On October 25, 2013, Noble Corporation, a Swiss company, announced that it had received a private letter ruling from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service addressing certain aspects of the tax treatment of its previously announced plan for the spin-off of a newly formed subsidiary whose assets and liabilities would consist of most of the Company's standard specification drilling units and related assets, liabilities and business. A copy of the Company's press release is filed as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated by reference herein.