Debt

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2023

Debt Disclosure [Abstract]

Debt

Note 6— Debt

Amended and Restated Senior Secured Revolving Credit Agreement

On April 18, 2023, certain subsidiaries of Noble amended and restated the senior secured credit facility, dated February 5, 2021, by entering into an Amended and Restated Senior Secured Revolving Credit Agreement, dated April 18, 2023 (the “2023 Revolving Credit Agreement” and the facility thereunder, the "2023 Revolving Credit Facility"), by and among Noble Finance II, LLC (“Noble Finance II”), Noble International Finance Company (“NIFCO”) and Noble Drilling A/S, as borrowers, the lenders and issuing banks party thereto from time to time and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as administrative agent, collateral agent and security trustee. The 2023 Revolving Credit Facility provides for commitments of $550 million with maturity in 2028. The guarantors under the 2023 Revolving Credit Facility are the same subsidiaries of Noble Finance II that are or will be guarantors of the 2030 Notes (as defined below). As of September 30, 2023, we had no loans outstanding and $5.4 million of letters of credit issued under the 2023 Revolving Credit Agreement.

All obligations of the Borrowers under the 2023 Revolving Credit Agreement, certain cash management obligations, certain letter of credit obligations and certain swap obligations are unconditionally guaranteed, on a joint and several basis, by the Noble Finance II and certain of its direct and indirect subsidiaries (the Guarantors, and together with the Borrowers, the “Credit Parties”), including a guarantee by each Borrower of the obligations of each other Borrower under the 2023 Revolving Credit Agreement. All such obligations, including the guarantees of the 2023 Revolving Credit Facility, are secured by senior priority liens on substantially all assets of, and the equity interests in, each Credit Party, including substantially all rigs owned by subsidiaries of Noble as of the date of the 2023 Revolving Credit Agreement (the “Effective Date”), along with certain other rigs in the future such that collateral rigs shall generate at least 80% of the revenue of all rigs owned by Noble Finance II and its restricted subsidiaries and the ratio of the aggregate rig value of the collateral rigs to the commitments under the 2023 Revolving Credit Facility is at least 5.00 to 1.00, in each case, subject to certain exceptions and limitations described in the 2023 Revolving Credit Agreement.

The loans outstanding under the 2023 Revolving Credit Facility bear interest at a rate per annum equal to the applicable margin plus, at Noble Finance II’s option, either: (i) the Term SOFR Rate (as defined in the 2023 Revolving Credit Agreement) plus 0.10%; or (ii) a base rate, determined as the greatest of (x) the prime loan rate as published in the Wall Street Journal, (y) the NYFRB Rate (as defined in the 2023 Revolving Credit Agreement) plus 1/2 of 1%, and (z) the one-month Term SOFR Rate plus 0.10% plus 1%. The applicable margin is initially 2.75% per annum for Term SOFR Rate loans and 1.75% per annum for base rate loans and will range based on the Consolidated Total Net Leverage Ratio (as defined in the 2023 Revolving Credit Agreement, which allows for certain cash netting depending on the amount of loans and letters of credit outstanding under the 2023 Revolving Credit Facility at the time of calculation), from 2.75% per annum to 3.75% per annum for Term SOFR Rate loans and 1.75% per annum to 2.75% per annum for base rate loans. The Borrowers are required to pay interest on (i) overdue principal at the rate equal to 2.00% per annum in excess of the applicable interest rate under the 2023 Revolving Credit Facility, to the extent lawful, and (ii) overdue installments of interest, if any, without regard to any applicable grace period, at 2% in excess of the interest rate applicable to base rate loans, to the extent lawful.

The Borrowers are required to pay a quarterly commitment fee to each lender under the 2023 Revolving Credit Facility, which accrues at a rate per annum equal to (i) 0.50% on the average daily unused portion of such lender’s commitments under the 2023 Revolving Credit Facility during the period from and including the Effective Date to and including the third anniversary of the Effective Date, (ii) during the period from the third anniversary of the Effective Date to and including the fourth anniversary of the Effective Date, a rate per annum equal to 0.75% and (iii) thereafter, a rate per annum equal to 1.00%. The Borrowers are also required to pay customary letter of credit and fronting fees.

