Ship Finance International Limited (NYSE: SFL) (“Ship Finance” or the “Company”), today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a newbuilding jack-up drilling rig currently under construction, the West Prospero (Seadrill 4), from a subsidiary of Seadrill Limited (“Seadrill”).
The purchase price for the drilling rig is agreed to $210 million and expected delivery from Keppel Fels in Singapore will be in July 2007. The Company is currently in discussions with banks for the financing of the rig, and based on discussions to date, we expect to enter into a term loan facility in an amount of approximately $170 million.