OSLO (Bloomberg) ? SeaDrill ASA, a Norwegian oil-rig company, may be looking to take over a US competitor after its planned share sale, Martin Huseby Karlsen, an analyst with DnB Nor Markets, said.

The company, run from Stavanger, Norway, will ask stockholders on December 1 to more than double its shares to raise money for expansion, it said this week. SeaDrill spokesman Jim Daatland declined to comment on potential acquisition targets, in an interview.

?There are a lot of rumours in the market that SeaDrill wants to buy a US rig company,? Karlsen said in Oslo.

Bermuda-based SeaDrill was set up last year by shipping billionaire John Fredriksen and is now the sixth-largest offshore drilling company in the world by market capitalisation. It has made several acquisitions, including a $2.4 billion purchase of rig owner Smedvig ASA.

The additional capital can be used to invest in new assets, to consolidate or to acquire other companies, SeaDrill?s Daatland said.

SeaDrill?s planned sale of 400 million new shares would raise $800 million in new share capital, or about 40.8 billion kroner ($6.4 billion) in total proceeds if sold at Tuesday?s closing price in Oslo trading.