MARKET TALK: Transocean (NYSE:RIG) Selling Old Rigs, Ponders Fleet Spinoff

[LEFT]1:37 (Dow Jones) Transocean (NYSE:RIG) continued its purge of aging rigs in 4Q, raising $96M from asset sales, bringing 2011 divestiture proceeds to $440M, executives tell investors. Sales will continue this year, says CEO Steven Newman, who sees “improving” second-hand market for drilling rigs. RIG will continue to sell rigs one at a time, he says, but will consider a splashier deals, such as a fleet spin-off. “We have had discussions over the last several months about packages of assets and we remain interested in a single large-scale transaction, if we can make it work,” Newman says. RIG up 5.4% to $53.47.

  • Ryan Dezember, Dow Jones & Company[/LEFT]