Sanofi-aventis to reorganise short-term financing

Sanofi-aventis announced today its plan to reimburse the short-term tranche of the syndicated credit line which was put in place in April 2004 to finance the acquisition of Aventis (Tranche A). This 5 billion-Euro tranche is maturing on January 24, 2005. The company had an option to extend maturity for a maximum of one year. However, in order to optimise its financing costs, sanofi-aventis has decided: - not to extend the term of tranche A, - to actively use its French and U.S. commercial paper programmes for its short term financing, - to launch, in order to support these programmes, the syndication of a 364-day, 5 billion-Euro revolving credit line, which will be co-arranged by BNP-Paribas and Société Générale. Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications: Nicole Cranois - Vice President, Media Relations: Jean-Marc Podvin Tel.:+33 1.53.77.42.23 - Fax: +33 1.53.77.42.65 - 174, avenue de FRANCE - 75013 Paris - France - www.sanofi-aventis.com