DryShips Announces Closing Of Private Offering Of Senior Unsecured Bonds By Ocean Rig UDW Inc.

News Release DryShips Inc. April 29, 2011

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ATHENS, GREECE – April 28, 2011
- DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) (the “Company” or
“DryShips”), a global provider of marine transportation services
for drybulk and petroleum
cargoes and off-shore contract drilling oil services, announced
the closing of the sale of $500
million aggregate principal amount of 9.5% Senior
Unsecured Bonds Due 2016 (the “Bonds”)
offered by its majority-owned subsidiary Ocean Rig UDW
Inc. (“Ocean Rig”) in a private
placement made to Norwegian professional investors and eligible
counterparties as defined in the
Norwegian Securities Trading Regulation 10-2 to 10-4, to
non-United States persons in offshore
transactions in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act
of 1933, as amended (the
“Securities Act”) and in a concurrent private placement in the
United States only to qualified
institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities
Act.
The proceeds of the offering are expected to be
used to finance Ocean Rig’s newbuilding
drillships program and general corporate purposes.
The Bonds have not been registered under the Securities Act or the
securities laws of any other
jurisdiction and may not be offered or sold in the United States
or to or for the benefit of U.S.
persons unless so registered except pursuant to an exemption from,
or in a transaction not subject
to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and
applicable securities laws in other
jurisdictions.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the
solicitation of an offer to buy the
Bonds, nor shall there be any sale of the Bonds in any
jurisdiction in which such offer,
solicitation or sale is unlawful prior to registration or
qualification under the securities laws of
any such jurisdiction.
In the European Economic Area, with respect to any Member State
that has implemented
Directive 2003/71/EC (together with any applicable implementing
measures in any Member
State, the “Prospectus Directive”) the information in
respect of the Bond offering is only
addressed to and is only directed at qualified investors in that
Member State within the meaning
of the Prospectus Directive.
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