Borrowings under the 2023 Revolving Credit Agreement may be used for working capital and other general corporate purposes. Availability of borrowings under the 2023 Revolving Credit Facility is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, including that, after giving effect to any such borrowings and the application of the proceeds thereof, the aggregate amount of Available Cash (as defined in the 2023 Revolving Credit Agreement) would not exceed $250 million.

Mandatory prepayments and, under certain circumstances, commitment reductions are required under the 2023 Revolving Credit Facility in connection with (i) certain asset sales, asset swaps and events of loss (subject to reinvestment rights if no event of default exists) and (ii) certain debt issuances. Available Cash in excess of $250 million at the end of any month is also required to be applied to prepay loans (without a commitment reduction). The loans under the 2023 Revolving Credit Facility may be voluntarily prepaid, and the commitments thereunder voluntarily terminated or reduced, by the Borrowers at any time without premium or penalty, other than customary breakage costs.

The 2023 Revolving Credit Agreement obligates Noble Finance II and its restricted subsidiaries to comply with the following financial covenants:

•as of the last day of each fiscal quarter, the Interest Coverage Ratio (as defined in the 2023 Revolving Credit Agreement) is not permitted to be less than 2.50 to 1.00; and

•as of the last day of each fiscal quarter, the Consolidated Total Net Leverage Ratio is not permitted to be greater than 3.00 to 1.00.

The 2023 Revolving Credit Agreement contains other affirmative and negative covenants, representations and warranties and events of default that Noble views as customary for a financing of this type. The occurrence of any event of default under the 2023 Credit Agreement would permit all obligations under the 2023 Revolving Credit Facility to be declared due and payable immediately and all commitments thereunder to be terminated.

8.000% Senior Notes due 2030

On April 18, 2023, Noble Finance II, a wholly owned subsidiary of Noble, issued $600 million in aggregate principal amount of its 8.000% Senior Notes due 2030 (the “2030 Notes”). The 2030 Notes were issued pursuant to an indenture, dated April 18, 2023, among Noble Finance II, the subsidiaries of Noble Finance II party thereto (the “Guarantors”), as guarantors, and U.S. Bank Trust Company, National Association, as trustee.

The 2030 Notes are unconditionally guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by the Guarantors and will be unconditionally guaranteed on the same basis by certain of Noble Finance II’s future subsidiaries that guarantee certain indebtedness of Noble Finance II and the Guarantors, including the 2023 Revolving Credit Facility.

The 2030 Notes will mature on April 15, 2030, and interest on the 2030 Notes is payable semi-annually in arrears on each April 15 and October 15, commencing October 15, 2023, to holders of record on the April 1 and October 1 immediately preceding the related interest payment date, at a rate of 8.000% per annum.

At any time prior to April 15, 2026, Noble Finance II may, from time to time, redeem up to 40% of the aggregate principal amount of 2030 Notes at a redemption price of 108% of the principal amount of the 2030 Notes redeemed, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to, but excluding, the redemption date (subject to the right of holders of record on the relevant record date to receive interest due on an interest payment date that is on or prior to the redemption date), in an amount not greater than the net cash proceeds of one or more equity offerings by Noble Finance II, subject to certain requirements. In addition, prior to April 15, 2026, Noble Finance II may redeem the 2030 Notes at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the 2030 Notes redeemed, plus an applicable make-whole premium and accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to, but excluding, the redemption date. At any time on or after April 15, 2026, Noble Finance II may redeem all or part of the 2030 Notes at fixed redemption prices (expressed as percentages of the principal amount) beginning at 104.00% and decreasing thereafter, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to, but excluding, the redemption date.

If a Change of Control Triggering Event (as defined in the indenture governing the 2030 Notes) occurs, each holder of 2030 Notes may require Noble Finance II to repurchase all or any part of that holder’s 2030 Notes for cash at a price equal to 101% of the aggregate principal amount of the 2030 Notes repurchased, plus any accrued and unpaid interest thereon, if any, to, but excluding, the date on which the notes are repurchased (subject to the right of holders of record on the relevant record date to receive interest due on the relevant interest payment date).

