Saint Gobain Or Regulatory News (COD)

18 Mar 2009 09:41



Paris, March 18th, 2009

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, JAPAN OR AUSTRALIA

Closure of share capital increase

Saint-Gobain raises €1.5bn

Private placement share price: € 20.79 per new share

Unexercised Warrants (Bons de Souscription d'Actions or BSAs) repurchase price: € 1.94 per BSA

On March 17th, 2009, Saint-Gobain announced the launch of a private placement of 4,687,832 new shares (issued upon the exercise of repurchased BSAs) in connection with its share capital increase.

The private placement, carried out by the Joint Bookrunners and Joint Lead Managers, was closed early today. The private placement share price was set at € 20.79 per new share, flat to the closing price of March 17th, 2009. 

As a result, the price for the unexercised BSAs repurchased by Saint-Gobain acting as an agent (commissionaire) on behalf of the underwriters, is set at €1.94 per BSA. The repurchase price will be paid at the latest by March 24th, 2009 to the relevant financial intermediaries for the account of the holders of such BSAs.

The share capital increase will enable Saint-Gobain to raise a gross amount € 1,512,240,968 by issuing a total of 108,017,212 new shares. The settlement and listing of the new shares will take place on March 23rd, 2009. 

The success of the rights issue attests to shareholders' confidence in Saint-Gobain's strong fundamentals and growth potential. The proceeds will be used to pay down debt and thus strengthen the balance sheet of the Group.

About Saint-Gobain

Saint-Gobain, a worldwide leader in the residential construction markets, designs, manufactures and distributes building materials, providing innovative solutions in expanding emerging markets and in the buoyant energy efficiency and environmental protection segments.. With EUR 43.8 billion of sales in 2008, Saint-Gobain is present in 59 countries and employs nearly 210,000 people.

Disclaimer

This document constitutes an advertisement and not a prospectus.

This press release must not be published, released or distributed, directly or indirectly, in the United States of America (including its territories and possessions, any State of the United States and the District of Columbia), Australia, Canada or Japan.

This press release and the information it contains do not constitute an offer to sell or subscribe or a solicitation of an order to buy or subscribe for securities. 

The distribution of this press release may be restricted by law or regulations in certain jurisdictions. Consequently, persons who are physically located in those jurisdictions and in which this press release is circulated, published or distributed must inform themselves with regard to, and conform to, those legal and statutory requirements.

The securities mentioned in this press release have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirement under the Securities Act. Compagnie de Saint-Gobain does not intend to register any portion of the planned offering in the United States or to conduct a public offering of securities in the United States.