French anti-trust authority fines French steel distributors

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Duisburg (euro adhoc) - Duisburg, December 16, 2008 - The French
anti-trust authority (DGCCRF) announced today that it has imposed
fines totaling almost EUR600 million on KDI SAS (a subsidiary of
Klöckner & Co SE), members of the Arcelor group, Descours et Cabaud,
Morel and other steel distributors in France. The companies were
accused of taking part in anti-competitive price-fixings from 1999 to
2004.

The company and its legal advisers maintain that the fine of EUR169
million imposed on KDI SAS is unjustifiably high. Contrary to its
previous practice, the French anti-trust authority obviously used
global sales of Klöckner & Co as the basis for the fine´s
calculation, even though the violations were committed exclusively by
the French subsidiary, KDI SAS, and only affected the French market.
For this reason, KDI SAS will appeal the fine with the aim of
significantly reducing the amount and of obtaining a suspension of
payment until a final judgment has been rendered.

The fine will negatively impact the 2008 group results of Klöckner &
Co SE by a total of EUR79 million. Reserves had been made in the
amount of EUR20 million. In addition, today´s Klöckner & Co SE (the
former acquisition vehicle of private equity investors Lindsay
Goldberg & Bessemer) possesses a compensation claim totaling EUR70
million towards the previous owners of the Klöckner & Co group
resulting from the sale of the group in 2005.

About Klöckner & Co: Klöckner & Co is the largest
producer-independent distributor of steel and metal products in the
European and North American markets combined. The core business of
the Klöckner & Co Group is the storage and distribution of steel and
non-ferrous metals. About 210,000 active customers are supplied
through more than 260 distribution locations in 15 countries in
Europe and North America. During the financial year 2007, the Company
achieved sales of approximately EUR6.3 billion with more than 10,000
employees. The shares of Klöckner & Co SE are admitted to trading on
the official market segment (Amtlicher Markt) of the Frankfurt Stock
Exchange (Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse) with simultaneous admission to
the sub-segment (Prime Standard) to the official market with further
post-admission obligations. ISIN: DE000KC01000; WKN: KC0100; Common
Code: 025808576. Klöckner & Co shares are listed in the MDax® Index
of Deutsche Börse.

end of announcement euro adhoc
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ots Originaltext: Klöckner & Co SE
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Further inquiry note:

Peter Ringsleben - Corporate Communications

Phone: +49-203-307-2800

E-mail: peter.ringsleben@kloeckner.de

Claudia Uhlendorf - Corporate Communications

Phone: +49-203-307-2289

E-mail: claudia.uhlendorf@kloeckner.de

Dr. Thilo Theilen - Investor Relations

Phone: +49-203-307-2050

E-Mail: thilo.theilen@kloeckner.de

Branche: Metal Goods & Engineering
ISIN: DE000KC01000
WKN: KC0100
Index: MDAX, CDAX, Classic All Share, Prime All Share
Börsen: Börse Frankfurt / regulated dealing/prime standard
Börse Berlin / free trade
Börse Hamburg / free trade
Börse Stuttgart / free trade
Börse Düsseldorf / free trade
Börse München / free trade