BHP LIMITED BILLITON PLC JOINT STOCK EXCHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT AND NEWS RELEASE Melbourne, 1000, Friday, 15 June 2001 EUROPEAN COMMISSION APPROVES MERGER OF BHP AND BILLITON BHP Limited and Billiton Plc announce that the European Commission has provided the necessary regulatory approvals for the merger of the two companies to proceed. The companies are confident that the remaining non-Australian regulatory approvals will be obtained shortly. Information on the effective implementation date for the merger, as well as the record date and timing of the issue of bonus shares to BHP shareholders will be announced within a short period of time. Following completion of the merger, BHP Billiton will issue further information to the investment market, relating to the timing and nature of financial reporting, as well as additional information on the organisational structure. ENQUIRIES: BHP Australia (media): Mandy Frostick, Manager Media Relations, BHP Limited Tel: +61 3 9609 4157 Mobile: +61 419 546 245 Fax: +61 3 9602 4121 email: frostick.mandy.mj@bhp.com Australia (investor relations): Robert Porter, Vice President Investor Relations, BHP Limited Tel: + 61 3 9609 3540 Mobile: +61 419 587456 Fax: + 61 3 9609 3006 United States (investor relations): Francis McAllister, Vice President Investor Relations, BHP Limited Tel: +1 713 961 8625 Mobile: +713 480 3699 email: mcallister.francis.fr@bhp.com Billiton London (media and investor relations): Marc Gonsalves, General Manager, Billiton Tel: +44 20 7747 3956 Mobile: +44 7768 264 950 Fax: +44 20 7747 3914 email: mgonsalves@Billiton.com Johannesburg (media and investor relations): Michael Campbell, Manager Corporate Affairs, Billiton Tel: +27 11 376 3360 Mobile: +27 82 458 2587 Fax: +27 11 376 3362 email: mcampbell@Billiton.co.za