Transocean poised to restart dividends Transocean, the offshore drilling rig operator, plans to pay its first dividend for more than a year, as it responds to pressure from Carl Icahn, the activist investor who took a 5.6 per cent stake in the company in January. The announcement came as Transocean prepared for the second week of the trial over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, in which the company's rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico causing the deaths of 11 men. Transocean, the world's largest offshore drilling contractor by market capitalisation, said late on Sunday that its board had recommended a dividend of $2.24 a share, worth a total of $800m, to be paid in instalments from June 2013 to March 2014. That is less than the $4 a share called for by Mr Icahn, who said in January he would put his demand to a shareholder vote at the annual meeting, set for May 17. It is also less than the $3.16 that Transocean paid over the 12 months to March 2012. It has not paid a dividend since then. The company stopped paying a dividend as credit rating agencies warned that its debt could lose its investment-grade status. Transocean estimated in its fourth-quarter results last week that the Deepwater Horizon disaster would cost it $4bn, including the $1.4bn settlement with the US government over civil claims and criminal charges announced in January. Although it has reached an agreement with the federal government, it is still facing claims from US states on the Gulf of Mexico coast and an estimated 100,000 or more private sector plaintiffs, who are seeking punitive damages from Transocean and other companies involved in the accident. Transocean said it was sticking to its target of cutting its gross debt to $7bn-$9bn, down from $12.5bn at the end of last year. It added that "the level of the proposed dividend establishes a basis for future increases should business conditions warrant."