January 27 - Monday's news that Royal Boskalis Westminster nv (Boskalis) and Smit Internationale nv (Smit) have signed a merger protocol for a full merger of the two companies seems to be behind the decision of Mr W Cordia to leave the Smit Internationale

According to a statement from SMIT, whilst Mr Cordia supports the non-financial aspects of the merger between Boskalis and Smit, he is unable to agree with the price of the offer from Boskalis which the executive board and the majority of the supervisory board of Smit have decided to recommend to its shareholders.

Mr Cordia announced that he has decided to resign as member of the supervisory board of which he has been a member since 2004.