Transocean to acquire Valaris

On 9 February 2026, Transocean Ltd., a Swiss leading international provider of offshore contract drilling services for oil and gas wells (NYSE: RIG) and Valaris Limited, an industry leader in offshore drilling services (NYSE: VAL), announced the signing of a definitive agreement to combine the two companies under which Transocean will acquire Valaris in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately USD $5.8 billion. The shareholding percentages of the combined company, on a fully diluted basis, will be approximately 53% for Transocean and 47% for Valaris. The enterprise value of the pro forma company is approximately USD 17 billion.

Under the terms of the transaction, Valaris shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 15.235 shares of Transocean for each common share of Valaris.

The full announcement can be consulted here.

Lenz & Staehelin advised Valaris on the Swiss law aspects of the transaction, alongside Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (lead counsel) and Conyers Dill & Pearman Limited (on Bermuda law aspects).
The Lenz & Staehelin team consisted in Jacques Iffland (partner, corporate); Floran Ponce (partner, tax), Maximilien de Ridder (senior associate, tax), Caroline Kopp (senior associate, corporate), Alexandra Vraca (associate, corporate), and Kimberly Hundt (associate, tax).