Boskalis now has 20.01% of the company, but did not disclose a price for the share transactions.

It bought a 14.08% stake in November.

It said Fugro is an “interesting company with strong market positions in its core activities.”

But it added: “Boskalis stresses that this is not a step towards making an offer.”

Boskalis said in November it wanted to enter into a dialogue with its compatriot to explore possible options for cooperation.