STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Transocean up as Icahn forces dividend payout

Offshore drilling company Transocean (NYSE: RIG - news) rises to the top of the leaderboard of the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index in brisk volume after activist investor Carl Icahn reaches a deal with the company to get it to pay out a dividend.

"He's forcing them into paying out a dividend, which is why the shares are up," says Clairinvest fund manager Ion-Marc Valahu.

Transocean's Swiss-listed shares rise by 3.5 percent to 50.05 Swiss francs in early session trading, outperforming a flat FTSEurofirst 300 index.

Trading volumes in the stock also come in at 75 percent of the stock's average 90-day volume - above those for the FTSEurofirst 300 index where volumes stand at just 12 percent of the index's average 90-day volume.

As part of the deal with Icahn, Transocean will pay a $3 dividend, while reducing the maximum number of directors to 11 from 14.

Transocean introduced its first regular dividend in nine years in 2011, but decided to halt it while working through the prolonged legal process to determine liability for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill, which involved one of its rigs.

Reuters messaging rm://sudip.kargupta.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net