The Supervisory Board of CB&I announced Friday, February 3 that it had terminated Gerald E. Glenn, its chairman, president and CEO, along with Robert B. Jordan, executive vice president and COO. The Woodlands, Texas-based engineering, procurement and construction firm, formerly known as Chicago Bridge & Iron, took the action in the wake of allegations of accounting irregularities. The problem came to light when a senior member of the firm�s accounting staff wrote a memo alleging accounting improprieties, including the determination of claim recognition on two projects and the assessment of costs to complete two projects, according to a company announcement in October. The firm�s executive vice president and CFO, Richard E. Goodrich, had retired three weeks earlier. CB&I announced at that time that the accounting questions would be turned over to an independent audit committee for investigation.

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  • The same day as the announcement of the terminations, Washington, D.C.-based Attorney Stephen A. Best said that Glenn and Jordan, who are his clients, had been wrongfully terminated by CB&I. �Gerald Glenn and Bob Jordan are being targeted by a results-oriented process where the reputations of honest men have been unfairly called into question,� said Best in a prepared statement. �These men have served this company faithfully for 17 years combined, and have repeatedly been denied an opportunity by the company to be fairly heard on these issues. These men are not going to hand over their good names for the sake of a misguided, biased and incomplete review.�

    To replace Glenn and Jordan, CB&I elected Philip K. Asherman as president and CEO and Jerry H. Ballengee as non-executive chairman. Asherman joined CB&I in 2001 and has served as executive vice president and chief marketing officer. He has more than 26 years of experience in the engineering and construction industry in a variety of project, operations management, and sales and marketing roles. Ballengee has been a member of CB&I�s Supervisory Board since 1997 and serves as the chairman of the nominating committee and a member of the corporate governance committee and audit committee.

    CB&I also announced on February 3 that it will issue a revised earnings and operations guidance for the year ending Dec. 31, 2005 and withdrawing all previous guidance issued by the company. When given, the guidance will be subject to closing the books of the company for 2005 and completion of the audit committee�s previously announced ongoing investigation, according to the company. CB&I anticipates holding a conference call the week of Feb. 13, 2006 with further details. In the wake of these announcements, CB&I stock, which is traded on the New York Stock Exchange, fell nearly 25% in early trading on Monday, February 6.