Postponement of Sanofi-Synthélabo General Meeting of May 24, 2004

Postponement of Sanofi-Synthélabo General Meeting of May 24, 2004 May 4, 2004 The Board of Directors of Sanofi-Synthélabo, at its meeting of May 3, 2004, decided to postpone the Combined Annual General Meeting of shareholders, originally scheduled for May 24, 2004 (as announced in the "BALO" on April 19, 2004). The new date must be at least five trading days before the closing date of Sanofi-Synthélabo's offer for Aventis, which will be set by the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF). This postponement is pursuant to the agreement reached with Aventis on April 25, 2004 relating to Sanofi-Synthélabo's offer for Aventis. A future meeting of the Board of Directors will set a new date and agenda for the General Meeting, which will be held to vote not only on the agenda for the Combined Annual General Meeting, but also on the resolutions relating to the offer, including the capital increase required for the shares to be issued in consideration for the offer. This postponement does not affect the proposed arrangements for the payment of the 2003 dividend to Sanofi-Synthélabo shareholders: payment of an interim dividend of 0.97 euros on May 5, 2004, with the balance to be paid on settlement of the offer (the total amount of dividend proposed to the General Meeting of Sanofi-Synthélabo shareholders remaining unchanged at 1.02 euros). In accordance with article 7 of the COB rule no. 2002-04, this document was transmitted to the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) before its publication. Important Information: In connection with the proposed acquisition of Aventis, Sanofi-Synthélabo has filed a registration statement on Form F-4 (File no. 333-112314) , including a prospectus/offer to exchange, and will file additional documents with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Investors are urged to read the registration statement, including the prospectus/offer to exchange, and any other relevant documents filed with the SEC, including all amendments and supplements (including any supplement relating to its revised offers), because they contain important information. Free copies of the registration statement, as well as other relevant documents filed with the SEC, may be obtained at the SEC's web site at www.sec.gov. The prospectus/offer to exchange and other transaction-related documents are being mailed to Aventis securityholders eligible to participate in the U.S. offer and additional copies may be obtained for free from MacKenzie Partners, Inc., the information agent for the U.S. offer, at the following address: 105, Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016; telephone 1-(212) 929-5500 (call collect) or 1-(800) 322-2885 (toll-free call); e-mail proxy@mackenziepartners.com. In connection with its revised offer, Sanofi-Synthelabo intends to distribute a supplement to the prospectus/offer to exchnage as soon as practicable. In France, holders of Aventis securities are requested, with respect to the offer, to refer to the prospectus (note d'information), which has been granted visa number 04-0090 by the AMFand which is available on the website of the AMF (www.amf-france.org) and without cost from: BNP Paribas Securities Services, GIS-Emetteurs, Service Logistique, Les Collines de l'Arche, 75450 Paris Cedex 9 and to all other appropriate documents relating to the French offer filed with the AMF. The public offer to holders of Aventis ordinary shares located in Germany (the "German Offer") is being made in accordance with applicable German law and pursuant to an offer document/sales prospectus, which is available free of charge at BNP Paribas Securities Services, Grüneburgweg 14, D-60322 Frankfurt am Main (Fax: 069 - 152 05 277) and on the website of the Company (www.sanofi-synthelabo.com). Any decision to tender Aventis ordinary shares in exchange for Sanofi-Synthélabo ordinary shares under the German Offer must be taken exclusively with regard to the terms and conditions of the German Offer, as well as with regard to the information included in the offer document/sales prospectus, including any amendments thereto, issued in Germany. The French Offer, the U.S. Offer and the German Offer are being made on substantially the same terms and completion of these offers is subject to the same conditions. It is intended that the three offers will expire at the same time. Investors and security holders may obtain a free copy of the Form 20-F filed with the SEC on April 2, 2004 and any other documents filed by Sanofi-Synthélabo with the SEC at www.sec.gov as well as of the Reference Document filed with the AMF on April 2, 2004 (N° 04-0391) at www.amf-france.org or directly from Sanofi-Synthélabo on our web site at: www.sanofi-synthelabo.com. ------------------------------------------------------------ Ytterligere informasjon kan hentes på følgende hjemmeside: http://www.waymaker.no Nedenstående filer kan lastes ned: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2004/05/05/20040505BIT20150/wkr0006.pdf Pressemelding i pdf format