Kirkland Advises Noble on Decision to Merge with Pacific Drilling
Kirkland & Ellis counseled Noble Corp. on its definitive agreement to acquire Pacific Drilling Co. LLC in an all-stock transaction. As part of the transaction, Pacific Drilling’s equity holders will receive 16.6 million shares of Noble, or approximately 24.9 percent of the outstanding shares of Noble at closing. Noble expects to realize annual pre-tax cost synergies of at least $30 million, and additionally, will move to dispose of the Pacific Bora and Pacific Mistral expeditiously. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed in April 2021.
The Kirkland team was led by corporate partners Sean Wheeler, Debbie Yee, Doug Bacon and Cephas Sekhar and associates Camille Walker and Josh Teahen; tax partner David Wheat; and executive compensation partners Rob Fowler and Stephanie Jeane.
