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UK Watchdog Delays Noble/Maersk Drilling Merger Approval

By  |  April 14, 2022

Noble Corp and Maersk Drilling have provided an update on their ongoing merger process.

Approvals for the combination have come through from the competition authorities in Brazil, Norway, and Trinidad & Tobago.

The sole outstanding pre-closing merger control clearances are in Angola and the UK.

While the two companies anticipate clearance this month from the competition authority, in the UK talks continue with the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which is due to publish its phase 1 decision on April 22.

Noble/Maersk expect to be obliged to divest certain jackups currently in the North Sea in order to secure conditional antitrust clearance from the CMA in phase 1, with the transaction then probably completing in mid-2022.

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