Reuters: Mergers News: UPDATE 1-Transocean eyes up to $1 bln in rig sales in 2012

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UPDATE 1-Transocean eyes up to $1 bln in rig sales in 2012 Mar 26th 2012, 17:12 NEW ORLEANS, March 26 | Mon Mar 26, 2012 1:12pm EDT NEW ORLEANS, March 26 (Reuters) - Transocean Ltd , owner of the world's largest offshore drilling fleet, expects to sell older rigs this year worth between $500 million and $1 billion as it steps up its effort to upgrade the fleet. "We continue to pursue a broad spectrum of opportunities across the divestiture landscape: single asset transactions, packages of assets, single large-scale transactions," Chief Executive Steven Newman told the Howard Weil Energy Conference in New Orleans. In 2011, Transocean ended up selling five shallow-water jack-up rigs and a swamp barge for a total of $163 million. Since the end of the year, the company has struck deals to sell three more jack-ups with a carrying value of $59 million. A year ago at the Howard Weil conference, Newman signaled his intent to shed its less-capable rigs, and even raised the possibility of a spin-off. Noble Corp has been attempting to execute a similar transaction with its lower-specification rigs, though it indicated last month it was having trouble pulling off a deal. "While we continue to evaluate disposition options, we believe these units should provide a positive contribution to our overall results under current market conditions," Noble said in a statement. "We can provide no assurance as to whether any disposition transaction will occur or what form it may take." Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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