Holding(s) in Company

TR-1: NOTIFICATION OF MAJOR INTEREST IN SHARESi

1. Identity of the issuer or the underlying issuerof existing shares to which voting rights areattached: ii

Smith Group Plc

2 Reason for the notification (please tick the appropriate box or boxes):

An acquisition or disposal of voting rights

X

An acquisition or disposal of qualifying financial instruments which may result in the acquisition of shares already issued to which voting rights are attached

An acquisition or disposal of instruments with similar economic effect to qualifying financial instruments

An event changing the breakdown of voting rights

Other (please specify):

3. Full name of person(s) subject to thenotification obligation: iii

TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC on behalf of the accounts listed in Exhibit B

Teachers Advisors, Inc. on behalf of the funds

Listed in Exhibit C

4. Full name of shareholder(s)  (if different from 3.):iv

See Number 3

5. Date of the transaction and date onwhich the threshold is crossed orreached: v

10/26/11

6. Date on which issuer notified:

10/27/11

7. Threshold(s) that is/are crossed orreached: vi, vii

3%

8. Notified details:

A: Voting rights attached to shares viii, ix

Class/type ofshares

if possible usingthe ISIN CODE

Situation previousto the triggeringtransaction

Resulting situation after the triggering transaction

NumberofShares

NumberofVotingRights

Numberof shares

Number of votingrights

% of voting rights x

Direct

Direct xi

Indirect xii

Direct

Indirect

GB00B1WY2338

11,848,767

11,848,767

10,944,881

10,944,881

0

2.788%

0%

B: Qualifying Financial Instruments

Resulting situation after the triggering transaction

Type of financialinstrument

Expirationdate xiii

Exercise/Conversion Period xiv

Number of votingrights that may beacquired if theinstrument isexercised/ converted.

% of votingrights

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

C: Financial Instruments with similar economic effect to Qualifying Financial Instruments xv, xvi

Resulting situation after the triggering transaction

Type of financialinstrument

Exercise price

Expiration date xvii

Exercise/Conversion period xviii

Number of voting rights instrument refers to

% of voting rights xix, xx

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Nominal

Delta

N/A

N/A

Total (A+B+C)

Number of voting rights

Percentage of voting rights

10,944,881

2.788%

9. Chain of controlled undertakings through which the voting rights and/or thefinancial instruments are effectively held, if applicable: xxi

The College Retirement Equities Fund ("CREF") hereby informs you that on October 26, 2011, CREF sold 903,886 shares of Smith Group Plc, bringing its total holdings in your company to 4,804,367 shares. CREF owns these shares through three of its investment accounts, the Stock Account, Global Equities Account and Social Choice Account. It is our understanding the total voting shares outstanding of Smith Group Plc are 392,531,299 bringing CREF's ownership in your company to a 1.224% level.

For your information, CREF is a U.S. based investment company, which is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). CREF has multiple investment accounts, each with separate investment objectives and policies. All assets in the accounts are beneficially owned by CREF, and all the accounts are managed by TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser.

Additionally, affiliates of CREF own 6,140,514 shares of Smith Group Plc. These holdings are owned by the TIAA-CREF Funds ("Funds"), and the TIAA-CREF Life Funds ("Life Funds"), each of which are SEC registered investment companies. The Funds and Life Funds are managed by Teachers Advisors, Inc., an SEC registered investment adviser that is affiliated with TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC. These affiliated funds, aggregated with those of CREF, own a total of 10,944,881 or 2.788% of the outstanding voting shares of your company. Because Teachers Advisors, Inc. and TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC follow the same policies when voting these funds, we are aggregating the holdings for purposes of this letter.

(See Exhibit A)

Proxy Voting:

10. Name of the proxy holder:

TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC/ Teachers Advisors, Inc.

11. Number of voting rights proxy holder will ceaseto hold:

N/A

12. Date on which proxy holder will cease to holdvoting rights:

N/A

13. Additional information:

None

14. Contact name:

Stuart R. Brunet

15. Contact telephone number:

+1-415-882-3711

EXHIBIT A.

TIAA-CREF

Summary of Holdings of Smiths Group PLC

Between October 25, 2011 - October 26, 2011

TIAA-CREF Investment Management LLC ("CREF")

Global Equities Account

Stock Account

Social Choice Account

Total CREF Holdings

Total CREF %

Holdings as of October 25, 2011

888,426

4,792,557

27,270

5,708,253

1.454%

Transactions as of October 26, 2011

-

(903,886)

-

(903,886)

-0.230%

Holdings as of October 26, 2011

888,426

3,888,671

27,270

4,804,367

1.224%

Teachers Advisors, Inc.

Aggregate Holding

TIAA-CREF International Equity Fund

TIAA-CREF Life International Equity Fund

TIAA-CREF Intl Equity Index Fund

Active Extension Fund V

Total Mutual Funds Holdings

Total Mutual Funds %

Total Holdings

Total %

Holdings as of October 25, 2011

5,829,801

218,324

92,389

0

6,140,514

1.564%

11,848,767

3.019%

Transactions as of October 26, 2011

-

-

-

-

-

0.000%

(903,886)

-0.230%

Holdings as of October 26, 2011

5,829,801

218,324

92,389

0

6,140,514

1.564%

10,944,881

2.788%

Total Voting Shares Outstanding

392,531,299