BATON ROUGE, La.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–March 1, 2005–The Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE: SGR) today announced that its 50%-owned affiliate, American Eagle Northwest, LLC, has completed a $226 million private placement revenue bond financing for its Navy Northwest Housing Privatization Project. Proceeds from the sale of the bonds will be used for costs of design, demolition, construction, renovations and infrastructure placement for approximately 3,000 residential housing units for certain of the U.S. Navy’s installations in the Puget Sound area of Washington state. Two series of revenue bonds were issued that were rated AA/A by Standard & Poors and have various maturity dates with a blended annual interest rate of 5.67%. This 50-year project is being managed by American Eagle Northwest, LLC, owned 50% by Shaw and 50% by an affiliate of C.E.I. Investment Corp. of Meriden, Connecticut and includes the long-term operations, management, and maintenance of these housing communities.

In November 2004, Shaw 50%-owned affiliates, Little Rock Family Housing, LLC and Hanscom Family Housing, LLC, completed similar private placement financing arrangements totaling $233 million for the design, construction, and long-term operations and management of communities at Little Rock Air Force Base and Hanscom Air Force Base in Arkansas and Massachusetts, respectively. The bonds for the Little Rock project were rated AA-/A- with a blended annual interest rates of 5.92%. The bonds for Hanscom were rated AA/A with a blended interest rate of 5.74%. The revenue bonds for all three financings are secured by proceeds from the operations of the housing projects as well as by mortgages on the properties and are non-recourse to Shaw.

J.M Bernhard, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Shaw Group Inc., said, “We have now completed over $450 million in bond financings for three of our six 50%-owned privatized military housing projects. These projects were well received by the bond ratings agencies and the investing public. We look forward to moving ahead immediately with the planning, design and construction phases of these projects and providing the best possible residential experience for our service men and women and their families for the next 50 years. We are also proceeding with financing plans for our other privatized military housing projects and expect additional financings to be completed in the next several months.”

C.E.I. Investment Corp. is a 50-year-old, privately-held firm that has developed more than 35,000 homes across the United States. The company has extensive expertise in the development and management of master-planned communities, multi-family communities, as well as communities committed to environmental preservation. C.E.I. has a remarkable tenant satisfaction and retention rate within its managed developments, with 97 percent occupancy and an average tenant stay in excess of five years. In addition, the ongoing commitment of C.E.I. Investment to its properties far exceeds industry standards, with C.E.I. maintaining ownership and management of a majority of its developments for more than 30 years.

The Shaw Group Inc. is a leading global provider of technology, engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance, fabrication, manufacturing, consulting, remediation, and facilities management services for government and private sector clients in the power, process, environmental, infrastructure and emergency response markets. A Fortune 500 Company, The Shaw Group is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and employs approximately 18,000 people at its offices and operations in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. For further information, please visit the Company’s website at www.shawgrp.com.

Forward-Looking Statements – 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
Chris D. Sammons
225-932-2546

SOURCE: The Shaw Group Inc.