Noble, Maersk announce Board of Directors for combined company

Noble Corp and Maersk Drilling have announced the Board of Directors that will be effective upon the closing of the business combination, which was originally announced on 10 November 2021.

The combined company’s seven-member Board of Directors will be led by Chairman Charles M. (Chuck) Sledge. Nominees for the combined company’s Board members are:

• Charles M. (Chuck) Sledge, Chairman: Mr Sledge has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Noble since early 2021. He currently serves as Chairman of Weatherford International and is a Board member of Talos Energy. He was Chief Financial Officer of Cameron International from 2008 until 2016, when the oilfield services company was acquired by Schlumberger. Prior to this, Mr Sledge held the position of Corporate Controller at Cameron International from 2001 through 2008. He received a BS in Accounting from Louisiana State University.
• Claus V. Hemmingsen: Mr Hemmingsen has served as chairman of the Board of Directors of Maersk Drilling since 2016. He currently serves as the Chairman of DFDS, HusCompagniet and Innargi Holding, and as a Board member of A.P. Møller og Hustru Chastine Mc-Kinney Møllers Fond til Almene Formaal (The A.P. Moller Foundation), A.P. Møller Holding, Den A.P. Møllerske Støttefond, Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskabs Jubilæumsfond, Fonden Mærsk McKinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, Global Maritime Forum Fonden, and Work Wear Group. Mr Hemmingsen is a member of the Danish Committee on Corporate Governance. Until 2019, he was the Vice CEO and a member of the A.P. Møller-Maersk A/S executive board and CEO of A.P. Møller-Maersk’s Energy division. Prior to this, Mr Hemmingsen was CEO of Maersk Drilling from 2004. He has studied management at London Business School and Cornell University and gained an Executive MBA from IMD in 2007.
• Alan J. Hirshberg: Mr Hirshberg has served on the Board of Directors of Noble since early 2021. He is currently a board member of Falcon Minerals Corp and McDermott International and formerly served as a Senior Advisor at Blackstone Management Partners. Between 2010 and 2019, he worked for ConocoPhillips as Executive Vice President, Production, Drilling and Projects and Senior Vice President, Planning and Strategy. Prior to joining ConocoPhillips, Mr Hirshberg worked at Exxon and ExxonMobil for 27 years, serving in various senior leadership positions in upstream research, production operations, major projects, and strategic planning. His last role at ExxonMobil was Vice President of Worldwide Deepwater and Africa Projects. Mr Hirshberg received Bachelor’s and Master of Science degrees in mechanical engineering from Rice University.
• Kristin H. Holth: Ms Holth has served on Maersk Drilling’s Board of Directors since April 2020. She currently serves as a Board member of GasLog Partners, Maersk Tankers, HitecVision, ABP and BI International Advisory Board and as Chair of Equality Check. Ms Holth was Executive Vice President and Global Head of Ocean Industries in DNB Bank – Norway’s largest financial services group. She has held numerous management positions within DNB over the years, including Global Head of Shipping, Offshore & Logistics and General Manager & Head of DNB Americas. Ms Holth holds a Bachelor in economics and business administration from BI Norwegian Business School.
• Alistair Maxwell: Mr Maxwell has served on Maersk Drilling’s Board of Directors since April 2019. He comes from a position as CFO of Signifier Medical Technologies and previously held the position as CFO of GasLog. Prior to that, he worked in the investment banking industry for 29 years, most recently with Goldman Sachs from 2010 to 2016, where he was a partner and Co-Head of the Global Energy Group. Previously, he was with Morgan Stanley, most recently as Managing Director and Head of Energy in the EMEA region, and with Dresdner Kleinwort Benson in roles in the Utilities and M&A Groups. Mr Maxwell studied modern languages (Spanish and Portuguese) at Worcester College, Oxford.
• Ann D. Pickard: Ms Pickard has served on the Board of Directors of Noble since early 2021. She is currently a director of KBR, Woodside Petroleum and the University of Wyoming Foundation. In addition, Ms. Pickard is an active member of Chief Executive Women. She worked for Royal Dutch Shell from 2000 to 2016 and held numerous executive management positions. She joined Shell after an 11-year tenure with Mobil before its merger with Exxon. She has 25 years of international experience as a senior manager in large organizations. Ms Pickard holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, San Diego, and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
• Robert W. Eifler: Mr Eifler, who will serve as the President and CEO of the combined company upon closing the transaction, has served on Noble’s Board of Directors and as President and CEO since May 2020. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President, Commercial of the company from August 2019. Mr Eifler served as Noble’s Senior Vice President, Marketing and Contracts from February 2019 to August 2019 and as the company’s Vice President and General Manager-Marketing and Contracts from July 2017 to February 2019. Before that, he led Noble’s marketing and contracts efforts for the Eastern Hemisphere while based in London. From November 2013 to March 2015, he worked for Hercules Offshore as Director of International Marketing. Mr Eifler received a B.S. in systems and information engineering from the University of Virginia and an Acton MBA in Entrepreneurship.

“I look forward to working with this experienced group of directors upon merger completion,” Mr Sledge said. “The diversity of knowledge and backgrounds will serve the combined company well as the offshore drilling industry begins a new business cycle. Under this board’s governance and Robert’s leadership, I’m confident that the combined company will be the driller of choice for our customers and the equity of choice for investors.”

“I am pleased to accept the nomination as a post-closing Board Member,” Mr Hemmingsen said. “The combination of Maersk Drilling and Noble rests on a strong industry logic, and I remain convinced that the new company will be a unique and unmatched player in the offshore drilling market. I look forward to building on the momentum of both companies, leveraging our shared values, strong focus on enhanced customer experience and commitment to sustainability.”