• The majority of Nalco shareholders have presented their shares to the tender offer

• Faster-than-expected synergies between Nalco, Calgon and Aquazur

• 1999 earnings up sharply: 6 months net income rises 14 percent relative to 1998

Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux's acquisition of Nalco is proceeding smoothly, and a majority of Nalco shareholders have already presented their shares in response to the Group's tender offer.

The main priorities for the integration of Nalco, Calgon and Aquazur are being defined on the basis of proposals made by a steering committee which reports to Christian Maurin, Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux Group head of water treatment.

The steering committee works through 6 specialized working parties which are responsible for implementing synergies between Nalco, Calgon and Aquazur in the following areas: sales organization, support functions, logistics, finance, and human resources. Implementation of these synergies is expected to proceed faster than expected and should be completed within a year.

The main priorities already set for Nalco, Calgon, Aquazur cover:

• location of headquarters: the global and US headquarters for Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux's water treatment operations will be located in Naperville (Illinois), in the United Sates; in Leyden, Holland, for Europe; in Singapore, for Asia-Pacific; and in Sao Paulo, Brazil, for Latin America;
  
• product line: customers of Nalco, Calgon and Aquazur will be offered a very broad range of products, derived mainly from the Nalco product line, together with the best of the Calgon and Aquazur products;
  
• management and administration: all water treatment activities will be integrated and managed via a unified management and administration, namely Nalco's system.

The integration of Nalco, Calgon and Aquazur will take effect as soon as the competent authorities give the green light*.

Nalco is forecast to register a sharp rise in earnings in 1999: net income over 6 months is up 14 percent, and net income per share is up 16 percent.

* The two companies are supplying all relevant data to the American and European competition authorities in compliance with anti-trust legislation and regulations.