Shareholders may hold Vallourec shares in two different ways: as “registered” shares or as “bearer” shares.

Bearer shares

Bearer share accounts are held by your financial intermediary (bank or investment company) and Vallourec cannot identify the direct owner of these shares.

Registered shares:

There are 2 ways in which shareholders may hold registered shares:

• Managed registered shares
  Your portfolio of shares is held by your financial intermediary, which is responsible for managing the portfolio.
  Your shares are however registered in Vallourec accounts, which enables us to identify you and make direct contact with you.

• Fully registered shares
  Your shares are registered directly and solely in Vallourec accounts, which enables us to provide you with a personalized service.
  Your shares are registered in a shareholding account opened with CACEIS Corporate Trust, which manages Vallourec’s shareholding service. 

The benefits of registered shares

Holding fully or managed registered shares enables you to benefit from the following advantages :

Guaranteed personalized information service

•  Prior to General Meetings of shareholders, we will send the following directly to your home:
   - the notice of meeting;
   - a postal voting form;
   - an admission card request form.
• Our shareholder letters will also be sent to you automatically.
•  Finally, you will have access to a telephone helpline at CACEIS Corporate Trust, which manages the Vallourec shareholding service. A team of advisors will be at your disposal to inform you about the management of your shares, the tax rules applicable to securities and the organization of General Meetings.

Preferential access to the company’s General Meetings

Holders of registered shares are automatically invited to attend General Meetings and are not required to go through proof of share ownership formalities prior to Meetings.

If you opt for fully registered shares, you will furthermore benefit from :

• Free management of your shares.
• Holders of fully registered shares do not pay any custody fees or any fees inherent in the day-to-day management of their securities, i.e. fees for:
  - conversion of their shares into bearer shares, security transfers;
  - transfers, gifts, inheritance;
  - securities transactions (capital increases, scrip issues, etc.);
  - the payment of dividends. 

How to register your shares as fully registered or managed registered ?

• Example 1 : you already own Vallourec bearer shares :

• should you wish your shares to be held as managed registered shares, you need not transfer your shares or change your bank: your banker will submit a request for registration to CACEIS Corporate Trust, and will continue to manage your shareholding account.

• should you wish your shares to be held as fully registered shares, all you need do is fill in and sign a share transfer request form and send it to your financial intermediary.

For information : shares held in a French equity savings plan (plan d’épargne en actions: PEA) may be managed registered. To have them is a rather complicated process. Please contact CACEIS. They may not, however, be fully registered.

• Example 2 : you do not yet own Vallourec shares:
  Acquire shares directly through CACEIS Corporate Trust.

CACEIS Corporate Trust contact details:

- telephone: +33 (0)1 57 78 34 44;

- fax: +33 (0)1 49 08 05 80;

- post:

CACEIS Corporate Trust

Relations Investisseurs

14, rue Rouget-de-Lisle

92862 Issy-les-Moulineaux Cedex 09

Summary table

Characteristics of the different methods of holding Vallourecshares