The indenture governing the 2030 Notes contain customary covenants and events of default.

The indenture governing the 2030 Notes contains a covenant that requires Noble Finance II to furnish to holders of the 2030 Notes certain financial information relating to Noble Finance II and its restricted subsidiaries. The obligation to furnish such information may be satisfied by providing financial information of Noble along with a description of the differences between such information and the financial information of Noble Finance II and its restricted subsidiaries on a standalone basis. As a result of Noble conducting substantially all of its business through Noble Finance II, the financial position and results of operations for Noble Finance II are the same as the information presented for Noble in all material respects, with the exception of operating income (loss) and gain (loss) on extinguishment of debt. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, Noble Finance II’s operating income (loss) was $14.2 million and $43.2 million higher, respectively, than that of Noble. The operating income (loss) difference is primarily a result of expenses related to corporate legal costs and administration charges attributable to Noble for operations support and stewardship-related services.

Second Lien Notes

On February 5, 2021, pursuant to the Backstop Commitment Agreement, dated October 12, 2020, Noble Cayman and Noble Finance Company (“Finco”) consummated a rights offering of senior secured second lien notes (the “Second Lien Notes”) and associated Noble Cayman Shares at an aggregate subscription price of $200.0 million.

On April 18, 2023, we redeemed the remaining balance of approximately $173.7 million aggregate principal amount of outstanding Second Lien Notes using a portion of the proceeds from the offering of the 2030 Notes, and recognized a loss of approximately $25.7 million.

DNB Credit Facility and New DNB Credit Facility

Upon closing the Business Combination with Maersk Drilling, Noble guaranteed the Term and Revolving Facilities Agreement dated December 6, 2018, by and among Maersk Drilling, the rig owners and material intragroup charterers party thereto and DNB Bank ASA as agent (as amended from time to time, the “DNB Credit Facility”).

On April 18, 2023, we repaid the $347.5 million of outstanding borrowings under the New DNB Credit Facility using a portion of the proceeds from the offering of the 2030 Notes, and recognized a loss of approximately $0.7 million.

DSF Credit Facility

The Company guaranteed the Term Loan Facility Agreement dated December 10, 2018 by and between Maersk Drilling and Danmarks Skibskredit A/S as lender, agent, and security agent (as amended from time to time, the “DSF Credit Facility”) in connection with the Business Combination with Maersk Drilling that closed on October 3, 2022. The DSF Credit Facility was repaid in full on February 23, 2023 using cash on hand.

Fair Value of Debt

Fair value represents the amount at which an instrument could be exchanged in a current transaction between willing parties. The estimated fair value of our debt instruments was based on the quoted market prices for similar issues or on the current rates offered to us for debt of similar remaining maturities (Level 2 measurement). The fair value of each of the Revolving Credit Facility, the New DNB Credit Facility and the DSF Credit Facility approximates its respective carrying amount as its interest rate is variable and reflective of market rates. All remaining fair value disclosures are presented in “Note 10— Fair Value of Financial Instruments.”

The following table presents the carrying value, net of unamortized debt issuance costs and discounts or premiums, and the estimated fair value of our total debt, not including the effect of unamortized debt issuance costs, respectively:

	September 30, 2023				December 31, 2022
	Carrying Value		Estimated Fair Value		Carrying Value		Estimated Fair Value
Senior secured notes
8.000% Senior Notes due April 2030	$	585,791	$	609,006	$	—	$	—
11.000% Senior Notes due February 2028	—		—		173,695		192,353
Credit facility
Amended and Restated Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility matures April 2028	—		—		—		—
Term Loans
New DNB Credit Facility matures December 2025	—		—		349,360		350,000
DSF Credit Facility matures December 2023	—		—		149,715		149,715
Total debt	585,791		609,006		672,770		692,068
Less: Current maturities of long-term debt	—		—		159,715		—
Long-term debt	$	585,791	$	609,006	$	513,055	$	692,068