RNS Number:6022D
KBC Advanced Technologies plc
01 October 2004

For Immediate Release



                         KBC Advanced Technologies plc
                            ("KBC" or "the Company")

                        KBC and AspenTech Settle Dispute
     Settlement resolves all outstanding legal issues between the companies

London, UK, and Cambridge, MA, US -1 October, 2004 - KBC Advanced Technologies
plc (LSE: KBC) ("KBC") and Aspen Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: AZPN) ("AspenTech")
today announced that they have agreed to settle all legal disputes between the
two companies in all jurisdictions.

As part of the settlement AspenTech recognises KBC's right to develop, market
and license HYSYS.Refinery (now marketed as Petro-SIM) and KBC recognises
AspenTech's right to develop, market and license Aspen RefSYSTM, their
respective refinery-wide simulation products. Additionally, AspenTech will
license to KBC Aspen HYSYSTM, Aspen PIMSTM and Aspen OrionTM for use as part of
its consulting services business. KBC will also be paid $3.75 million in lieu of
costs incurred in the dispute.

"We believe this settlement is in the best interests of our customers,
eliminating the uncertainty that this litigation has generated," said Peter
Close, CEO of KBC, and David McQuillin, President and CEO of AspenTech. "Both
companies can focus on developing and marketing their products independent of
each other and without fear of legal matters stifling proper market
competition."

                                    - Ends -

For further information, please contact:

KBC Advanced Technologies plc                          01932 236314
Peter Close, Chief Executive
Nick Stone, Finance Director

Weber Shandwick Square Mile                           020 7067 0700
Mike Kirk / Sarah MacLeod

Notes to Editors

About KBC
KBC Advanced Technologies plc is a leading independent consulting and services
group, delivering improvements in business performance and asset value to owners
and operators in the oil refining, petrochemical and processing industries
worldwide. KBC analyses plant operations and business processes, and recommends
changes that deliver material and measurable improvements in profitability. KBC
works in partnership with its clients and offers implementation services when
requested to assist them in realising financial benefits. In support of these
efforts, KBC makes extensive use of its proprietary process modelling and its
refinery-wide simulation technology. KBC provides strategic planning advice,
petroleum and chemical price forecasting, economic studies, capital project
reviews, and process engineering services to help clients find the most
cost-effective way to achieve their short- and long-term objectives. Formed in
1979, KBC has its principal offices in the UK, USA, Singapore, Japan, Russia,
and the Netherlands. For more information, visit www.kbcat.com.

About AspenTech
Aspen Technology, Inc. provides industry-leading software and implementation
services that enable process companies to increase efficiency and profitability.
AspenTech's engineering product line is used to design and improve plants and
processes, maximising returns throughout an asset's operating life. Its
manufacturing/supply chain product line allows companies to increase margins in
their plants and supply chains by managing customer demand, optimizing
production, and streamlining the delivery of finished products. These two
offerings are combined to create solutions for enterprise operations management
(EOM), integrated enterprise-wide systems that provide process manufacturers
with the capability to dramatically improve their operating performance. Over
1,500 leading companies already rely on AspenTech's software, including Aventis,
Bayer, BASF, BP, ChevronTexaco, Dow Chemical, DuPont, ExxonMobil, Fluor, Foster
Wheeler, GlaxoSmithKline, Shell, and Total. For more information, visit
www.aspentech.com.

Certain paragraphs of this press release contain forward-looking statements for
purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. For this purpose, any statement using the term "will,"
"should," "could," "anticipates," "believes" or a comparable term is a
forward-looking statement. Actual results may vary significantly from
AspenTech's expectations based on a number of risks and uncertainties,
including: AspenTech's lengthy sales cycle which makes it difficult to predict
quarterly operating results; fluctuations in AspenTech's quarterly operating
results; AspenTech's dependence on customers in cyclical industries; adverse
global economic conditions; AspenTech's ability to raise additional capital as
required; the FTC's investigation of the Hyprotech acquisition; the outcome of
AspenTech's restructuring plans; intense competition; AspenTech's need to
develop and market products successfully; and other risk factors described from
time to time in AspenTech's periodic reports and registration statements filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. AspenTech cannot guarantee any
future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements. Moreover,
neither AspenTech nor anyone else assumes responsibility for the accuracy and
completeness of any forward-looking statements. AspenTech undertakes no
obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of
this press release.



                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END
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