Nobu flogs bonds

Nobu Su-controlled Vantage Drilling Co is flogging $135m of bonds to build a rig as the Taiwanese shipowner seeks approval from fellow shareholders to be issued a large chunk of shares in the company.

A subsidiary of the Texas-based company is seeking the funds to build the high-spec rig Topaz Driller.

Drillship owner Vantage Drilling is 42.3% controlled by Taiwanese shipowner Hsin-chi Su, who is better known as Nobu Su or Noboyushi Morimoto than under the Chinese version of his name. Vantage chairman and chief executive officer Paul Bragg plus other members of management and directors hold smaller stakes that bring the insider holding to just over 50%.

However, Su's stake has grown as a result of several transactions over the past year and is set to reach 46.5%, if a shareholder's meeting next Monday approves the issuance of more shares to companies Su controls in connection with the transactions.

The transactions include a $10m termination fee that Vantage paid in shares to Su's Mandarin Drilling Corp after it failed to exercise an option to purchase a rig from Mandarin; a private placement with Su's F3 Capital worth $8m; and $14m worth of loans from Su that are convertible to equity in Vantage.

The number of shares Su is acquiring requires special shareholder approval under US stock exchange rules.

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