PACD - Noble Corp. to buy Pacific Drilling in all-stock deal

Noble Corp. (NE) agrees to acquire Pacific Drilling (PACD) in an all-stock transaction that combines two offshore drillers that recently emerged from bankruptcy.As part of the deal, Pacific Drilling shareholders will receive 16.6M Noble shares, or nearly 25% of its outstanding shares.Noble, which says it expects to realize at least $30M of annual pre-tax cost synergies, also plans to dispose of drillships Pacific Bora and Pacific Mistral.The company says Pacific Drilling's high specification UDW drillships are complementary to its own high specification fleet, and the combined fleet will be one of the youngest and most technologically advanced in the industry.

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Noble Corp. to buy Pacific Drilling in all-stock deal