HAMILTON, Norway, Jan. 23, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Hemen Holding Ltd., a company indirectly controlled by John Fredriksen, has on 22 January 2006 been allocated 25,000,000 shares in a private placement in SeaDrill at a price per share of NOK 66. Following this transaction, Hemen Holding Ltd. including affiliated companies, owns a total of 124,441,916 shares in SeaDrill, constituting 40.9% of the company's issued share capital.