Once the darling of the Amsterdam stock exchange, Imtech, one of Europe's largest engineering and technical services providers, was still hoping on Friday to sell two of its major divisions, after being declared bankrupt by a court in Rotterdam.

It is understood that talks are at an advanced stage to sell the company's marine business to Dutch transport conglomerate, Pon Holdings - which distributes Audi, Volkswagen, Porsche, Seat and Skoda cars in the Netherlands - and Parcom Capital, the investment arm of ING Insurance Eurasia.

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 sale of the two divisions would secure the future of some 7,300 jobs, some 1,300 of which are located in the Netherlands.

However, the collapse of Imtech - which has a workforce of more than 22,000 in 35 countries, including Ireland, and annual sales of more than €4 billion - is one of the biggest blows to the Dutch business sector in the seven years since the start of the economic crisis.

The 150-year-old firm, famous for being first to install electric lighting in Dutch buildings in the 19th century, saw its stock trading at a high of €200 a share in 2013 before its German and Polish divisions were hit by allegations of accounting fraud.

The row saw the departure of its chief executive and chief financial officer, and led to a debt restructuring regarded as major humiliation for a company that had doubled its turnover through dozens of takeovers to become a leading European player in outsourced building and engineering services.

On Friday, after a torrid week during which the German arm filed for insolvency and the parent company sought protection from creditors before being declared bankrupt, Imtech’s shares were trading at a just 42 cents each - before being suspended on Euronext by the financial regulator.

More of the group may yet be sold. According to the court-appointed administrator, Jeroen Princen, there have been "genuine" early expressions of interest in its traffic and infrastructure division and in parts of its operations in the UK, Spain and Belgium.

However, proceeds from the sales will be used to pay off debt, and there will be no financial benefit either now or in the future for Imtech itself or its shareholders.