Akzo Nobel Shareholders Approve Dividend.

Akzo Nobel Shareholders Approve Dividend. Arnhem, the Netherlands, April 26, 2000. - Akzo Nobel N.V. shareholders today approved the 1999 dividend proposal from the Board of Management. Akzo Nobel will pay a dividend of EUR 1.00 per common share for the year 1999. Of this dividend, EUR 0.30 per share was already paid as an interim dividend. The final dividend will thus be EUR 0.70 per share. This final dividend will be made payable from May 15, 2000. The shares of Akzo Nobel on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange will trade ex final dividend on April 28, 2000. Appointments At today's meeting shareholders approved the appointment of Virginia Bottomley to the Supervisory Board, effective May 1, 2000. The Rt. Hon. Virginia Bottomley JP MP, former Secretary of State for Health and Member of the British Cabinet, is currently Vice Chairman of the British Council and a Governor of the London School of Economics. Aarnout A. Loudon and Hilmar Kopper, who stepped down from the Supervisory Board in accordance with the rotation schedule, were both reappointed. Dieter Wendelstadt, who has served on the Supervisory Board for seven years, stepped down having reached retirement age. In his capacity as Member of the Supervisory Board of Akzo Nobel nv, in addition to serving on the Nomination and Remuneration Committee, he has rendered valuable advice during a period spanning the merger with Nobel Industries, the acquisition of Courtaulds and more recently the divestment of Acordis. Dag Strömqvist, was appointed to the Board of Management. Mr. Strömqvist (1942), a Chemical Engineer, graduated from Chalmer's University of Technology, Sweden in 1964. He began his career in 1965 at Astra, a Swedish pharmaceutical company. In 1967 he joined KemaNord and was appointed Division Manager KemaNord Bleaching Chemicals (which later became part of Eka Nobel AB) in 1979. He then served for a number of years in North America, and in 1988 took over as President of Eka Nobel AB, now known as Eka Chemicals AB. Akzo Nobel, based in the Netherlands, serves customers throughout the world with healthcare products, coatings, and chemicals. Consolidated sales for 1999 (excluding Acordis) totaled some EUR 12 billion (USD 13 billion, GBP 8 billion). In the beginning of 2000, the company employed 68,000 people in 75 countries. Financial results for the second quarter of 2000 will be announced on July 26, 2000. - - - Internet: http://www.akzonobel.com Note for the editor / not for publication For more information please contact: John C.S. Jennings, Head Corporate Media Relations, Tel. +31 26 366 4343 ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/04/26/20000426BIT01680/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/04/26/20000426BIT01680/bit0002.pdf