Noble / Maersk Drilling

CMA invites comments on merger remedy:

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has opened a consultation on undertakings proposed by Noble Corporation (Noble) and the Drilling Company of 1972 A/S (Maersk Drilling) to address competition concerns over the anticipated merger between Noble and Maersk Drilling.

On 22 April 2022, the CMA announced that it would refer the acquisition for an in-depth investigation unless Noble and Maersk Drilling offered acceptable undertakings to address the CMA's concerns.

To address the CMA's concerns, Noble and Maersk Drilling have offered to undertakings to divest Noble's full fleet of jack-up rigs located in NW Europe (the Noble Hans Deul, Noble Sam Hartley, Noble Sam Turner and Noble Houston Colbert) along with the Noble Lloyd Noble (which was until very recently located in NW Europe under contract before being relocated to Norway). The divestment also includes, inter alia, management and all offshore crew for each of the rigs and Noble's leased office space and storage yard space (if required by the purchaser).

On 9 May 2022, the CMA announced that it would look in detail at these undertakings. The CMA has until 1 September 2022 to consider whether to accept the undertakings, or a modified version of them. As part of this process, the CMA is now consulting publicly on whether the proposals are sufficient to address the CMA's competition concerns.

Before reaching a final decision, the CMA is therefore inviting interested parties to make their views known. The deadline for responses is 5 August 2022.

The consultation on the undertakings and all other information relating to this merger investigation can be found on the case page at https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases.

In the event of media enquiries please contact the CMA's Press Team at [email protected] or call on 020 3738 6460.