As prefigured in January, the move is aimed at keeping IHC “independent” (ie Dutch and shielding the ailing but still world-leading constructor of dredging vessels out of Chinese hands, and thus play into the hands of Chinese dredging companies.

Under the heads-of-agreement, the shares of Royal IHC, effectively those of IHC Merwede Holding BV, are to be held jointly by: HAL Investments, which has a 40% stake in Boskalis; Belgian private equity fund Ackermans & van Haaren, which owns 61% of Belgian dredging company DEME; MerweOord, the Van Oord family’s trust; and crane builder Huisman Equipment.

The spilt between the joint venture parties has not been disclosed, but all the shares will be acquired from IHC’s current owners Indofin (Rotterdam-based investor Cees de Bruin), Rabo Capital and employee shareholders.

The rescue operation is backed by a short term bridging loan and export credit insurance from relevant departments of the Dutch government, while IHC’s international bank syndicate, which includes three major Dutch banks, has agreed to a recapitalisation.

Between them the government departments are putting up almost €400M, a sum that the state could have lost anyway from its exposure in the yard and unemployment benefits if IHC had hit the wall. The state will pay €167M for preliminary losses, €40M as a short term bridging loan, €30M as additional guarantees and €140M as a guarantee on bank credits. The state will get one director on the Supervisory Board. It expects similar commitments from the prospective new owners.

Gerben Eggink has been named interim CEO replacing Dave Van der Heyde, who is stepping down. Eggink was previously CEO of Gardline Group and towage company Smit Lamnalco (Boskalis). Paul van der Harten has been named as CFO, a post he previously held with AEG Power Solutions following senior financial posts with OMV and Royal Dutch Shell.

IHC employs around 3,000 staff in the Netherlands, where it has three shipyards, in Sliedrecht, Kinderdijk and Krimpen aan den IJssel. It employs around 400 staff overseas, in Brazil, China, Croatia, Dubai, the US and the UK.

Its main competitor in the Netherands is Damen Shipyards Group, the bigger of the two, with both groups mostly overlapping dredger and offshore construction. The two groups’ current key battleground is the bidding on a Dutch submarine order.

Roel de Graaf, director of Netherlands Maritime Technology, the Dutch shipbuilding industry’s umbrella organisation, said the new deal was very important given IHC’s significance for the Dutch maritime industry as a whole. “Investing an annual 3-4% of turnover in innovation, IHC ranks among the top 50 innovators in the Netherlands and is instrumental in securing Holland’s strategically important maritime industry,” he said.