide creative and innovative all-round solutions to infrastructural challenges in the maritime, coastal and delta regions of the world including the construction and maintenance of ports and waterways, land reclamation, coastal defense and riverbank protection. We offer a wide variety of marine services through SMIT and we have positions in strategic partnerships in the Middle East (Archirodon) and in offshore services (Lamnalco). The company holds important home market positions in and outside of Europe. Boskalis has a versatile fleet of over 1,000 units and operates in over 65 countries across six continents. Including its share in partnerships, Boskalis has approximately 14,000 employees. Boskalis celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2010.