Noble Corporation Prices Offering of Senior Notes

ZUG, Switzerland, Jan. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Noble Corporation (NYSE: NE) announced today that its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, Noble Holding International Limited ("NHIL"), has priced an offering of $1.1 billion aggregate principal amount of senior notes in three separate tranches, with $300 million of 3.05% senior notes due 2016, $400 million of 4.625% senior notes due 2021, and $400 million of 6.05% senior notes due 2041.  The weighted average coupon of all three tranches is 4.71%. Noble Corporation, a Cayman Islands company ("Noble-Cayman") and a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of Noble, will fully and unconditionally guarantee the notes on a senior unsecured basis.  The estimated net proceeds of approximately $1.09 billion are expected to be used to repay the outstanding balance of Noble-Cayman's revolving credit facility, to repay the Company's portion of outstanding debt under the Bully I and Bully II credit facilities, and for general corporate purposes, including to finance a portion of the Company's 2011 capital program.  Pending the application of funds from the offering, the net proceeds are expected to be invested in U.S. government obligations, bank deposits or other secure, short-term investments.

Barclays Capital Inc., Wells Fargo Securities, LLC and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc. are acting as the book-running managers. HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., Goldman, Sachs & Co., Mitsubishi UFJ Securities (USA), Inc., BNP Paribas Securities Corp., DnB NOR Markets, Inc. and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. are serving as co-managers. Copies of the prospectus supplement and prospectus may be obtained by calling Barclays Capital Inc. toll-free at (888)-603-5847, Wells Fargo Securities, LLC toll-free at (800)-326-5897 or SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc. toll-free at (800)-685-4786.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. Offers of securities will be made only by means of a prospectus supplement and prospectus filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The prospectus and prospectus supplement are part of a shelf registration statement that has become effective under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

Noble-Cayman is a direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of Noble Corporation, a Swiss corporation. Noble-Cayman performs, through its subsidiaries, contract drilling services with a fleet of 73 offshore drilling units (including eight drilling rigs currently under construction), located worldwide, including in the Middle East, India, the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, the Mediterranean, the North Sea, Brazil, West Africa and Asian Pacific. Noble-Cayman also owns and operates a dynamically positioned floating production, storage, offloading vessel.  

NHIL is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Noble-Cayman. NHIL owns, through its subsidiaries, a fleet of 64 mobile offshore drilling units (including 6 rigs currently under construction) located worldwide, including in the Middle East, India, the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, the Mediterranean, the North Sea, Brazil and West Africa.

About Noble Corporation

Noble is the parent of Noble-Cayman and NHIL, and Noble's shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "NE".

SOURCE Noble Corporation