Please note this call is being recorded, and we are standing by should you need any assistance. It is now my pleasure to turn the meeting over to David Kennington, Vice President and Treasurer at Transocean.
Thank you, Brittany, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to our conference call to discuss today's exciting combination of Transocean and Valaris. Leading today's call will be Transocean President and CEO, Keelan Adamson, and Valaris President and CEO, Anton Dibowitz. In addition to the information contained in our press release, the 8- K filed this morning, and the remarks that we shared on this call, we'd like to direct you to the investor presentation available on both companies' websites that contains more details of the transaction. Following our prepared comments, we will take your questions. Please limit your inquiries to one question and one follow-up, as this will allow us to hear from more participants. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that today's call will include forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially.
Please refer to our news release and SEC filings for more information. With that, I'll hand the call over to Transocean CEO, Keelan Adamson.
Good morning, and thanks, everyone, for dialing in. I'm joined this morning by Valaris CEO, Anton Dibowitz, and other members of our management teams. We look forward to taking your questions following prepared remarks. Here's a quick snapshot of what we will cover today. First is deal rationale. This transformational combination creates significant value for shareholders and customers. Together, we will be a much stronger company as we advance our strategic priorities. Next, Anton will discuss how Valaris quality rig portfolio complements ours and the flexibility the combined company will provide our customers. And lastly, I'll conclude with an overview of expected transaction synergies and how they strengthen our ongoing cost reduction efforts. So let's get started. We believe that the combination of Transocean and Valaris will have significant benefits for shareholders and customers. It's also very well-timed.
We agree with the broadly held view that we are at the beginning of a multi-year upcycle in offshore drilling. Our best-in-class fleet, people, and customer service will clearly differentiate us from our peers. Customers will benefit from an enhanced offering of high-specification drill ships and semi-submersibles, as well as a modern jackup fleet. Our harsh environment rig portfolio is expanded, and the ARO JV will allow us to reestablish a valued relationship with Saudi Aramco. Our reach will be extended across new and attractive geographies. Our combined people, processes, and assets will enable our customers to achieve better project delivery and economics. Importantly, we see this as a highly strategic and well-timed acquisition that will deliver substantial value as we head into what we believe is a multi-year cycle, upcycle in offshore drilling.
The implied premium in the transaction is about 10%-20% over a 60- 90-day period. We have identified deal-related cost synergies of more than $200 million in this all-stock transaction. Together, we will be a leaner, more profitable enterprise. Note that these savings are in addition to Transocean's ongoing cost reduction efforts. For the past century, Transocean has led the drilling industry into new frontiers, expanding operating capabilities in the deepest waters and harshest environments. We will continue to deploy innovation and leading-edge technology to make our business even safer, more reliable, and focused on exceeding customer expectations. The transaction enhances our role as an industry pacesetter, supporting customers in their mission to efficiently develop resources around the world. I've consistently emphasized our strategic priorities and our commitment to advance these with urgency and agility in all that we do.
We believe that today's transaction does just that. It checks all the boxes. It optimizes the value of differentiated assets, generates industry-leading cash flow, and creates a strong, full-cycle capital structure. Transocean is a premier offshore operator. Our uptime performance last year was just shy of 98%, and more importantly, we have had 0 operational integrity events or lost time incidents. We pride ourselves on delivering high-performing, disciplined, and predictable service to our customers and look forward to expanding that experience across a broader fleet. As you know, one of our top priorities has been strengthening our financial foundation. We know that our debt level negatively impacts our equity value. This transaction addresses that, and our combined asset portfolio will be capable of generating significant cash to accelerate debt reduction.
With a pro forma backlog of more than $10 billion, we have clear visibility on our future cash flow, and we expect that our leverage ratio will drop to about 1.5x within 24 months of closing. We also expect our liquidity to improve and our cost of capital to decline. This transaction puts us in a great position for the future. Global oil demand is expected to increase, and in the context of declining production, the upstream industry is already moving to develop new fields and increase investment in offshore exploration. Forecasts call for a 150% increase in deepwater project sanctioning by the year-end, 2027. Our combined fleet will be clearly differentiated to meet this demand. We will offer the most technologically advanced floater fleet in the business, directed by experienced and proven personnel.
