Bekaert NV — Capital/Financing Update 2011

Nov 17, 2011

Press release Regulated information¹

17 November 2011, after closing of stock exchange

Press Katelijn Bohez T +32 56 23 05 71

Investor Relations Jacques Anckaert T +32 56 23 05 72

www.bekaert.com www.bekaert.mobi

Bekaert bond issue successful

Bekaert collects € 400 million - subscription period has been early terminated

Bekaert announced on 15 November 2011 that it would issue, through NV Bekaert SA, a dual tranche bond: one tranche with a tenor of 5 years and one tranche with a tenor of 8 years, for an expected total minimum amount of € 200 million in the form of a public offering in Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

As a result of major success of this issue, the subscription period has been early terminated on 17 November 2011 at 5:30 p.m. CET, as agreed between the issuer and KBC Bank, global coordinator and joint bookrunner, BNP Paribas Fortis, joint bookrunner, and ING Belgium, co-manager. The aggregate nominal amount of bonds to be issued on 6 December 2011 has been fixed at € 400 million (€ 205 million for the 5-year tranche and € 195 million for the 8-year tranche).

In the event that the total amount of subscriptions received by the participating banks exceeds the amount of bonds that were allotted, the subscriptions will be reduced proportionally. More information is available in the press release of 15 November 2011 issued by Bekaert and in the Prospectus which is published on www.bekaert.com and available with the joint lead managers2 .

Profile

Bekaert (www.bekaert.com) is a global technological and market leader in advanced solutions based on metal transformation and coatings, and the world's largest independent manufacturer of drawn steel wire products. Bekaert (Euronext Brussels: BEKB) is a global company with headquarters in Belgium, employing 28 000 people worldwide. Serving customers in 120 countries, Bekaert pursues sustainable profitable growth in all its activities and generated combined sales of € 4.5 billion in 2010.

1 The information in this press release constitutes regulated information as referred to in the Royal Decree of 14 November 2007 regarding obligations of issuers of financial instruments admitted to trading on a regulated market. 2

The issue and listing prospectus (the "Prospectus") in English, dated 14 November 2011 and approved by the Luxembourg Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier on 14 November 2011 and passported to Belgium, as well as the summary of the Prospectus in Dutch and in French are available for the investors, free of charge, at the office of Bekaert at President Kennedypark 18, BE8500 Kortrijk in Belgium. These documents are also available, free of charge, by phone with BNP Paribas Fortis – tel.: +32 2 433 40 31 (Dutch) or +32 2 433 40 32 (French), KBC Bank – tel: +32 78 15 21 53 (Dutch) or +32 78 15 21 54 (French) and ING – tel +32 2 464 61 01 (Dutch) or +32 2 464 61 02 (French), and also at the counter of each of their local branches in Belgium (BNP Paribas Fortis, Fintro, KBC, CBC and ING). They are further available on the websites of BNP Paribas Fortis (www.bnpparibasfortis.be/emissions), KBC Bank (www.kbc.be/obligations), ING (www.ing.be: Investments – Bonds) and Bekaert (www.bekaert.com; section investors).