Transocean Sells Jackup Fleet To Borr Drilling

Source: Oilfield Technology

Transocean Ltd. has announced that it has completed the previously disclosed transaction to sell its jackup fleet to Borr Drilling Limited for a total consideration of approximately US$1.35 billion.

The sale included the company's 10 high-specification jackups and five jackups under construction at Keppel FELS Limited's shipyard in Singapore.

The company received cash of approximately US$320 million associated with the sale. Additionally, the transaction transfers to Borr the company's remaining financial obligations related to the five jackups under construction at Keppel. Transocean is expected to continue operating the three jackups working in Thailand until the current drilling contracts expire and will reflect the associated revenue and expenses in income from continuing operations.

"The sale of our jackup fleet is consistent with our strategic goal of remaining the industry's undisputed leader in the ultra-deepwater and harsh environment markets, where our high quality assets, unmatched operational experience and trusted customer relationships provide us with a clear competitive advantage," said Jeremy Thigpen, President and Chief Executive Officer.

"Further," added Mark Mey, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, "this transaction is consistent with our goal of enhancing liquidity to provide greater strategic optionality. We have taken an impairment of approximately US$1.6 billion in relation to the sale of the jackup fleet to Borr, but continue to remain comfortably within our debt to tangible capitalization ratio in our revolving credit facility."