Devgen NV (Euronext Brussels: DEVG) has been informed that 2.8 million existing shares have been successfully placed with existing and new institutional shares through KBC Securities.

On December 7th, 2005, Devgen's post-IPO lock-up period came to an end, allowing most shareholders to freely divest shares. Selected institutional shareholders were only allowed to trade subject to approval by the IPO lead manager, KBC Securities NV.

Given the broad appetite for Devgen shares amongst renowned institutional investors, 2.8 million shares have been successfully placed, partly shares which could be traded freely, partly shares which could only be traded in consultation with the lead manager. This second category amounted to approximately 27% of the existing shares held by institutional shareholders.

In this transaction, all 2.8 million shares have been placed at 9.35 EUR per share.

Devgen is an innovator in biotechnology focused on discovering, developing and commercializing:

• a novel generation of biotech products to protect a wide spectrum of crops from damage incurred from pests;
• safer and more environmentally friendly agro-chemical products to protect crops from damage inflicted by plant parasitic nematodes;
• novel therapeutic concepts and preclinical drug candidates for treatment of metabolic disease (diabetes, obesity, arrhythmia).

Each of these solutions is developed on a platform of in-house designed research, development programs and technologies. Devgen has partnerships with industry leaders such as Monsanto, DuPont/Pioneer, FMC and Sumitomo. Incorporated in 1997, Devgen has offices in Ghent (Belgium) and Singapore - with a total workforce of close to a 100 people.