Boskalis Buys BoDo's Cable Lay Business

Dutch dredging and offshore contractor Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. announced Friday it has reached a deal with Geramny-based SPIE to acquire the offshore cable installation activities and assets of Bohlen Doyen GmbH (BoDo).

BoDo's operations include grid to grid and offshore substation to shore connections, which includes the installation of nearshore and offshore cables and the connection of offshore wind farms to substations. Its offshore activities generate an annual turnover of EUR 20-30 million.

The scope of the transaction, to be financed from Boskalis' cash flow, includes the acquisition of the equipment, burial tools, personnel and several smaller commercial and maintenance contracts. Boskalis said the most important assets are three large cable laying barges with capacities ranging from 800 to 4,000 metric tons that are suited for export cable installation in sheltered water and cable repair.

Boskalis said it intends to close the transaction in the first quarter 2019.

The acquisition follows a string of recent large contract wins by Boskalis. The Dutch firm was recently awarded a contract to install the cable system for Ostwind 2 offshore Germany, for which BoDo is well-positioned to execute the nearshore activities, Boskalis noted.