Ballast Nedam Pursues a Policy of Zero Tolerance

NIEUWEGEIN, The Netherlands, August 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ –

Last week, there were reports in the media concerning an investigation into Ballast
Nedam by the Dutch Competition Authority (NMa). The NMa has confirmed that there is no
question of a formal investigation. A former project director, who was convicted of
defrauding the construction consortium Komfort, made unsubstantiated statements about the
involvement of Ballast Nedam. Investigations have been conducted and no evidence has been
found of any involvement whatsoever on the part of Ballast Nedam.

Ballast Nedam operates a policy of zero tolerance with respect to its code of conduct.
In the event that any possible violation is reported, a thorough investigation is
conducted and immediate measures are taken if a violation is found to have taken place.
Theo Bruijninckx, Chairman of the Board of Directors says: ‘We know that by tackling
ethical issues through the courts, we may create negative publicity for our company. But
this is something that we are prepared to accept because for us our code of conduct is
extremely important and no breach will be tolerated whatsoever. What is important to us is
an objective representation of the events that took place.’

The former project director of the construction consortium Komfort, Mr Oomen triggered
the attention of the NMa when he made unsubstantiated statements about Ballast Nedam
during a court case being conducted against him by the construction consortium. At the end
of May 2012, he was found guilty of fraudulent activities and ordered to pay compensation
of half a million euros to the construction consortium.

The NMa is currently verifying the veracity of the statements made by Mr Oomen. For
the NMa, the statements made by Mr Oomen are a lead for our investigations; every year we
receive many such leads. In such cases, we first seek to establish whether there are
grounds to think that any suspicious activity has taken place. Of course, this includes
taking an objective look at the information,’ said an NMa spokesman.

Through a court order, the construction consortium recently obtained copies of
personal documents belonging to the former project director for the purposes of an
internal inquiry. The construction consortium has also made these documents available to
the NMa.

An internal investigation into these personal documents has yielded no evidence at all
to support the allegations of the former project director, that Ballast Nedam was involved
in fraudulent activity. Neither is there any evidence in these documents that clients
could have been disadvantaged in any way. The documents merely confirmed the fraudulent
activity of the former project director, who was engaged in defrauding the construction
consortia. Ballast Nedam is confident that the NMa will make their findings known quickly,
so that there will also be clarity on those, in addition to the court ruling of May 2012.

Ballast Nedam and Strukton have commissioned an external investigation into Ballast
Nedam’s alleged maltreatment of partner Strukton, following the statements made by Mr
Oomen. Ballast Nedam has every confidence in the outcome of the investigation, which will
be made known shortly.

Today, through the media, Ballast Nedam has learned that new statements have been
offered for publication. In an effort to secure a settlement favourable to Mr Oomen, Mr
Oomen’s agent has on previous occasions threatened to disclose such statements which would
have created adverse publicity specifically for Ballast Nedam. The construction consortium
Komfort did not consent to this and is not in possession of these statements. ‘To date,
all the allegations made by Mr Oomen and his agent that have been investigated have proved
to be untrue. Any new allegations made will assessed by us again in the context of our
code of conduct,’ said Theo Bruijninckx.

Ballast Nedam engages in integrated projects in The Netherlands in four areas of work:
housing, mobility, energy and nature. Within this area we focus on five niche markets:
industrial construction, hospitals, offshore wind turbines, secondary raw materials and
alternative fuels. In a number of areas of expertise, we also operate internationally. The
Ballast Nedam share is included in the Amsterdam Small Cap Index (AScX) of NYSE Euronext.

Ballast Nedam’s approach is based on life cycle thinking and acting: we develop,
construct, manage and recycle. We are involved in long-term management, maintenance and
operation of projects and organize financial feasibility. Our supply and specialized
companies deliver competitive edge through innovation, cost leadership and purchasing
strength. Ballast Nedam’s range of services is shifting towards specific product-market
combinations with greater added value.

Ballast Nedam creates enduring quality combined with lower life cycle costs for its
customers and society. http://www.ballast-nedam.com

SOURCE Ballast Nedam NV