EWE launches €750 million revolving credit facility

Oldenburg, April 4, 2006. As announced this morning by Dr. Werner Brinker, CEO of EWE AG (EWE), during the company's annual press conference, EWE has mandated Barclays Capital, the Investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, the investment banking division of Dresdner Bank AG, HSBC Bank plc and The Royal Bank of Scotland plc as Mandated Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners for a €750 million syndicated multicurrency revolving credit facility.

The new transaction, which carries a seven-year tenor, will be used for general corporate purposes. It will act as EWE's core committed bank financing, and it is intended that the syndicate for the transaction will define the company's core relationship bank group going forward.

The Bookrunners have launched syndication of the new €750 million facility among EWE's relationship banks. The initial margin is set at 15bp p.a. for the first five years, stepping up to 17.5bp p.a. in years six and seven. A 2.5bp utilisation fee is payable if usage exceeds 50% of the facility amount. The commitment fee is set at 4.5bp p.a. for years one to five and 5.25 bp p.a. for years six and seven. Two levels of participation are on offer with Arrangers being offered a participation fee of 6.5bp for a €75 million commitment and Co-Arrangers at €50 million a fee of 5.5bp.

EWE is one of Germany's top five energy suppliers. Based in Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, its operations are focused on three core business areas: natural gas and electricity as well as telecommunications / IT. EWE serves customers in the region between the Ems, Weser, and Elbe rivers, on the island of Rügen and in parts of Brandenburg and Nord-Vorpommern. EWE's shareholders are Weser-Ems-Energiebeteiligungen GmbH, a holding company owned by a municipal association (Zweckverband) of the counties and cities of the Weser-Ems district, with 82%, and Energieverband Elbe-Weser-Beteiligungsholding GmbH, a holding company owned by a municipal association (Zweckverband) of counties of the Elbe-Weser district and the city of Cuxhaven, with 18%. After the acquisition of a major stake in VNG-Verbundnetz Gas AG, Leipzig, EWE has become the third largest gas distributor in Germany. The VNG-Verbundnetz Gas AG subgroup is fully consolidated by EWE. The combined group reported revenues of €7.4 bn and EBITDA of €624.4 m in 2005.