DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ:DRYS), a global provider of marine transportation services for drybulk cargoes and offshore contract drilling oil services, announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary Ocean Rig UDW Inc., has closed its offering by way of a private placement of shares of Ocean Rig's common stock with total gross proceeds of $500m. The offering was made to professional investors and eligible counterparties in Norway, to non-United States persons in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and in a concurrent private placement in the United States only to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act.
The net proceeds of the offering are expected to be used to finance the construction costs of the ultra deepwater newbuilding drillships under construction at Samsung, exercise options to build further ultra deepwater drillships and general corporate purposes. Following this transaction DryShips Inc. owns approximately 78% of Ocean Rig UDW Inc. The Shares have not been registered under the Securities Act or the securities laws of any other jurisdiction and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to or for the benefit of U.S. persons unless so registered except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable securities laws in other jurisdictions.