Noble Corporation Prices Offering of Senior Notes

ZUG, Switzerland, Feb. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Noble Corporation ("Noble") (NYSE: NE) announced today that its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, Noble Holding International Limited ("NHIL"), has priced an offering of $1.2 billion aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured notes in three separate tranches, with $300 million of 2.50% senior notes due 2017, $400 million of 3.95% senior notes due 2022 and $500 million of 5.25% senior notes due 2042. The weighted average coupon of all three tranches is 4.13%. 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 $1.19 billion are expected to be used to repay indebtedness outstanding under Noble-Cayman's revolving credit facilities and for general corporate purposes, including Noble's capital expenditure 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., HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC are acting as the book-running managers.  Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, BNP Paribas Securities Corp., Mitsubishi UFJ Securities (USA), Inc., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., DNB Markets, Inc., Goldman, Sachs & Co., Lloyds Securities Inc. and Standard Chartered Bank are serving as co-managers.  Copies of the prospectus supplement and prospectus may be obtained from Barclays Capital Inc. at c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717 or (888)-603-5847; HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. at 452 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10018 or 1-866-811-8048; SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc. at (800)-685-4786; or Wells Fargo Securities, LLC at 1525 West W.T. Harris Blvd., NC0675, Charlotte, North Carolina 28262, Attn: Capital Markets Client Support or [email protected] or (800) 326-5897.  The documents are also available on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov.

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.

Statements regarding activities or events that Noble believes will or may occur in the future, including statements about the intended use of proceeds or other aspects of the notes offering, as well as any other statements that are not historical facts in this release, are forward-looking statements that involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. These include but are not limited to operating hazards and delays, risks associated with operations outside of the U.S., actions by regulatory authorities, customers and other third parties, legislation and regulations affecting drilling operations, compliance with regulatory requirements, factors affecting the level of activity in the oil and gas industry, supply and demand of drilling rigs, factors affecting the duration of contracts, delays in the construction of newbuilds, the actual amount of downtime, factors that reduce applicable dayrates, violations of anti-corruption laws, hurricanes and other weather conditions, the future price of oil and gas and other factors detailed in Noble's most recent Form 10-K, Form 10-Q's and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated.

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 79 offshore drilling units 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.

NHIL is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Noble-Cayman. NHIL owns, through its subsidiaries, a fleet of 70 mobile offshore drilling units (including five ultra-deepwater rigs and six jackup 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 and West Africa.

SOURCE Noble Corporation

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