Noble Corporation to acquire offshore drilling company Pacific Drilling

Noble Corporation, a UK-based offshore drilling contractor, has signed an all-stock deal to acquire Pacific Drilling, a Luxembourg-based ultra-deepwater drilling company.

Under the terms of the transaction, shareholders of Pacific Drilling will be issued 16.6 million shares of Noble Corporation, which will enable them to take a stake of nearly 24.9% in the UK drilling contractor.

Following the acquisition, Noble Corporation will expand its fleet to 24 rigs. Included in these are 11 drillships, a semisubmersible rig, and a dozen jackups.

Besides, the expanded Noble Corporation will have nearly $1.7 billion in pro forma backlog, which will be split across a variety of customers and operational areas.

Noble Corporation said that the combined fleet will be one of the youngest and most technologically advanced fleets in the oil and gas industry.

Commenting on Noble Corporation acquisition of Pacific Drilling, Robert Eifler – Noble Corporation President and CEO, said: “The acquisition of Pacific Drilling will enhance our position in the ultra-deepwater market through the addition of its technologically-advanced ultra-deepwater drillships, which are highly complementary to Noble’s existing fleet.

“By bringing these modern drillships into the Noble fleet, we will be able to better serve the needs of our customers globally and to participate in a wider range of drillship tender activity.”

Robert Eifler further said that the deal will give Noble Corporation a re-entry into West Africa and Mexico apart from consolidating its US Gulf of Mexico footprint.

Noble Corporation expects the Pacific Drilling acquisition to help it achieve annual pre-tax cost synergies of at least $30 million.

The UK-based drilling contractor revealed plans to accelerate the sale of the Pacific Bora and Pacific Mistral drillships, that are currently among the fleet of the latter.

Bernie Wolford – Pacific Drilling CEO, commenting on Noble Corporation acquisition of Pacific Drilling, said: “Bringing together the Pacific Drilling and Noble fleets creates a stronger and more stable combined company with the scale to provide solutions for our clients on a global basis.

“This combination will advance the ongoing recovery in the industry and will allow Pacific Drilling equity holders to fully participate in that recovery. I would like to personally thank the entire Pacific Drilling team for their unwavering commitment to delivering safe, efficient and reliable services to our customers, and we look forward to working with Noble to successfully integrate the two companies.”

Noble Corporation acquisition of Pacific Drilling will be contingent on meeting of customary closing conditions, with closing expected to occur in April 2021.