HAMILTON, Norway, March 6, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- We refer to the press release dated 20 February 2006 where SeaDrill Limited ("SeaDrill") stated its intention to make a mandatory offer for all of the outstanding Class A and Class B shares in Smedvig ASA ("Smedvig") pursuant to the rules of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act (the "Mandatory Offer").
The document setting forth the terms of the Mandatory Offer has now been approved by the Oslo Stock Exchange.
The offer period will commence today, Monday 6 March 2006, and end on Friday 31 March 2006.
Shareholders in Smedvig accepting the Mandatory Offer will receive a consideration of NOK 205 per Class A share and NOK 165 per Class B share, payable in cash.
Settlement will be made in NOK within 7 banking days following the expiry of the offer period, i.e. on 7 April 2006 at the latest. Settlement will be made by way of a transfer of the relevant amount to the accepting shareholder's bank account registered in the VPS for dividend payment purposes.
The offer document will be sent to all existing shareholders in Smedvig residing outside the United States by mail today. The offer document is furthermore available on SeaDrill's home page, address www.seadrill.bm.
SeaDrill will, simultaneously with the launching of the Mandatory Offer, make a tender offer for the shares in Smedvig owned by shareholders residing in the U.S. in accordance with applicable U.S. laws. The terms of the tender offer will be identical to the terms of the Mandatory Offer. The tender offer will include shares of Class A and B in Smedvig and the American depository shares issued in evidence thereof.
The U.S. tender offer is documented in a separate document which will provide instructions on the procedure for tendering shares in Smedvig under this offer.
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