Leading contract drilling company, Noble Corporation (NE) declared that the spin-off of Paragon Offshore plc, its fully owned affiliate, has finally reached completion. Regular-way trading of the ordinary shares of Paragon Offshore – which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol PGN − started yesterday.
The holders of Noble Corporation’s ordinary shares got 84,753,393 Paragon Offshore ordinary shares on a pro-rata distribution basis. This was equivalent to one ordinary share of Paragon Offshore for every three ordinary shares of Noble Corporation held by shareholders of the latter as of Jul 23, 2014, the record date of distribution.
The investors were not entitled to any fractional Paragon Offshore share. However, they got the cash value of the fractional share they possessed in the distribution, which took place on Aug 1.
Paragon Offshore now possess the majority of standard specification drilling operations of Noble Corporation. Moreover, Paragon Offshore is expected to operate the Hibernia platform. Noble Corporation, on the other hand, will go on operating its high-specification businesses.
U.K.-based Noble Corporation is a provider of diversified services for the oil and gas industry. With a fleet of 77 offshore drilling rigs, the company operates contract drilling services.
Noble Corporation currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), implying that it is expected to underperform the broader U.S. equity market over the next one to three months.
However, one can consider better-ranked players in the energy sector like Callon Petroleum Co. (CPE), Midstates Petroleum Company Inc. (MPO) and VOC Energy Trust (VOC). All these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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