February 24 - Just weeks after a report in the Wall Street Journal of an open letter to Smit management from holders of 7.2 percent of the company's outstanding shares that expressed dissatisfaction with Boskalis' EUR62.50 (USD84.66) per share bid, Boskal

Boskalis has now issued a public offer in cash for all the issued and outstanding ordinary shares of Smit at an offer price of EUR60 (USD81.27) per share, excluding an interim dividend of EUR 2.75 (USD3.73) over the year 2009.

The management board of Smit and its supervisory board has said that consider the offer to be in the best interests of Smit shareholders and are recommending its acceptance by shareholders