Exhibit 99.1
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Sean OSullivan VP Investor and |
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Media Relations, +61 2 8274 5239 |
19 February 2010
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or +61 412 139 711 |
Completion of Stage 1
of corporate re-domicile
James Hardie Industries SE (James Hardie) today announced that it has finalised the
first stage of its previously announced two-stage plan (the Proposal) to transform James
Hardie into a Societas Europaea company (SE) (Stage 1), and move its corporate domicile
from The Netherlands to Ireland (Stage 2).
As a result of the completion of Stage 1, James Hardie has transformed from a Dutch NV
company to a Dutch SE and is now named James Hardie Industries SE.
James Hardie shareholders approved Stage 1 of the Proposal on 21 August 2009, with over 99%
of votes cast at an Extraordinary General Meeting being in favour of the resolution.
James Hardie expects to file a Registration Statement, including a draft Explanatory
Memorandum for Stage 2 of the Proposal, with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and
Australian Securities Exchange shortly and expects to hold an Extraordinary General Meeting
to seek shareholder approval to implement Stage 2 in the first half of calendar year 2010.
If shareholders approve Stage 2, the Proposal is expected to be completed early in the
second half of calendar 2010.
End
Media/Analyst Enquiries:
Sean OSullivan
Vice President, Investor and Media Relations
Telephone: +61 2 8274 5246
James Hardie Industries SE, ARBN 097 829 895
Incorporated in The Netherlands, with a corporate seat in Amsterdam
The liability of its members is limited. Dutch Registration Number: 34106455
Disclaimer: Forward looking statements
This company statement, and other statements that James Hardie Industries SE (James Hardie) may
make, including statements about the benefits of James Hardies transformation from a Dutch NV to a
Dutch SE and subsequent redomicile to Ireland as an Irish SE (the Proposal), may contain
forward-looking statements. We may from time to time make forward-looking statements in our
periodic reports filed with or furnished to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Forms 20-F
and 6-K, in our annual reports to shareholders, in offering circulars, invitation memoranda and
prospectuses, in media releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by our
officers, directors or employees to analysts, institutional investors, existing and potential
lenders, representatives of the media and others. Statements that are not historical facts are
forward-looking statements and for US purposes such forward-looking statements are statements made
pursuant to the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Examples of forward-looking statements include:
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statements about our future performance; |
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projections of our results of operations or financial condition; |
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statements regarding our plans, objectives or goals, including those relating to our
strategies, initiatives, competition, acquisitions, dispositions and/or our products;
expectations concerning the costs associated with the suspension or closure of operations at
any of our plants and future plans with respect to any such plants; |
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expectations that our credit facilities will be extended or renewed; |
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expectations concerning dividend payments; |
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statements concerning our corporate and tax domiciles and potential changes to them; |
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statements regarding tax liabilities and related audits and proceedings; |
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statements as to the possible consequences of proceedings brought against us and certain of
our former directors and officers by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission; |
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expectations about the timing and amount of contributions to the Asbestos Injuries
Compensation Fund, a special purpose fund for the compensation of proven Australian
asbestos-related personal injury and death claims; |
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expectations concerning indemnification obligations; and |
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statements about product or environmental liabilities. |
Words such as believe, anticipate, plan, expect, intend, target, estimate,
project, predict, forecast, guideline, aim, will, should, continue and similar
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements but are not the exclusive means of
identifying such statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements and all such forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety
by reference to the following cautionary statements.
Forward-looking statements are based on our estimates and assumptions and because forward-looking
statements address future results, events and conditions, they, by their very nature, involve
inherent risks and uncertainties. Such known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors
may cause our actual results, performance or other achievements to differ materially from the
anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed, projected or implied by these
forward-looking statements and future results could differ materially from historical performance.
These factors, some of which are discussed under Risk Factors in James Hardies Registration
Statement (described below under the heading Additional information and where to find it)
include but are not limited to:
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all matters relating to or arising out of the prior manufacture of products that contained
asbestos by our current and former subsidiaries; |
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required contributions to the Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund and the effect of currency
exchange rate movements on the amount recorded in our financial statements as an asbestos
liability; compliance with and changes in tax laws and treatments; |
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competition and product pricing in the markets in which we operate; |
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the consequences of product failures or defects; exposure to environmental, asbestos or
other legal proceedings; |
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general economic and market conditions; |
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the supply and cost of raw materials; |
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the success of research and development efforts; |
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reliance on a small number of customers; a customers inability to pay; compliance with and
changes in environmental and health and safety laws; |
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risks of conducting business internationally; compliance with and changes in
laws and regulations; |
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currency exchange risks; |
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the concentration of our customer base on large format retail customers, distributors and dealers; |
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the effect of natural disasters; |
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changes in our key management personnel; |
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inherent limitations on internal control; use of accounting estimates; |
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and all other risks identified in our reports filed with Australian, Dutch and US securities
agencies and exchanges (as appropriate). |
We caution that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive and that other risks and
uncertainties may cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and are statements
of our current expectations concerning future results, events and conditions and James Hardie does
not undertake to update forward-looking statements.
Additional information and where to find it
In connection with the Proposal, James Hardie intends to lodge with the Australian Securities
Exchange (ASX) and file with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) a
Registration Statement on Form F-4 with additional information concerning the Proposal, including
a copy of an Explanatory Memorandum/Prospectus. The Registration Statement has not yet been filed
or declared effective by the SEC and may be amended before its effectiveness.
While there is no new issue of securities involved in the Proposal, under the US federal
securities laws James Hardie Industries SE will be treated as a new registrant and the Explanatory
Memorandum will constitute a prospectus for the purposes of US securities law. The Explanatory
Memorandum will not be a prospectus for the purposes of Australias Corporations Act, 2001.
Accordingly, it will not contain all of the information that would be required to be contained in
an Australian prospectus and will not be lodged with ASIC.
Investors and security holders of James Hardie are urged to read the Explanatory Memorandum forming
part of the Registration Statement and any amendments, as well as any other relevant documents
lodged or filed with the ASX or SEC as they become available because they contain and will contain
important information about James Hardie and the Proposal. The Registration Statement, James
Hardies Annual Report on Form 20-F and James Hardies subsequent reports filed with or furnished
to the SEC and other relevant materials (when they become available) may be read and copied at the
SECs public reference room located at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. Information on
the operation of the Public Reference Rooms may be obtained by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330.
The SEC also maintains a website,
www.sec.gov, from which any electronic filings made by
James Hardie may be obtained without charge. In addition, investors and security holders may obtain
copies of the documents filed with or furnished to the SEC upon oral or written request without
charge. Requests may be made by calling the Information Helpline in Australia at 1800 675 021
(between 8.00am and 5.00pm AEST) or elsewhere in the world at +1-949-367-4900 (between 8.00am and
5.00pm US Central Time) or in writing by regular and electronic mail at the following address:
James Hardie Industries SE, Atrium, 8th Floor, Strawinskylaan 3077, 1077 ZX Amsterdam, The
Netherlands, Attention: Company Secretary; email:
[email protected].
All material documents filed with the SEC will be lodged with the ASX and posted on the James
Hardie Investor Relations website (www.jameshardie.com, select James Hardie Investor
Relations).
Participants in the solicitation
James Hardie and its executive officers and directors may be deemed to be participants in the
solicitation of proxies from the shareholders of James Hardie in connection with the Proposal.
Information about the executive officers and directors of James Hardie and their ownership of
James Hardie common stock will be set out in the Explanatory Memorandum forming part of the
Registration Statement.
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