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   Nuveen Investments, Inc. on behalf of the equities referred to in Exhibit A
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		17 May 2016
6. Date on which issuer notified:		19 May 2016
7. Threshold(s) that is/are crossed or reached: vi, vii		4%

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

8,355,538

8,355,538

8,825,737

8,825,737

0

4.125%

0%

US94876Q2057   (ADRs in relation to Ordinary Shares with ISIN GB0009465807

3,155

1,577.5

3,126

1,563

0

.001%

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

8,827,300

4.125%

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 that on May 17, 2016 we bought 204,373 shares of The Weir Group Plc bringing the total shares owned to 2,001,780 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 The Weir Group Plc to a 0.936% 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, on May 17, 2016 affiliates of CREF brought 265,826 shares of The Weir Group Plc bringing the total shares owned by affiliates of CREF to 6,823,957 shares of The Weir Group Plc. These shares are owned by the TIAA-CREF Funds ("Funds") and the TIAA-CREF Life Funds ("Life Funds"), each of which is a U.S.-based SEC registered investment company that is managed by Teachers Advisors, Inc. ("TAI"), an SEC registered investment adviser.  TAI is affiliated with TCIM and both are indirect, wholly-owned subsidiaries of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America ("TIAA"), a New York insurance company. In addition, Nuveen Investments, Inc. ("NII") on May 17, 2016 sold 29 ADRs (1 ADR equates to 0.5 of a share in The Weir Group Plc) bringing the total ADRs owned to 3,126, equating to 1,563 ordinary shares in The Weir Group Plc. The combined TIAA-NII enterprise now has aggregated holdings of 8,827,300 shares or 4.125% of the issued and outstanding voting shares in The Weir Group Plc.    Each of TCIM, TAI and NII are aggregating their holdings in The Weir Group Plc as required by current FCA Disclosure and Transparency Rules.  However, each of TCIM, TAI and NII separately and independently vote all proxies for shares held in The Weir Group Plc.    (See Exhibit A)
Proxy Voting:
10. Name of the proxy holder:		TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC/ Teachers Advisors, Inc. / Nuveen Investments, 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 Weir Group Plc/The
Between May 16, 2016 - May 17, 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 May 16, 2016	24,474	1,772,933	1,797,407	0.840%	6,297,556	124,264	136,311	6,558,131	3.065%	8,355,538	3.905%
Trans- actions as of May 17, 2016	-	204,373	204,373	0.096%	261,605	4,221	-	265,826	0.124%	470,199	0.220%
Holdings as of May 17, 2016	24,474	1,977,306	2,001,780	0.936%	6,559,161	128,485	136,311	6,823,957	3.189%	8,825,737	4.125%
Total Voting Shares Out- standing	213,976,078
ADR	Nuveen Investments, Inc (NII)
	Nuveen Investments, Inc	Total Nuveen	Converted 1 ADR = 0.5 ORD	Total Nuveen %	Total Combined Holdings	Combined Percentage
Holdings as of May 16, 2016	3,155	3,155	1,577.5	0.001%	8,357,115.5	3.906%
Trans- actions as of May 17, 2016	29		14.5
Holdings as of May 17, 2016	3,126	3,126	1,563.0	0.001%	8,827,300.0	4.125%
					Total Combined	Total Percentage
					8,827,300.0	4.125%

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#2013981