Officials block Transocean dividend payments
Swiss-based drilling firm Transocean will not be able to pay its shareholders dividends at a reduced face value as it had hoped to.
The commercial register of canton Zug blocked the application citing the numerous lawsuits pending against Transocean in the United States.
Founded in the US, the offshore drilling contractor has been headquartered in Zug since 2008.
In a company statement released on Friday, Transocean said it believed that all prerequisites for the payment plans had been met and that it intended to appeal the commercial register’s decision.
The firm wanted to register the first of four partial par value reductions in the amount of SFr0.86 ($0.82) per issued share – as agreed to by shareholders in May after a proposal made by the board in February.
Transocean is the company that leased the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon rig to BP in the Gulf of Mexico.
The offshore rig sank on April 20 after an explosion. The accident killed 11 people and resulted in the world’s worst maritime oil spill.
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