Court grants struggling Dutch industrial services group Imtech suspension of payments

A Dutch court is allowing struggling industrial services group Royal Imtech NV to suspend payments and has appointed administrators to a company battling for survival.

Imtech, which has 22,000 staff worldwide, provides technical services to projects such as the new Berlin airport. It hit financial hard times after being rocked by fraud scandals in Germany and Poland.

The company said in a statement Tuesday that suspending payments "may optimize the chances that substantial parts of the Imtech Group may continue in the interest of all stakeholders and specifically our employees."

The announcement came less than a week after Imtech's German division filed for insolvency.

Imtech shares have slumped nearly 90 percent on the Amsterdam stock exchange in the last five days to just 32 cents ($0.35) by late Tuesday morning.