Investment firm Reggeborgh has reached an agreement in principle to sell large parts of construction group VolkerWessels to investor HAL, in a transaction also involving HAL’s subsidiary Boskalis.
The intended deal concerns VolkerWessels’ Dutch construction, development and infrastructure divisions and the company’s international activities in Britain, North America and Germany will remain outside the scope of the transaction, HAL said in a short statement.
No purchase price has been disclosed, but sources in the construction sector described the planned sale as a multi-billion-euro deal. Reggeborgh delisted VolkerWessels from the Amsterdam stock exchange in 2020 at a valuation of over €1.7 billion, the Financieele Dagblad said.
The purchase agreement is expected to be signed by the end of the third quarter of this year, with completion targeted for the first quarter of 2026, the FD said. The transaction will require approval from competition authorities including the ACM, as well as the relevant works councils.
Henry Holterman, chairman of Reggeborgh and son-in-law of the late entrepreneur Dik Wessels, told the FD the planned sale supports the much needed consolidation of the Dutch construction and infrastructure sector.
“Reggeborgh believes this transaction is in the interest of all stakeholders,” Holterman said. “An important factor in this decision is that HAL is known as a long-term and stable investor.”
VolkerWessels, which traces its roots to a 1997 merger of Koninklijke Volker Stevin and Kondor Wessels, currently employs around 13,000 people and booked €6 billion in revenue last year. It is the second biggest Dutch construction group after BAM.
HAL, listed on the Amsterdam stock exchange, has been actively looking for acquisitions after selling the optical retail group GrandVision for nearly €5.5 billion. It owns 100% of Boskalis, as well as construction group Van Wijnen and the FD Mediagroep.
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