Seadrill secures three-year contracts for three jack-up rigs in the Middle East, and the company’s shares are once again trading on the Euronext exchange in Oslo. An IPO in New York will follow later this year, the company says.
Photo: PR/Seadrill
Following years of financial woes and a comprehensive restructuring, the shares of Norwegian rig company Seadrill are once again trading on the Euronext exchange in Oslo.
According to a statement by Seadrill, the company’s shares will initially trade on Euronext Expand.
However, Seadrill’s ambition is for its stock to trade on the Oslo Stock Exchange’s main market later this year, as well as the New York Stock Exchange, where the company has previously been listed.
”Our clean balance sheet, industry-leading backlog, and strategic partnerships across markets position Seadrill to create unique value in an offshore drilling industry undergoing transformation,” says Seadrill Chief Executive Simon Johnson in the statement.
At the same time, Seadrill has won contracts for three jack-up rigs worth USD 404m in the Middle East. The contracts on the three rigs cover three years’ work, which is set to begin in the first and second quarters of 2023.
Once the work commences, Seadrill will handle operation of seven vessels, while another three have been chartered out, according to a separate statement.
Seadrill changed its CEO in March following the company’s long ongoing restructuring, which included a period under US bankruptcy protection, Chapter 11. Johnson replaced Stuart Jackson, who had been chief exec since the fall of 2020.
Seadrill’s financial crisis entailed that the company had to give up its New York IPO.
In April 2020, NYSE stated that Seadrill no longer met the criteria for a listing, and on June 1 the same year, the company informed its shareholders of its plans to delist toward the end of that month.
However, Seadrill maintained its listing on the Oslo exchange, and the company’s New York shareholders were able to transfer shares there.
English edit: Jonas Sahl Hollænder