For harsh environment work, we maintain seven highly capable semi-submersibles, and for deepwater, the pro forma company will include 24 seventh gen drillships and two eighth gen drillships. We will also operate a modern jackup fleet, 31 strong, 11 of which are designed for harsh environments. These assets provide a strategic presence in key shallow water geographies. We are excited to add jackups at this point in the cycle and expect to generate incremental cash flow as a result. This combination aligns all with all of Transocean's strategic priorities, while creating significant customer benefits and a pathway to a higher equity value for shareholders of both companies. Before I hand it over to Anton, let me thank all the employees that worked hard to get this deal done, but more importantly, for the dedication and commitment behind building two great companies.
We are excited to welcome the Valaris team, and we will be stronger together on the road ahead. I'll turn it over to Anton to provide some thoughts. Anton?
Thanks, Keelan, and good morning, all. I share Keelan's excitement for this transaction, which offers customers the most diverse fleet of premier drilling assets in the world. Together, we will have an optimized global footprint, a diversified fleet of high-quality assets, and a strong financial profile to support shareholder value creation. After careful consideration, with the assistance of financial and legal advisors, our board determined that this transaction represents the best path for the company and maximizes value for our shareholders. We are excited to reach an agreement that delivers meaningful value for Valaris shareholders, who will benefit from their share of the synergies and have the opportunity to participate in the compelling and significant future upside potential of the combined company. Like Transocean, our culture is aligned around safety and customer service. Together, we join two great cultures and create the best fleet in the business, bar none.
Keelan and his team are incredibly capable operators with a strong track record of value creation. Our confidence in the future of the combined company is underpinned by our aligned values and shared operating vision. I would like to thank our incredible employees for their safe and hard work every day, as well as our customers around the world. I'm excited about the transaction and committed to ensuring the combined company is set up for success in this next chapter. I'll turn the call back to Keelan.
Thanks, Anton. Let me quickly hit the synergies before summarizing the key takeaways of this transaction. Transocean has been on a mission to safely lower costs. This is good for shareholders, and it's good for our customers. Prior to today's announcement, we had already reduced our cost structure by about $100 million and are on track to deliver another $150 million in savings in 2026. With Valaris, we've identified more than $200 million in annual deal-related synergies. When capitalized, this is expected to add more than $1.5 billion of value, equal to roughly 15% of our combined market cap. In closing, the merits of this transaction are clear. The transaction benefits customers and shareholders by creating a leading company well-positioned for the upcycle in the offshore drilling business.
Following close, the transaction will be accretive to free cash flow and earnings on a per-share basis. It complements our ongoing cost-saving initiatives, and it establishes a significant backlog at $10 billion, with attendant cash flow visibility to accelerate our debt reduction and strengthen our capital structure. We are focused on closing this transaction in the second half of 2026 and will immediately go to work to add value. This concludes our prepared remarks. We look forward to your questions. David?
Okay, thank you, Keelan. We'll now open up the conference line for questions.
Thank you. If you'd like to ask a question, press star one on your keypad. To leave the queue at any time, press star two. Once again, that's star one to ask a question. Our first question comes from Eddie Kim with Barclays. Please go ahead. Your line is now open.
Hi, good morning. Keelan and Anton, congratulations on this deal. I think a lot of people have been waiting for one final large M&A in the offshore drilling space, but I don't think Transocean acquiring Valaris was really on many people's radar. First, could you provide some background on how the transaction came together? And Keelan, specifically for you, Transocean became a pure-play deepwater driller when you sold your jackup fleet way back in 2017. Now you're acquiring a large fleet of jackups. Is now the right time to get back into the shallow water drilling market, or is there maybe a thought to potentially part ways with that part of the fleet sometime in the future? Any thoughts there would be great.
Eddie, wasn't expecting that question at all. Thanks, thanks very much. Yeah, we're, I think trying to consolidate in this business has been difficult for a while, and we've been watching, you know, our customers manage to achieve that and some parts of the supply chain as well. And so this was a great opportunity to put the right the right transaction at the right time with the right companies together. So we're really excited about the opportunity that's ahead of us here and the potential of the combination. I would say to you that the fleets of Valaris complement our fleet greatly. We're building a driller that is able to address any requirements in all water depths across the world, and we're really excited about that.
We're building some scale. We're being able to position ourselves for this upcoming upcycle, where the CapEx spend is going to increase across all sectors. And I really think the opportunity that's provided by the jackup fleet allows us to add more incremental cash to our business. So for us, it's, it's all about, it's all about ensuring that we can build a high-quality asset base, that we can deliver outstanding performance to our customers, generate industry-leading cash flow, and delever our balance sheet.
Got it. Great. Thanks. Thanks for that color. My follow-up is just on the regulatory environment as it relates to M&A. Is there any region where you'd anticipate some challenges in getting the deal over the finish line? Your primary kind of region of overlap is in Brazil, but even that doesn't look too bad in the context of how many rigs are drilling in the country right now. Just any thoughts on regulatory environment would be great.
