Seadrill Ltd. - 2011-02-16

North Atlantic Drilling Ltd., a newly created subsidiary of Norwegian driller Seadrill Ltd., has completed the first tranche and closed the order book in the private placement of 250 million new ordinary shares at US$1.70 per share.

The company intends to list its shares on the Oslo Stock Exchange in 2011.

The net proceeds will be used to partially finance the company's acquisition of a fleet of six drilling units designed for use in harsh environments from Seadrill. The parent company has agreed to subscribe 750 million new shares in the company at the same subscription price as part consideration for the assets sold.

Following completion of the deal, North Atlantic Drilling will have issued 1 billion new shares at a subscription price of US$1.70 per share, raising a total amount of new equity of US$1.7 billion.

RS Platou Markets AS, ABG Sundal Collier Norge ASA, Carnegie ASA and Fearnley Fonds ASA were joint lead managers and book-runners for the private placement.