Transocean Says Icahn Acquired 1.56% Stake and Seeks More

Transocean Ltd., the world’s largest offshore rig contractor, said billionaire investor Carl Icahn and his affiliates have acquired a 1.56 percent stake and are seeking to expand that to more than 3 percent.

Icahn notified the company that he’s seeking regulatory approval to potentially acquire shares worth more than $682.1 million, Transocean said in a statement yesterday on its website. The move came 10 days after Transocean said it agreed to pay $1.4 billion in penalties for its role in a 2010 spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the worst such U.S. maritime disaster. Transocean shares lost more than half their value in the months following the spill and were 41 percent below their pre-spill price at the close of Jan. 11.