Groupe Bourbon spins off its property assets in a new company, CBo Territoria

On August 20^th 2004, Groupe Bourbon called together almost a thousand shareholders and local personalities in Reunion Island on the 25th anniversary of Mr Jacques de Chateauvieux's chairmanship. In the course of this public meeting, Groupe Bourbon announced its decision to spin off its property asset ownership into a new company whose shares will be distributed among Groupe Bourbon shareholders at some future date. The group's property assets are currently valued at the gross sum of 32.8 million euros, i.e. euros 24.6 million net.

This operation will be undertaken as follows :

• Groupe Bourbon will spin off its property and real estate assets into a new company, created for this purpose: CBo Territoria.

• Subject to tax approval currently under consideration, Groupe Bourbon plans to distribute, in kind and before December 31^st 2004, all the CBo Territoria shares in proportion to Groupe Bourbon shares held.

• CBo Territoria will be listed on the Paris stock exchange in order to guarantee its shareholders liquidity and value over time.

The head office of CBo Territoria will be in Reunion Island. This new property company will invest in diversified rental property assets — housing, offices, industrial and commercial premises — principally in Reunion Island but also elsewhere in the Indian Ocean.

On another topic, Groupe Bourbon has convened an Extraordinary General Meeting of shareholders, preceded by a Special Meeting of shareholders with double voting rights, for August 23^rd 2004 in Reunion between 9 a.m. and 10.30 a.m. local time, principally to decide on the following resolutions:

• abolition of double voting rights. Other than its beneficial effects for the management of the company, this measure is intended to increase the liquidity of Groupe Bourbon stock.

• fusion between Financière Jaccar and Groupe Bourbon. With this merger, the shareholders of Financière Jaccar would become direct shareholders of Groupe Bourbon. This operation would increase the float by about 10%.

• division by 3 of the par value of Groupe Bourbon shares. The Groupe Bourbon share capital would thus be made up of 24 612 000 shares; those resulting from this operation would be listed as of August 30^th 2004.

Paris, august 20th 2004

About Groupe Bourbon:

Offering services on offshore oilfields, in harbor towage, assistance missions and in bulk transport, Groupe Bourbon ranks as a major international figure in the maritime service field.

Through its subsidiary Vindémia, the group also operates in the world of mass retailing.

Listed on the "second market" of the Paris stock exchange and classified by Euronext in the "Oil Services" category, Groupe Bourbon employs some 8500 staff-members and registered a turnover of a billion euros in 2003.

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Press contact Catherine Gros 01 53 70 74 70 cgros@image7.fr
Press contact Emmanuelle Flobert 01 53 70 74 61 eflobert@image7.fr

Groupe Bourbon
Financial relations Patrick Mangaud 01 40 13 86 09 patrick@mangaud.com
Press relations Christa Roqueblave 01 40 13 86 06 christagb@wanadoo.fr