Centaurus and Paulson had requested the provisional measure to cancel the voting rights of the Stork Foundation in relation to the EGM scheduled for 18 January 2007, in which they placed a vote of no confidence in respect of the Supervisory Board on the agenda as well as a resolution to amend the articles of association. Acceptance of the latter would have meant that the Board of Management of Stork would have been required to seek the approval of the shareholdermeeting for any acquisitions and divestments with a value in excess of € 100 million. The ruling of the Enterprise Chamber prohibits a voting on either of the above two items on any shareholdermeeting as long as the investigation is pending.

 

Despite the above, the EGM scheduled for tomorrow, 18 January 2007, will take place, although there will not be a voting on the two above mentioned agenda items.

 

Sjoerd Vollebregt, CEO of Stork, commented: "This ruling of the Enterprise Chamber is favourable for the company as Stork will return in calmer waters following this decision. We are pleased that the Enterprise Chamber has stated that Stork's business strategy has passed the test and that its strategy is sound and based on good arguments. It has also acknowledged the widely based support for Stork, both within and outside the company. The ruling stated that Centaurus and Paulson cannot force the company to drastically change the strategic direction at this time. We already suggested earlier to appoint a new Supervisory Boardmember. The Enterprise Chamber has now decided to appoint three Supervisory Boardmembers, which we welcome. We expect this to restore mutual confidence and trust. We are confident as to the expected outcome of the investigation and will fully cooperate with the investigators to be appointed by the Enterprise Chamber in this respect.

 

 

 

 

Stork N.V.

Dick Kors

Tel.: +31 (0)35 695 75 75 or +31 (0)6 51 98 40 54