Eddie, we've obviously done a comprehensive review of any potential regulatory issues, and we're very confident that there are none that are presented with this transaction.
Understood. Great to hear. Congrats on the deal again. Thanks. I'll turn it back.
Thanks, Eddie.
Thank you. We'll move to Scott Gruber with Citi. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Yes, good morning. I'll echo the congrats on the deal to both teams. I have a question on the targeted leverage ratio and, you know, comfort in returning cash to shareholders. You mentioned a targeted ratio of about 1.5x within 24 months. Is that the ratio where you would feel comfortable to begin returning cash to shareholders? And how do you think about the right leverage ratio longer term?
Yeah, thanks for the question. I think we've been pretty consistent in our message with respect to our strategic priorities, which is to deleverage our capital structure, our balance sheet, as fast as we can. That will continue to be our main priority, especially with this transaction. This transaction obviously provides a huge opportunity for us to accelerate that process. Once we get to the right levels, we'll evaluate every option that's available to us at that time.
Great. That was it for me. Thank you, and congrats again.
Thank you.
Thank you. We'll move to Doug Becker with Capital One. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Thank you. Sticking with the deleveraging theme, what are the key assumptions beyond executing on the $10 billion of pro forma backlog to get to about 1.5x net leverage, as the target is?
I think when you look at our contract coverage across our combined fleets, we have a lot of that contract coverage in place to deliver that cash flow to generate us to deliver us to a 1.5x . So we're very comfortable with that coverage that's gonna generate that cash flow.
So no heroic assumptions on recontracting. So encouraging. And then on the synergies, I really liked how you framed the present values, about 15% of the pro forma market cap. What are the costs associated with realizing those savings? And just any color on how much is gonna be OpEx versus CapEx.
Hey, Doug, this is Thad. I mean, we haven't, we don't anticipate that it's gonna be a significant cost associated with achieving the savings, aside from the usual sort of restructuring element that you'd see. You know, at some point in the not-too-distant future, as we move down the path, we'll start thinking about that and communicate those sorts of things. We haven't yet provided any specific information on the split. Most of the cost savings will be realized from operational efficiencies, redundancies, things of that nature, and I think that that's sort of sufficient for the level of detail right now.
Got it. Thank you, and congratulations.
Thanks.
Thank you. We'll move to Fredrik Stene with Clarksons Securities. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Thank you, and Anton and respective teams, congratulations on the transaction, major one. Also happy to see that my thesis from December 2023 suddenly came to fruition, although a bit later than I had expected. Anyways, I wanted to touch upon fleet rationalization, now that you're becoming the, you know, undisputed largest player here, maybe focusing on the ultra-deepwater side. I think you'll w hen you merge, you'll end up having control of all stacked 7G assets, as far as I'm concerned, which leads me to kind of ask, in terms of the rest of your floaters, there'll be a mix of seven, eight gens, seven gens, six gens, and also some semis in between. Have you identified any assets among your, quote, current warm fleet that would potentially be, you know, taken out in favor of those stacked 7Gs or any other type of floater fleet rationalization beyond that?
Yeah, thanks, Fredrik. I would say, in answer to that question, we've already rationalized as Transocean. We have gone through a significant process in removing assets that, quite frankly, don't meet the requirements of today's demand and capabilities over the last several years. I think we're over 65-69 rigs that we've divested over the last while. So when we look at this, we obviously believe that these assets are going to meet a upcycle demand. And so at this present moment in time, no, we are always continuing to reevaluate our fleet, decide what is the best composition that we need to address the growing demand, and we'll continue to do so.
Perfect. Thank you. And just one, I guess, this goes to Thad on shareholder returns. While the deleveraging is the priority currently, pro forma this exercise, what would be, you know, the strict limitations on when you can return cash to shareholders? I guess it's, you know, 3.5x under your current structure. Anything else to consider just as we, you know, think about how cash generated in 2026 or not necessarily 2026 and 2027, but 2028 and beyond is going to be used.
Yeah. So I'd suggest that that's the current limitation, and certainly as we progress this, you know, planning for this transaction closing later this year, we'll also be progressing any sort of capital restructuring that we may do. So while that is a threshold that exists currently, it could be very different given the size and scope and heft that this additional fleet brings to the picture. So, you know, generally speaking, I would suggest that we would be in a position to start discussing the potential to return capital to shareholders, you know, after the transaction closes, keeping in mind, of course, that the key priority here is deleveraging.
