Cash Offer for Birse Group

HSBC Holdings PLC
26 June 2006


     RECOMMENDED CASH OFFER FOR BIRSE GROUP PLC GROUP BY BALFOUR BEATTY PLC

Further to the recommended cash offer for Birse Group plc by Balfour Beatty plc
of 16.625 pence per Birse share announced today, HSBC Bank plc has given an
irrevocable undertaking to accept the offer in respect of its holding of
19,439,838 Birse shares (representing approximately 10.1 per cent of the issued
share capital of Birse) for a total consideration of £3.2 million.

The undertaking will cease to be binding in the event of a higher competing
offer.

The terms of the offer are set out in the announcement made today to the London
Stock Exchange by Balfour Beatty plc.

HSBC Bank plc
HSBC Bank plc is a wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc which serves
over 125 million customers worldwide through some 9,500 offices in 76 countries
and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle
East and Africa. With assets of US$1,502 billion at 31 December 2005, HSBC is
one of the world's largest banking and financial services organisations. HSBC is
marketed worldwide as 'the world's local bank'.





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