Noble Prize? Noble Corporation Receives IRS Private Letter Ruling Regarding Proposed Spinoff

Though it is not expected to come up for a shareholder vote until Q2 2014, Noble Corporation(NE) is making progress with its plan to spin off its non-deepwater assets.  Noble announced last week that it had received a private letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service relating the the expected tax-free status of the proposed transaction.  Though this is somewhat routine, this is an important step as the tax free status of most spin offs to shareholders is a critical part of their effectiveness at creating value.

Disclosure: The author holds no position in any stock mentioned