US oil driller Noble Corp to buy Diamond Offshore for about $1.6 bln (updated)

Diamond Offshore Drilling

10/06/2024 07:53

(Updates with deal value and details from statement)
       June 10 (Reuters) - U.S. offshore drilling contractor
Noble Corp  NE.N  will acquire smaller rival Diamond Offshore
Drilling  DO.N  in a $1.59 billion cash-and-stock deal, the
companies said on Monday.
    Noble will pay $15.52 per Diamond Offshore share, of which
$5.65 will be in cash and the rest in Noble shares -- an offer
that the boards of both companies have approved, they said.
    The offer represents an 11.4% premium to the closing price
of Diamond Offshore's stock on Friday.
    Noble said it would fund the cash portion of the deal
through a new secured $600 million committed bridge financing
facility.
    It expects the deal to immediately add to its free cash flow
per share and estimates annual pre-tax cost synergies of $100
million, 75% of which it expects to come within one year of the
deal closing.
    Nobel's board also approved a 25% increase in its quarterly
dividend to 50 cents per share.

 (Reporting by Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita
Bhattacharjee and Savio D'Souza)
 ((GursimranKaur.Mehar@thomsonreuters.com;))