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Friday, March 1, 2013

New Transocean CFO brings expertise unlocking value of oil rigs, (NYSE: RIG)

Transocean Ltd has lured away Seadrill Ltd's chief financial officer and investors are eager to find out whether the world's largest offshore rig contractor will borrow some of its rival's tricks to boost shareholder value. Esa Ikaheimonen will speak on Monday on his first quarterly conference call since assuming his new job in November fresh from a successful spin-out out of an initial group of four rigs from Seadrill into a partnership.His appointment last year prompted chatter among analysts that Transocean might seek to emulate Seadrill in setting up a partnership vehicle for some of its own rigs, particularly after the success of Seadrill Partners LLC, which is up 25 percent since the units debuted in October.Transocean, having put much of its Gulf of Mexico spill liability behind it, still faces weak valuation relative to the sector. Experts say a partnership set-up for some of its more lucrative assets could unlock some value by putting a dollar amount on a specific part of the rig fleet.Further fueling such speculation was the stake in Transocean unveiled in January by Carl Icahn, an activist investor whose fondness for master limited partnerships (MLPs) was demonstrated by the January initial public offering of CVR Refining LP .

Transocean Ltd. (Transocean) is an international provider of offshore contract drilling services for oil and gas wells. Shares of RIG fell by 0.29% or $-0.15/share to $52.15. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $39.32 and as high as $59.50. On average, 3528920 shares of RIG exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 3443197.



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