Sale of Interest

RNS Number:5523O
CSR Ld
12 December 2001



                     CSR SELLS DOWNER STAKE FOR $A59 MILLION

CSR Limited announced today that it had finalised the sale of its investment in 
the contract mining group Downer Group Ltd for a total of $A59 million, about 
A$5 million over book value.

CSR has been progressively selling its stake of 79 million Downer shares since 
early September. The sale was completed yesterday when a parcel of 44 million 
shares was sold to various local institutions, in conjunction with an equity 
placement by Downer.

The investment - which originally comprised around $A15 million in ordinary 
shares and $A35 million in convertible notes, with a coupon rate of 8% p.a. - 
was part of the proceeds to CSR from the divestment of its contract mining and 
civil contracting business to Downer in February 1999. Total proceeds, including
the sale of the Downer investment, are now around A$140 million.

"We are in the final stages of our transformation to an international building 
materials group and the sale of the Downer investment is a further step in the 
process," said managing director & CEO, Peter Kirby. "The original A$135 million
sale to Downer was satisfactory, and we are pleased that we have been able to 
deliver further value for CSR shareholders by holding this investment for a 
period.

"The Downer Group has performed well over the past two years and we wish 
managing director, Stephen Gillies, and his team well for the future."

For further information, please contact Debra Stirling on [phone] or 0419
476 546