Noble Corp cut debt to under $400M in Chapter 11, then bought Diamond Offshore for $1.59B

Noble Corporation, a London-rooted offshore drilling contractor dating to 1921, was crushed when the 2020 oil crash slashed rig dayrates just as it carried a heavy debt load from its fleet. It filed Chapter 11 in July 2020 and spent seven months restructuring with noteholder support.

On February 5, 2021 Noble emerged under a new Cayman parent with less than $400 million of debt, roughly $600 million of liquidity, a $675 million revolver and a $1.5 billion contract backlog behind a young, high-spec fleet of 19 rigs averaging seven years old.

Instead of rebuilding alone, Noble used its clean balance sheet to consolidate. In 2022 it combined with Maersk Drilling, nearly doubling the fleet. Then in June 2024 it agreed to buy Diamond Offshore — itself a 2020 bankruptcy alumnus — in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $1.59 billion, paying 0.2316 Noble shares plus $5.65 in cash per Diamond share, an 11.4% premium.

The Diamond deal closed in September 2024 with Diamond holders owning about 14.5% of Noble. The combined company owned and operated 41 rigs — 28 floaters and 13 jackups — with approximately $6.5 billion of backlog, one of the largest fleets in offshore drilling.

Emerged with under $400M of debt and ~$600M liquidity, then merged with Maersk Drilling and bought Diamond Offshore in a $1.59B deal for a 41-rig, $6.5B-backlog fleet.

The restructuring converted debt to equity, cutting borrowings to under $400 million against $600 million of liquidity.

Noble kept its young, high-specification fleet intact, preserving the rigs customers actually wanted to charter.

It used equity as currency, merging with Maersk Drilling and paying mostly stock for Diamond Offshore.

Consolidation gave it pricing power and a $6.5 billion backlog in a market short of modern rigs.

A clean balance sheet is a weapon: emerge from Chapter 11 with cash and little debt, and you can buy the distressed rivals who did not.

Noble closed the Diamond Offshore acquisition in September 2024 and took a Diamond director onto its board. The company, based in Sugar Land, Texas, trades on the NYSE under NE and stands as one of the world's largest offshore drillers — three Chapter 11 alumni rolled into one profitable fleet operator.