This is a cyclical industry, capital intensive, and, you know, even at a debt metric of 3.5x , there's still an awful lot of gross debt that needs to be addressed.
All right. That's very helpful. Then I congratulate you all again, and thank you for taking my questions.
Thank you.
Thank you. We'll move to Greg Lewis with BTIG. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Yes. Hey, thank you, and good morning, and, hey, congrats on the deal to both sides. I know this was a long time coming. You know, Thad, just since you mentioned, you know, the goal of deleveraging, you know, I guess aggressively, you know, obviously, a quick way to do that is to sell rigs. You know, I don't know how much appetite there is on the floater side. We don't see a lot of transactions, but on the jackup side, there is. Could we, or should we be, and I believe Valaris has been selling off anyway, and I guess maybe, Anton, you can talk to this also. Are we in a holding pattern until this transaction closes, or should we be.
I guess, well, I guess this is more of a question for Anton. Could we see Valaris continue to accelerate its sell-off out of the jackups, sell off some of its non-core jackups?
Look, I think I'm gonna take that question.
Great.
I think I've answered that one before on the call. We believe in this fleet. We are excited about the combination that this company is going to be, the potential of this combination. We appreciate that the CapEx that's going to be required for upstream as we move forward to meet the demand for oil and gas hydrocarbons is gonna cover all those bases, and this combination is all about being able to be positioned for that opportunity. So we will continue to operate the jackups and are excited to do so.
Okay, great. And then, you know, I guess, Anton, I know that, you know, Valaris was looking at selling or buying, as is all the companies over the last couple of years. I guess what I would just say is, at this point in the cycle, what just gives you the comfort in taking rig stock? You know, what are you seeing, and what is kind of your expectations over the next kinda, you know, one to two years, and how you see the market progressing that made you willing to take stock as opposed to stock and cash at this point?
Look, I think I'll largely reiterate what Keelan just said. A part of the strength of this combination is our ability to complement what are two high-specification floater fleets with world-class jackup expertise that we bring to the combination. Jackups are a strong cash flow contributing segment in our business, and it will be a strong cash flow generating part of the combined entity. Part of, you know, Keelan, when he opened the remarks at the beginning, said, "Stronger together," and I think that epitomizes what we're trying to achieve here, and will achieve with this combined company. When you put these world-class fleets together, these world-class cultures together, you know, and generate significant synergies as a result of the transaction.
Super helpful. Thank you very much, and congrats on the transaction.
Thank you. We'll move to Keith Beckman with Pickering Energy Partners. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Hey, thanks for taking my question. And, I just had kind of a follow-up, maybe a little bit on, around the free fleet rationalization. I know the DPS-1 and the MS-1, I believe, rolled off late this past year, and I believe you're sitting in warm stack now. Do you have sort of an outlook around those rigs, or does it potentially make more sense to maybe scrap one of those or try to, or sell them? Any, any color around that? Thank you.
I think I will pass that one to Anton since it's the rigs are part of his lead.
Oh, DPS-1 and MS-1 have had a great track record in Australia. You know, yes, a part of financial discipline is managing costs on rigs if they don't have near-term future contracts. But we continue to market those rigs worldwide, and we'll just have to see how that plays out.
Very helpful, thanks for taking my question.
Once again, if you would like to ask a question, please press star and one on your telephone keypad. We will pause for a moment to allow additional questions to queue. And once again, that is star and one if you would like to ask a question. And we'll take our next question from Dalton Willett with Charmos Capital Partners. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Hey, guys, thanks for taking my call. Just a quick question on the Jackup fleet. Do you guys see that as something you will plan to operate over the long term, or is there a chance to accelerate some of the deleveraging by maybe looking to divest of those assets longer term or in the medium term? Thank you.
Yeah, I think it's in line with some other questions we've had. We fully intend to continue operating the Jackup fleet. It generates good, strong cash flow, and the opportunities for that part of the fleet, in the backdrop of a growing demand and an increasing CapEx that's going to the upstream, looks like a very favorable opportunity.
Thank you.
Thank you. We have no further questions in the queue. I'll turn the program back over to our presenters for closing remarks.
Okay, thanks. We'd like to thank everyone for joining our call today, and we invite you to follow up with both companies' investor relations contacts for any additional inquiries. We look forward to speaking with you again in a couple of weeks at our earnings call. With that, we'll end our call.
Thank you. This brings us to the end of today's meeting. We appreciate your time and participation. You may now disconnect.