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Suez To Replace Electrabel In BEL 20 If Bid Succeeds - Preliminary Announcement

Date 16/09/2005

The BEL Steering Committee today announces its decision to replace Electrabel by Suez in the BEL 20 if the bid by Suez is successful, conditional to whether the final prospectus on the bid does not contain elements preventing this. This decision is based on the application of rule 1.4(d.) of the rules of the BEL 20 index and takes into account the activities and shareownership of the proposed combined entity.

Conditional inclusion of Suez in the BEL 20 Index
The Steering Committee decided to publish its conditional decision now in order to prevent further speculations in the market.

Provided that the take-over materialises and that no other unexpected developments occur, Suez will be included in the BEL 20 from the moment of the removal of Electrabel. In accordance with rule 5.3.6 (c.) the date of this replacement will be announced by the compiler.

This announcement does not imply any expectation with regard to the outcome of the take-over.