Explanatory Note
This combined filing on Form 8-K is separately filed by Noble Corporation, an exempted company incorporated in the Cayman Islands with limited liability (“Noble”), and Noble Finance Company, an exempted company incorporated in the Cayman Islands with limited liability (“Finco”) and a wholly owned subsidiary of Noble. Information in this filing relating to Finco is filed by Noble and separately by Finco on its own behalf. Finco makes no representation as to information relating to Noble (except as it may relate to Finco) or any other affiliate or subsidiary of Noble. This report should be read in its entirety as it pertains to each of Noble and Finco.
As previously disclosed, on November 10, 2021, Noble entered into a Business Combination Agreement (as amended from time to time, the “Business Combination Agreement”) with Noble Finco Limited, a private limited company formed under the laws of England and Wales and an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Noble (“Topco”), Noble Newco Sub Limited, a Cayman Islands exempted company and a direct, wholly owned subsidiary of Topco (“Merger Sub”), and The Drilling Company of 1972 A/S, a Danish public limited liability company (“Maersk Drilling”).
Update Regarding Litigation Related to the Merger
As previously disclosed, on November 10, 2021, Noble entered into the Business Combination Agreement, pursuant to which, among other things, (i) Noble will merge with and into Merger Sub (the “Merger”), with Merger Sub surviving the Merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of Topco, and (ii) (x) Topco will make a voluntary tender exchange offer to Maersk Drilling’s shareholders (the “Offer” and, together with the Merger and the other transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement, the “Business Combination”) and (y) upon the consummation of the Offer, if more than 90% of the issued and outstanding Maersk Drilling shares are acquired by Topco, Topco will redeem any Maersk Drilling shares not exchanged in the Offer by Topco for class A ordinary shares, par value $0.00001 per share, of Topco (the “Topco Shares”) or cash under Danish law.
Litigation related to the Business Combination
Four complaints have been filed with respect to the Merger as of April 27, 2022, all in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The complaints are captioned as follows: Phuong Le v. Noble Corporation, Robert W. Eifler, Patrick J. Bartels, Jr., Alan J. Hirshberg, Ann Pickard, Charles Sledge, Melanie M. Trent, Paul Aronzon, Noble Finco Limited, Noble Newco Sub Limited and The Drilling Company of 1972 A/S, No. 1:22-cv-00351 (S.D.N.Y) (“Le”); Ricardo Marini v. Noble Corporation, Charles M. Sledge, Paul Aronzon, Patrick J. Bartels Jr., Robert W. Eifler, Alan J. Hirshberg, Anne D. Pickard, and Melanie M. Trent, No. 1:22-cv-00442 (S.D.N.Y.) (“Marini”); David Elliot v. Noble Corporation, Charles M. Sledge, Paul Aronzon, Patrick J. Bartels Jr., Robert W. Eifler, Alan J. Hirshberg, Ann D. Pickard, and Melanie M. Trent, No. 1:22-cv-03230 (S.D.N.Y) (“Elliot”); and O’Neill v. Noble Corporation, Robert W. Eifler, Paul Aronzon, Patrick J. Bartels, Jr., Alan Hirshberg, Ann D. Pickard, Charles M. Sledge, and Melanie M. Trent, No. 1:22-cv-03432 (S.D.N.Y.) (“O’Neill,” and together with Le, Marini, and Elliot, the “Shareholder Actions”).
The Shareholder Actions were filed by purported Noble shareholders and name Noble and the members of the Noble board of directors as defendants. The Le action also names Topco, Merger Sub and Maersk Drilling as defendants.
The Shareholder Actions generally allege violations of Section 14(a), Rule 14a-9, and Section 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), premised on a purported failure to disclose material information related to Noble’s and Maersk Drilling’s financial projections, the sales process, and the financial analyses of Noble’s and/or Maersk Drilling’s financial advisors. The Shareholder Actions allege, among other things, that the failure to disclose material information prevents Noble shareholders from making an informed decision to approve the Business Combination. The Shareholder Actions seek injunctive relief enjoining the Merger and damages and costs, among other remedies.