Aker Drilling ASA (Ticker: AKD) Proposed voluntary offer
from Transocean

15 August 2011

Reference is made to today's announcement by Transocean Services AS ("Transocean" or the "Offeror"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Transocean Ltd., regarding its intention to make a voluntary cash offer for all outstanding shares in Aker Drilling ASA ("Aker Drilling" or the "Company") at an offer price of NOK 26.50 per share (the "Offer"). Completion of the Offer will be subject only to (i) the number of shares in the Company which, together with any shares in the Company directly or indirectly held by the Offeror, represents more than 2/3 of the total number of shares in the Company on a fully diluted basis, having been validly tendered at the end of the acceptance period, and (ii) the board of directors of the Company does not withdraw or amend its recommendation of the Offer. For further information about the Offer, please refer to today's announcement by Transocean.

The Company has further been informed that Aker Capital AS ("Aker Capital"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Aker ASA ("Aker"), who is the majority holder of the Company with a total shareholding of 122,833,600 shares, representing approximately 41% of the shares in the Company, today has agreed to sell 14,959,742 shares in the Company (representing 5% of the total share capital of the Company) to an affiliate of Transocean Ltd. at a share price of NOK 26.50, and to irrevocably pre-accept the Offer by Transocean for the remaining part of the shares in the Company held by it. For further information about Aker Capital's pre-acceptance, please refer to today's announcement by Aker and Transocean.

Aker Drilling was informed by Transocean of its intention to make the Offer after close of trading Friday 12 August 2011, and has retained Goldman Sachs International as its financial advisor and BA-HR as its legal advisor in connection with the Offer. Following an evaluation of the terms of the Offer and its attractiveness to the Company's shareholders, the board of directors of the Company has unanimously resolved to recommend the Company's shareholders to accept Transocean's Offer. The board's recommendation will be published in connection with the publication of Transocean's Offer document.

Aker Drilling is a fully integrated offshore drilling contractor, owning and operating two of the world's largest, most advanced and most robust 6th generation semisubmersible drilling units of the Aker H-6e design. In addition, the company has two ultra deepwater drillships of the DSME design under construction at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. Ltd. shipyard in South Korea. Aker Drilling is based in Stavanger, Norway, and has approximately 440 employees, of which 400 offshore. Long experience and strong focus on HSE characterise both the management and the operating organisation.

Source: Aker Drilling, press release