Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is advising DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, as selling shareholder of FDR Holdings Limited (Frontier), in connection with the acquisition of Frontier by Noble Corporation in a cash transaction which values the enterprise at $2.16 billion. The transaction is expected to close by the end of July 2010.

DLJ Merchant Banking Partners is the private equity investment arm of Credit Suisse, with a 25-year history of leading leveraged buyout and related transactions in the middle market. Based in Houston, Texas, Frontier is an independent drilling company that operates and manages offshore drilling rigs and floating production vessels. Noble is a leading offshore drilling contractor for the oil and gas industry, which performs, through its subsidiaries, contract drilling services with a fleet of 62 offshore drilling units located worldwide, including in the Middle East, India, the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, the Mediterranean, the North Sea, Brazil and West Africa.

The Davis Polk corporate team includes partner Nancy L. Sanborn and associate Robert A. Rizzo. The tax team includes partner Neil Barr and associate Joshua Ruland. All members of the Davis Polk team are based in the New York office.