required by Regulation (EU) No. 1286/2014 (as amended, the PRIIPs Regulation) for offering or selling the Notes or otherwise making them available to retail investors in the EEA has been prepared and therefore offering or selling the Notes or otherwise making them available to any retail investor in the EEA may be unlawful under the PRIIPs Regulation. In addition, the Notes are not intended to be, and should not be, advertised, offered, sold or resold, transferred, delivered or otherwise made available to any individual in Belgium qualifying as a consumer within the meaning of Article I.1 of the Belgian Code of Economic Law (Wetboek economisch recht/Code de droit economique) dated 28 February 2013, as amended from time to time (the Belgian Code of Economic Law). The Issuer has been rated BBB+ with stable outlook by S&P Global Ratings, acting through Standard & Poor’s Credit Market Services Europe Limited (S&P). The Notes have been rated BBB+ by S&P. A rating is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities and may be subject to revision, suspension or withdrawal at any time by the assigning rating organisation. S&P is established in the EU and is registered under Regulation (EC) No. 1060/2009 (as amended) (the CRA Regulation). As such, S&P is included in the list of credit rating agencies published by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) on its website in accordance with the CRA Regulation. The Notes will be issued in dematerialised form in accordance with Articles 468 et seq. of the Belgian Company Code (Wetboek van Vennootschappen/Code des Sociétés) (the Belgian Company Code) and cannot be physically delivered. The Notes will be represented exclusively by book entries in the records of the X/N securities and cash clearing system operated by the National Bank of Belgium (the NBB) or any successor thereto (the NBB System). The Notes may be held only by, and transferred only to, Eligible Investors referred to in Article 4 of the Belgian Royal Decree of 26 May 1994 holding their Notes in an exempt securities account (X-Account) that has been opened with a financial institution that is a direct or indirect participant in the NBB System. Access to the NBB System is available through those of its NBB System participants whose membership extends to securities such as the Notes. NBB System participants include certain banks, stockbrokers (beursvennootschappen/sociétés de bourse), Euroclear Bank SA/NV (Euroclear), Clearstream Banking S.A. (Clearstream, Luxembourg), SIX SIS AG (SIX SIS) and Monte Titoli S.p.A. (Monte Titoli). Accordingly, the Notes will be eligible to clear through, and therefore accepted by, Euroclear, Clearstream, Luxembourg, SIX SIS and Monte Titoli and investors may hold their Notes within securities accounts in Euroclear, Clearstream, Luxembourg, SIX SIS and Monte Titoli and through other financial intermediaries which in turn hold the Notes through Euroclear, Clearstream, Luxembourg, SIX SIS and Monte Titoli, or other participants in the NBB System. The Notes and any non-contractual obligations arising therefrom or in connection therewith shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, English law (except for Conditions 1, 11, and 13 (with respect to the rules laid down in the Belgium Company Code)) and any non-contractual obligations arising therefrom or in connection therewith, which shall be governed by the laws of the Kingdom of Belgium). An investment in Notes involves certain risks. Before making any investment decision, prospective investors are invited to read the Prospectus in its entirety and in particular the factors described under the heading “Risk Factors” on page 1 of the Prospectus. Global-Coordinators BNP PARIBAS BofA Merrill Lynch Joint Bookrunners BNP PARIBAS BofA Merrill Lynch ING NatWest Markets The date of this Prospectus is 30 August 2018 IMPORTANT INFORMATION This Prospectus has been prepared in accordance with Annexes II, IX and XIII of Commission regulation (EC) No. 809/2004 (as amended). This Prospectus comprises a prospectus for the purposes of Article 5.3 of the Prospectus Directive and for the purpose of giving information with regard to the Issuer, the Issuer and its subsidiaries taken as a whole (the Group) and the Notes which, according to the particular nature of the Issuer and the Notes, is necessary to enable investors to make an informed assessment of the assets and liabilities, financial position, profit and losses and prospects of the Issuer. The Issuer accepts responsibility for the information contained in this Prospectus. To the best of the knowledge of the Issuer (having taken all reasonable care to ensure that such is the case) the information contained in this Prospectus is in accordance with the facts and does not omit anything likely to affect the import of such information. This Prospectus is to be read in conjunction with all documents which are incorporated herein by reference (see “Documents