BATON ROUGE, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 31, 2003--The Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE: SGR) announced today that it has finalized its acquisition of Energy Delivery Services, Inc. ("EDS"), a business unit of Duke Energy headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, for $22.5 million. EDS, a provider of design, engineering, procurement, construction and maintenance services for electrical transmission and distribution systems primarily in North America, will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Shaw Group Inc. and will be closely affiliated with Shaw subsidiary, Shaw Power Technologies, Inc. (Shaw PTI).

"The acquisition of EDS solidifies our commitment to building a premier power services portfolio," stated J.M. Bernhard, Jr., Chairman and CEO of The Shaw Group. "With EDS' established EPC capabilities and our renowned diagnostic and monitoring software systems we are able to provide turnkey solutions at a critical time for improving the power transmission and distribution infrastructure in this country."

EDS provides competitive, high quality services for Duke Power Company and other utility clients to design, install, upgrade and maintain power transmission and distribution systems. For Duke Power, EDS assists in maintaining a 12,700-mile transmission system, 66,200 miles of primary distribution lines and 2,000 substations throughout a 22,000-square-mile service area. Shaw intends to maintain EDS' headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Shaw Group Inc. is a leading provider of consulting, engineering, construction, remediation and facilities management services to government and private sector clients in the environmental, infrastructure and homeland security markets. Shaw is also a vertically integrated provider of comprehensive engineering, consulting, procurement, pipe fabrication, construction and maintenance services to the power and process industries worldwide. The Company is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and employs approximately 14,800 people at its offices and operations in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. Additional information on The Shaw Group is available at www.shawgrp.com.

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for certain forward-looking statements. The statements contained herein that are not historical facts (including without limitation statements to the effect that the Company or its management "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "plans," or other similar expressions) and statements related to revenues, earnings, backlog, or other financial information or results are forward-looking statements based on the Company's current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on the Company. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those anticipated by the Company. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) and assumptions and are subject to change based upon various factors. Should one or more of such risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. A description of some of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements can be found in the Company's reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Form 10-K and Form 10-Q reports, and on the Company's website under the heading "Forward Looking Statements". These documents are also available from the Securities and Exchange Commission or from the Investor Relations department of Shaw. For more information on the company and announcements it makes from time to time on a regional basis visit our website at www.shawgrp.com.

    CONTACT: The Shaw Group Inc., Baton Rouge
             Laurie LaChiusa, 225-932-2500
    SOURCE: The Shaw Group Inc.