By Toby Sterling and Anthony Deutsch
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Royal Imtech (AS:IMUN), the troubled Dutch engineering services company, has been granted protection from creditors by a Dutch court, days after its German unit filed for insolvency, it said on Tuesday.
Imtech Deutschland GmbH & Co, Imtech's largest business, filed for insolvency last week after failing to secure credit from lenders.
Imtech employs 22,000 staff across Europe, generating annual sales of about 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion) before accounting fraud hit its Polish and German operations in 2013.
"Filing for suspension of payments now may optimise the chances that substantial parts of the Imtech Group may continue in the interest of all stakeholders and, specifically, our employees," the company said.
Shares have lost 99 percent of their value, falling from more that 200 euros to less than a euro, representing a market capitalisation of about 50 million euros.
They fell a further 39 percent at the start of trading in Amsterdam on Tuesday after the creditor protection was granted by a Rotterdam court.
ING Group (AS:ING), Rabobank [RABOI.UL], Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) and ABN Amro hold nearly 50 percent of the company's stock after a flopped 2014 share offering, while a consortium of 40 banks hold total borrowing of 770 million euros.