-- NEW CANADIAN, U.S. SECURITY PRINTING IN FULL OPERATION -- ASHTON-POTTER PRINTS FIRST OFFSET/INTAGLIO POSTAGE STAMPS ON NEW COMBINATION PRESS.

WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 3, 1995--Ashton-Potter Inc. (U.S.A.), a unit of MDC Corporation, the largest private sector supplier of postage stamps to the U.S. postal service, today announced that it has begun full production of offset/intaglio postage stamps on the $6 million combination press recently installed at the company's plant in Williamsville near Buffalo.

The new press--one of three in the world and the only one owned by private industry--is capable of printing up to six million stamps per hour and up to six offset and three intaglio colours in a single pass.

The production shakedown on the new equipment was accomplished thanks to around-the-clock work by the dedicated Ashton-Potter production team led by Ashton-Potter General Manager Barry Switzer and MDC Executive Vice-President, Peter Lewis.

Ashton-Potter (U.S.A.) is now fully operational in a newly occupied 51,000 square foot facility with state-of-the-art printing and finishing equipment. All functions are handled internally, without external suppliers.

"Our security printing operations on both sides of the 49th parallel are now fully operational with new equipment and new surroundings," said Miles S. Nadal, President and Chief Executive Officer of MDC Corporation.

"With the help of a newly expanded senior international sales staff, we are now actively persuing new contracts for postage stamps and a variety of other security printing products in North America and around the world."

Ashton-Potter Canada Ltd., of Toronto has recently occupied the 63,000 square foot facility it shares with Global Graphic Communications, another unit of MDC's Security and Specialty Printing division. In fulfilling a postage stamp contract for Canada Post, Ashton-Potter Canada also benefits from in-house access to a complete range of printing and finishing technology, including a new $3 million six-colour sheet fed press capable of printing 15,000 impressions per hour.

Ashton-Potter's expanding international sales staff is working in conjunction with that of Mercury Graphics Corporation of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan -- a leading world supplier of high-end event tickets, magnetic strip airline boarding passes, and lottery products recently acquired by MDC -- to further expand the divisional presence around the world in a number of product categories.

MDC Corporation is a publicly traded multi-disciplined communications organization with a strong record of growth trough three operating divisions: Security and Specialty Printing, Direct Marketing and Home Shopping, and Communications and Marketing Services. MDC's shares are traded on The Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol MDZ.A, and the American Stock Exchange under the symbol MDQ.

CONTACT: MDC Corporation

Miles S. Nadal, 416/960-9000