| Type | Wholly owned subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Maritime services |
| Founded | 1842 |
| Founder(s) | Fop Smit |
| Headquarters | Rotterdam, Netherlands |
| Key people | Frank Verhoeven (Chairman) |
| Services | Towage, salvage, transportation, heavy lifting vessels |
| Revenue | €589.0 million (2009)[1] |
| Operating income | €104.6 million (2009)[1] |
| Profit | €102.4 million (2009)[1] |
| Owner(s) | Royal Boskalis Westminster |
| Employees | 3,620 (2009)[1] |
| Website | www.smit.com |
Smit Internationale N.V. (or Smit International) is a Dutch company operating in the maritime sector. The company was founded in 1842 by Fop Smit as a towage company with only the 140 hp paddle steamer tug 'Kinderdijk'. Fop's sons, Jan and Leendert, continued the company under the name L.Smit &Co and expand the fleet. In 1870 they began using tugs with propellers. After a merger in 1923 with Internationale Sleepdienst the name was changed to 'L. Smit & Co.'s Internationale Sleepdienst'. Formerly listed at the NYSE Euronext stock exchange in Amsterdam, the company was fully acquired by Royal Boskalis Westminster in 2010[2].
Contents |
Dutch marine engineer Boskalis made an indicative €1.11 billion takeover offer for Smit on 15 September 2008.[3] Despite the offer being promptly rejected by Smit's board, Boskalis subsequently built a stake of over 25% in the firm[4] and expressed a continuing desire to buy a number of its business units.[5] A revised offer from Boskalis of €1.35 billion, coupled with a pledge to retain the Smit name and its distinct operations, was accepted by the firm's board in January 2010, with Boskalis declaring its offer unconditional that March having reached share ownership of 90%.[6] Smit's shares were delisted from the Amsterdam Stock Exchange on 4 May 2010.[7]
The company consist of 4 divisions, in order of revenue:
Its marine salvage division was involved in several high-profile salvage operations such as:
Internationally, Smit International is known mostly for its expertise in salvage operations.
Often unrealized is the environmental importance of oil removal in many salvage operations. Smit International has dedicated much research into their modern equipment used to extract remaining oil of sunken vessels. They have also partnered with the French firm JLMD System to support preinstalled Fast Oil Recovery systems which assure quick reliable oil removal in the event of a shipping accident.