Incorporated by Reference” below) and shall be read and construed on the basis that such documents are incorporated and form part of this Prospectus. Save for the Issuer, no party has independently verified the information contained herein. Accordingly, no representation, warranty or undertaking, express or implied, is made and no responsibility or liability is accepted by BNP Paribas, ING Bank N.V., Belgian Branch, Merrill Lynch International or NatWest Markets Plc as joint bookrunners (the Joint Bookrunners) as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained or incorporated in this Prospectus or any other information provided by the Issuer in connection with the offering of the Notes. No Joint Bookrunner accepts any liability in relation to the information contained in this Prospectus or any other information provided by the Issuer in connection with the offering of the Notes or their distribution. No person is or has been authorised by the Issuer or any Joint Bookrunner to give any information or to make any representation not contained in or not consistent with this Prospectus or any other information supplied in connection with the offering of the Notes and, if given or made, such information or representation must not be relied upon as having been authorised by the Issuer or any of the Joint Bookrunners. Neither this Prospectus nor any other information supplied in connection with the offering of the Notes (a) is intended to provide the basis of any credit or other evaluation or (b) should be considered as a recommendation by the Issuer or any of the Joint Bookrunners that any recipient of this Prospectus or any other information supplied in connection with the offering of the Notes should purchase any Notes. Each investor contemplating purchasing any Notes should make its own independent investigation of the financial condition and affairs, and its own appraisal of the creditworthiness, of the Issuer. Neither this Prospectus nor any other information supplied in connection with the offering of the Notes constitutes an offer or invitation, by or on behalf of the Issuer or any of the Joint Bookrunners, to any person to subscribe for or to purchase any Notes. Neither the delivery of this Prospectus nor the offering, sale or delivery of the Notes shall in any circumstances imply that the information contained herein concerning the Issuer is correct at any time subsequent to the date hereof or that any other information supplied in connection with the offering of the Notes is correct as of any time subsequent to the date indicated in the document containing the same. The Joint Bookrunners expressly do not undertake to review the financial condition or affairs of the Issuer during the life of the Notes or to advise any investor in the Notes of any information coming to their attention. The Notes have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act. Subject to certain exceptions, the Notes may not be offered, sold or delivered within the United States or to U.S. persons. For a further description of certain restrictions on the offering and sale of the Notes and on the distribution of this Prospectus, see “Subscription and Sale” below. i None of the Issuer, the Joint Bookrunners and any of their respective representatives is making any representation to any offeree or purchaser of the Notes regarding the legality of an investment in the Notes by such offeree or purchaser under the laws applicable to such offeree or purchaser. Prospective investors should not construe anything in this Prospectus as legal, tax, business or financial advice. Each investor should consult with his or her own advisors as to the legal, tax, business, financial and related aspects of a purchase of the Notes. IMPORTANT INFORMATION RELATING TO THE USE OF THIS PROSPECTUS AND OFFERS OF NOTES GENERALLY This Prospectus has been approved for the purposes of the listing and admission to trading of the Notes on the regulated market of Euronext Brussels and does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the Notes in any jurisdiction to any person to whom it is unlawful to make the offer or solicitation in such jurisdiction. The distribution of this Prospectus and the offer or sale of the Notes may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions. The Issuer and the Joint Bookrunners do not represent that this Prospectus may be lawfully distributed, or that the Notes may be lawfully offered, in compliance with any applicable registration or other requirements in any such jurisdiction, or pursuant to an exemption available thereunder, or assume any responsibility for facilitating any such distribution or offering. In particular, no action has been taken by the Issuer or the Joint Bookrunners which is intended to permit a public offering of the Notes or the distribution of this Prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required.
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