Transocean Ltd. Files Appeal With Swiss Supreme Court

Transocean Ltd. today announced it has filed an appeal with the Swiss Federal Supreme Court against a December 2010 decision of the Administrative Court of the Canton of Zug. The Administrative Court last December rejected Transocean's appeal of the decree of the Commercial Register of the Canton of Zug to not register the first installment of the approximately $1 billion cash distribution approved by shareholders in May 2010. Without effective registration of the applicable par value reduction, Transocean will not be able to proceed with the payment of the first or any subsequent installment of its cash distribution to shareholders.
Shareholders approved a distribution in the form of a par value reduction in an aggregate amount of 3.44 Swiss francs per issued share, equal to approximately 3.59 U.S. dollars (using an exchange rate of 1.00 U.S. dollar to 0.9577 Swiss francs as of the close of trading on January 21, 2011) to be calculated and paid in four installments. The proposal for the distribution was described in a proxy statement filed April 1, 2010 in connection with the Annual General Meeting on May 14, 2010 and approved by shareholders at the meeting. Under Swiss law, upon satisfaction of all legal requirements, Transocean was required to submit an application to the Zug Commercial Register to register the applicable par value reduction.
Forward-Looking Statements regarding the distribution to shareholders, including timing and amount of distribution, available options, appeal of the rejection of the application to the relevant courts, future payments of the distribution, as well as any other statements that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements that involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. These include but are not limited to compliance with legal requirements, operating hazards and delays, actions by governmental and regulatory authorities (including courts), customers and other third parties, the future price of oil and gas, the actual revenues earned and other factors detailed in the company's most recent Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), which are available free of charge on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated. Additional information regarding the distribution may be found in the company's most recent Form 10-Q, proxy statement and other filings made with the SEC.
Source: Press release