Turkish Renaissance takes over Dutch builder Ballast Nedam for 30 mln euros

AMSTERDAM - Reuters

Troubled Dutch builder Ballast Nedam has agreed to be taken over by Turkey’s Renaissance Construction in a deal valuing the target at just 30 million euros ($33 million), the companies said in a joint statement on July 22.

Ballast Nedam, which was brought to the brink of insolvency by heavy losses on two projects, twice postponed the publication of its annual results this year while it sought additional financing from its creditors.

Renaissance will pay 1.55 euros for each Ballast Nedam share, which closed at 1.65 euros on Tuesday, though the companies said the offer represented a 29.2 percent premium to their price in May when the Dutch company announced it was in talks with unnamed bidders.

Once a star of the Amsterdam stock exchange, the company was forced to bid very low for contracts following the collapse of the Dutch construction market in 2008. Its shares have lost 80 percent of their value over the past year.

Renaissance, which has built real estate and infrastructure projects throughout Europe, central Asia, the Middle East and Africa, will inject 30 million euros into the company after the deal, the companies said.

“We believe in the proven strengths of Ballast Nedam in engineering and specialized construction methods and Ballast Nedam’s potential to competitively leverage these in the international markets,” Renaissance President Erman Illcak said in a statement.

Separately, Ballast Nedam said its net loss for the first half had narrowed to 10 million euros from 45 million a year ago. Revenue fell to 420 million euros from 515 million.