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July 8, 2008 (8:15a) - South Africa Competition Commission Status

The companies filed a merger notification with the South Africa Competition Commission on June 4, 2008. The review remains in progress of this update. The SACC is fully expected to approve this transaction within the next week or two.

Of more importance, the June 4 filing date indicates that the companies made most, if not all, of the secondary regulatory filing early in June, ahead of the EC notification made on June 19. Although no details have yet been obtained regarding the Israeli review(s), submission of the necessary documentation in early June with the Israeli regulators greatly increases the chances that the transaction will avoid delays far into August, and perhaps beyond July.

July 2, 2008 (4:05p) - Status Report

Unfortunately, the companies have decided to withhold all information regarding the various non-U.S. regulatory matters, and will not even confirm at this point if the required filings have been submitted at this point.

It is tentatively assumed that all filings have been made by now. Attempts are currently in progress to contact the individual regulators, although it will extremely difficult to obtain the precise details from each agency.

With respect to Canada, EDS has very limited sales/distribution operations, so it is presumed that only the Competition Bureau will be involved. It is also assumed that Competition Canada approval will be obtained without any difficulty, most likely via an ARC before the end of this month.

The Israeli review(s) remain a potential timing issue, especially if the companies require more than one consent in this jurisdiction. Keeping in mind that Israel may require up to five separate regulatory approvals, the deal close could fairly easily be delayed well into August if the Israeli notifications were filed after mid-June -- the period in which the EC filing was submitted. Since it can not be assumed at this time that the Israeli filings were made promptly, a July 31 close is perceived as unlikely.

Again, attempts will be made to ascertain the details of the various non-U.S. regulatory reviews. This information will be posted immediately as it becomes available.