French engineering, technology and catalysts provider Axens has crossed the necessary 95% threshold in its ownership of Heurtey Petrochem and will now launch a takeover bid for the rival engineering services company.

Axens first bid for Heurtey in December 2016. The Paris-headquartered group said that following the recent acquisition of Heurtey Petrochem shares for €30 per share, it now holds 95.9% of the share capital and 95.7% of voting rights, and will launch a takeover in the coming weeks, as indicated in its initial bid of Dec. 1, 2016. This will be followed by a squeeze-out process for the remaining shares.

Heurtey’s directors will now appoint an independent financial expert who will draw up an opinion on the fairness of the financial conditions of the takeover bid and squeeze-out process. The engineering company, which is also based in Paris, is focused on process furnaces for refining, petrochemicals and hydrogen production. It also has a natural gas treatment business.

The acquisition remains subject to approval by the French stock exchange regulator (AMF).