Dutch conglomerate Pon Holdings and private equity firm Parcom Capital have announced their takeover of Imtech Marine.

The company, which employs 22,000 people in 35 countries and has annual sales of roughly €4bn (£2.9bn) filed for protection from creditors on Tuesday after its German unit filed for insolvency.

Stating that it hoped “to preserve as much of the group as possible”, the company also confirmed that negotiations were ongoing for the sale of its Nordic division and were expected to be concluded “in the short term” – although the prospective buyer has not been named. The job figure includes 1,300 Netherlands employees.

A spokesperson for Imtech UK and Ireland said: “Yesterday the administrators of Royal Imtech NV announced that a further procedural step has been taken in Holland with the Dutch holding company being placed into bankruptcy and trustees appointed”.

They said that they have every confidence that an agreement can be reached between the banks and a buyer in the very near future.

The company’s stock has collapsed from over 200 euros per share since a major accounting scandal hit its German and Polish operations in 2013.

The administrators are looking to sell-off the Traffic and Infrastructure unit, as well as Imtech Belgium, Imtech Spain, and Imtech UK/Ireland.

On Thursday morning, the financial sector regulator AFM requested stock exchange group Euronext to suspend trading in Imtech shares. “Filing for suspension of payments may optimise the chances that substantial parts of the Imtech Group could continue, in the interest of all stakeholders and specifically our employees”.