Pride International Says Seadrill Assets Are a Good Fit for Consolidation

Pride International Inc., the Houston-based oil and gas driller, said Seadrill Ltd.’s assets would be a good fit for the company and that it’s open to consolidation.

“Given our strategy for high-spec rigs, there are certain companies that, if we were to do something, would make more sense than others,” Pride Vice President Kevin Robert said today in an interview in Oslo. “Certainly Seadrill has those kinds of assets.”

Seadrill has “been an investor in our stock for a long time,” he said. “I think there’s frequent conversation, but so far nothing’s happened, so it’s anybody’s guess.”

Bermuda-based Seadrill won’t rush to increase its shareholding of about 10 percent in Pride because it would risk triggering a so-called poison-pill provision, according to Chief Executive Officer Alf Thorkildsen.

“I think it is a good fit, but it’s all about a friendly transaction, about the right economics,” Thorkildsen told Bloomberg in an interview yesterday. “I think there are other transactions that are much more easy to do and that we will look at before that.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Marianne Stigset at mstigset@bloomberg.net; Jack Jordan in London jjordan22@bloomberg.net.

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