SUGAR LAND, Texas, Dec. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Noble Corporation
(NYSE: NE) (the "Company") announced today that it has completed the purchase
of 21,095,600 Class A shares and 2,501,374 Class B shares of Smedvig ASA for
an aggregate purchase price of NOK 4,594,326,100. The Company previously
reported that it had entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire such
shares.
The Company funded the aggregate purchase price for the Class A shares and
Class B shares of Smedvig ASA by means of a short-term US$600,000,000 credit
agreement dated December 22, 2005 with Goldman Sachs Credit Partners L.P. and
a borrowing under the Company's existing bank credit agreement.
Noble Corporation is a leading provider of diversified services for the
oil and gas industry. Contract drilling services are performed with the
Company's premium fleet of 62 mobile offshore drilling units located in key
markets worldwide. This fleet consists of 13 semisubmersibles, three
dynamically positioned drillships, 43 jackups and three submersibles. The
fleet count includes two new F&G JU-2000E enhanced premium jackups, with
scheduled delivery of the first unit in the third quarter of 2007 and the
second unit in the first quarter of 2008. As previously announced, these
units have been contracted. Approximately 80 percent of the fleet is
currently deployed in international markets, principally including the Middle
East, Mexico, the North Sea, Brazil, West Africa, India, and the Mediterranean
Sea. The Company provides technologically advanced drilling-related products
and services designed to create value for our customers. The Company also
provides labor contract drilling services, well site and project management
services, and engineering services. The Company's ordinary shares are traded
on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "NE".
This news release may contain "forward-looking statements" about the
business, financial performance and prospects of the Company. Statements
about the Company's or management's plans, intentions, expectations, beliefs,
estimates, predictions, or similar expressions for the future are forward-
looking statements. No assurance can be given that the outcomes of these
forward-looking statements will be realized, and actual results could differ
materially from those expressed as a result of various factors. A discussion
of these factors, including risks and uncertainties, is set forth from time to
time in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission.
No tender offer has commenced, and the Company reserves the right to
pursue all options available to it. This press release is not a
recommendation, an offer to purchase or a solicitation of an offer to sell
securities of Smedvig ASA. If the Company should commence a tender offer, the
Company would file a tender offer statement and related materials with the
United States Securities and Exchange Commission and with the Oslo Stock
Exchange. Smedvig ASA security holders should read any such materials
carefully because they would contain important information with respect to any
such potential offer. Any such materials would be made available to Smedvig
ASA security holders by the Company at no expense to them. In addition, the
materials (and all other offer documents filed with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission) would be available at no charge on the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission's Website at http://www.sec.gov .
Additional information on Noble Corporation is available via the worldwide
web at http://www.noblecorp.com .
SOURCE Noble Corporation
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Related links:
http://www.noblecorp.com
http://www.sec.gov
CONTACT:
Bruce W. Busmire, Senior Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer of Noble Corporation, +1-281-276-6100
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