BDA advises AREVA on joint venture in China with Shanghai Electric

Business Development Asia LLC (“BDA”) is pleased to announce that the leading French energy company AREVA has signed a 50/50 joint venture (“JV”) agreement with Shanghai Electric. This will expand the existing cooperation between the parties. The new JV will involve three entities: AREVA’s existing power transformer factory in Shanghai, and two new factories under construction in Wuhan and Shanghai (Lingang). BDA acted as exclusive financial adviser to AREVA on these transactions.

The three entities will enable AREVA’s Transmission and Distribution division to triple its power transformer production capacity in China to reach 70,000 MVA within the next five years, with a possible further extension to 85,000 MVA. The two parties will collaborate in producing and selling power transformers made by the JV factories.

The new factories in Wuhan and Shanghai will manufacture and test AC ultra high-voltage transformers, rated up to 1200kV, DC transmission converting transformers up to 800 kV, and smoothing reactors. The factories will begin production in 2009. They will set the benchmark for modern, “green” factories built with state-of-the-art technology and environmentally-friendly standards.

Philippe Guillemot, Chairman and CEO of AREVA’s Transmission and Distribution Division said, “Our joint venture with Shanghai Electric is a strategic move towards supporting China’s ambition to build an advanced UHV power network throughout the country. We are investing substantially to expand our infrastructure in China in order to address strong local needs. Furthermore, our close collaboration with Shanghai Electric, together with our new TechnologyCenter in Shanghai focusing on HVDC and UHV R&D will boost our market share and support China’s sustainable development.”

About AREVA

With manufacturing facilities in 43 countries and a sales network in more than 100 countries, AREVA offers customers reliable technological solutions for CO2-free power generation and electricity transmission and distribution. It is the world leader in nuclear power and the only company to cover all industrial activities in this field. Sales in 2007 were US$16.3bn. The AREVA website is www.areva.com.

About Shanghai Electric

Shanghai Electric provides system equipment and general contract projects. Its products include power generation, power transmission and distribution equipment, electromechanical integration equipment, transport equipment, machine tools, elevators, package and print machinery, and environmental protection equipment. Shanghai Electric is one of the largest mechanical and electrical equipment manufacturing enterprises in China, with sales of US$7.4bn in 2007. The Shanghai Electric website is www.chinasec.com.

About Business Development Asia

Business Development Asia LLC was founded in 1996. BDA assists multinational corporate and financial sector clients to identify and execute acquisitions, divestments, JVs, restructuring and capital raising, in Asia including the Middle East. The company is headquartered in New York with offices in London, Bahrain, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul, and Tokyo. BDA employs 55 full-time professional staff across its eight offices, supplemented by a team of senior advisors around the world. BDA’s client list includes Air Products, AREVA, AXA Private Equity, Bain Capital, Bausch & Lomb, Borg Warner, Cadbury Schweppes, Celestica, DIC, DuPont, Ecolab, Fedders, Global Power, Godrej, Great Lakes, GTCR, Hanjin Shipping, Hercules, Huntsman, Inabata, ITT, Jardine Pacific, Jonhson Controls, Johnson Matthey, Kimberly-Clark, Langer, Lear, Lubrizol, Mars, Millipore, Minor International, Molex, Morgan Stanley, Nalco, Pharmacia, Reuters, Rohm & Haas, Ryder, Sanofi Aventis, Siemens, SigmaKalon, Solvay, Sumitomo Chemical, Sun Chemical, TATA Auto Components, Tenneco, Thomson Corp, Timken, Tomkins, Tredegar, Visteon, WR Grace, and the British Government. Further information on BDA is available at www.bdapartners.com.

BDA Transaction Team

Jeffrey Wang, Managing Director, Shanghai, jwang@bdallc.com
Lydia Xu, Assistant Director, Shanghai, lxu@bdallc.com
Bob Hong, Associate, Shanghai, bhong@bdallc.com

For more information regarding this transaction, please contact Jeffrey Wang in Shanghai on (86) 21 5407 5580.

AREVA Transaction Team

Frédéric Palanque, T&D M&A
Junmin Shen, T&D M&A

Lawyers to AREVA

David Boitout, Gide Loyrette Nouel, A.A.R.P.I
Raphael Chantelot, Gide Loyrette Nouel, A.A.R.P.I