Holding(s) in Company

For filings with the FCA include the annex
For filings with issuer exclude the annex
TR-1: NOTIFICATION OF MAJOR INTEREST IN SHARESi
1. Identity of the issuer or the underlying issuer of existing shares to which voting rights are attached:ii				The Weir Group Plc
2 Reason for the notification (please tick the appropriate box or boxes):
An acquisition or disposal of voting rights					X
An acquisition or disposal of qualifying financial instruments which may result in the acquisition of shares already issued to which voting rights are attached
An acquisition or disposal of instruments with similar economic effect to qualifying financial instruments
An event changing the breakdown of voting rights
Other (please specify):
3. Full name of person(s) subject to the notification obligation:iii		TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC on behalf of the accounts listed in Exhibit B   Teachers Advisors, Inc. on behalf of the funds Listed in Exhibit C
4. Full name of shareholder(s)  (if different from 3.):iv		See Number 3
5. Date of the transaction and date on which the threshold is crossed or reached:v		06 January 2016
6. Date on which issuer notified:		08 January 2016
7. Threshold(s) that is/are crossed or reached: vi, vii		Below 3%

8. Notified details:

A: Voting rights attached to sharesviii, ix

Class/type of shares if possible using the ISIN CODE

Situation previous to the triggering transaction

Resulting situation after the triggering transaction

Number of Shares

Number of Voting Rights

Number of shares

Number of voting rights

% of  voting rights x

Direct

Direct xi

Indirect xii

Direct

Indirect

GB0009465807

6,614,008

6,614,008

6,343,957

6,343,957

0

2.965%

0%

B: Qualifying Financial Instruments

Resulting situation after the triggering transaction

Type of financial instrument

Expiration date xiii

Exercise/ Conversion Period xiv

Number of voting rights that may be acquired if the instrument is exercised/ converted.

% of voting rights

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

C: Financial Instruments with similar economic effect to Qualifying Financial Instruments xv, xvi

Resulting situation after the triggering transaction

Type of financial instrument

Exercise price

Expiration date xvii

Exercise/ Conversion period xviii

Number of voting rights instrument refers to

% of voting rights xix, xx

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Nominal

Delta

N/A

N/A

Total (A+B+C)

Number of voting rights

Percentage of voting rights

6,343,957

Below 3%

9. Chain of controlled undertakings through which the voting rights and/or the financial instruments are effectively held, if applicable: xxi
The College Retirement Equities Fund ("CREF") hereby informs you as of January 6, 2016 we hold 1,901,613 shares of The Weir Group Plc.  CREF owns these shares through two of its investment accounts, the Global Equities Account and CREF Stock Account.  It is our understanding the total voting shares outstanding of The Weir Group Plc is 213,976,078 bringing CREF's ownership in your company to a 0.889% level.   For your information, CREF is a U.S. based investment company, which is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").  CREF has multiple investment accounts, each with separate investment objectives and policies.  All assets in the accounts are beneficially owned by CREF, and all the accounts are managed by TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser.   Additionally, affiliates of CREF on January 6, 2016 sold 270,051 shares bringing their total owned shares to 4,442,344 shares of The Weir Group Plc.  These holdings are owned by the TIAA-CREF Funds ("Funds"), and the TIAA-CREF Life Funds ("Life Funds"), each of which are SEC registered investment companies.  The Funds and Life Funds are managed by Teachers Advisors, Inc., an SEC registered investment adviser that is affiliated with TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC.  These affiliated funds, aggregated with those of CREF, own a total of 6,343,957 or 2.965% of the outstanding voting shares of The Weir Group Plc. Because Teachers Advisors, Inc. and TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC follow the same policies when voting these funds, we are aggregating the holdings for purposes of this form.   (See Exhibit A)
Proxy Voting:
10. Name of the proxy holder:		TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC/ Teachers Advisors, Inc.
11. Number of voting rights proxy holder will cease to hold:		N/A
12. Date on which proxy holder will cease to hold voting rights:		N/A
13. Additional information:	None
14. Contact name:	Stuart R. Brunet
15. Contact telephone number:	[phone]

EXHIBIT A.
TIAA-CREF
Summary of Holdings of The Weir Group Plc
Between January 5, 2016 - January 6, 2016
	TIAA-CREF Investment Management LLC ("CREF")					Teachers Advisors, Inc.					Aggregate Holding
	Global Equities Account	Stock Account	Total CREF Holdings		Total CREF %	TIAA-CREF International Equity Fund	TIAA-CREF Life International Equity Fund	TIAA-CREF  Intl Equity Index Fund	Total Mutual Funds Holdings	Total Mutual Funds %	Total Holdings	Total %
Holdings as of January 5, 2016	11,799	1,889,814	1,901,613		0.889%	4,504,266	96,553	111,576	4,712,395	2. 202%	6,614, 008	3.091%
Transactions as of January 6, 2016	-	-	-		0.000%	(265,185)	(4,866)	-	(270,051)	-0. 126%	(270, 051)	-0.126%
Holdings as of January 6, 2016	11,799	1,889,814	1,901,613		0.889%	4,239,081	91,687	111,576	4,442,344	2. 076%	6,343, 957	2.965%
Total Voting Shares Outstanding		213,976,078

Exhibit B.

TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC

College Retirement Equities Fund ("CREF") *

• CREF Stock Account
• CREF Global Equities Account

*     Registered Investment Company

Exhibit C.

Teachers Advisors, Inc.

TIAA-CREF Funds *

• International Equity Fund
• International Equity Index Fund

TIAA-CREF Life Funds *

• Life International Equity Fund

*     Registered Investment Company

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This announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.
Source: The Weir Group PLC via Globenewswire

HUG#1977714