BCE Emergis Expands Its Reach in the U.S. Health Insurance Industry.

Business Editors

MONTREAL and ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 28,2001

Builds on rich network of customer relationships

BCE Emergis' eHealth Solution Group today expanded its reach into the health insurance and service provider arena, through the acquisition of Associates for Health Care (AHC), a leader in health care cost management in Wisconsin. This move further strengthens BCE Emergis' national network of healthcare providers, affording Emergis with a strong regional base to further expand its presence and increase the penetration of its eHealth-specific solutions and services.

BCE Emergis has acquired AHC for a total consideration of US $30 million, US $10 million of which was paid in cash at closing on June 28, 2001. The remaining US $20 million will be paid in three equal cash or share installments over a three-year period at the closing anniversary dates. For fiscal 2000, AHC revenues totaled US $14.8 million.

"The true value in acquiring AHC is the expanded reach it provides us, the ability to offer our eHealth services to a broader network and the fact that it continues to place us at the core of electronic health transactions. Well positioned and well managed, AHC is the most experienced and efficient player in its market," said Christian Trudeau, president and chief operating officer of BCE Emergis. "It builds on our strategy of bringing the benefits of electronic business to the health insurance industry and to AHC's network of providers. We look forward to working closely with their customers and to having them benefit from our eHealth leadership."

AHC has developed a rich network of customer relationships in Wisconsin: the contracted group of customers includes the state's finest physicians, hospitals and other health care specialists which together provide services to over 500,000 plan participants, with a network of 117 hospitals, 19,855 physician and other specialists and 1,904 ancillary medical facilities serving over 7,500 corporate clients. AHC interfaces with 220 payors including some 50 insurance companies as well as third party administrators (TPAs) and self-administered groups with 366 administrative offices. In 2000, the AHC network managed 2.5 million claims for a total value of over US $550 million.

The AHC network will complement eHealth Solutions Group's existing US coverage, which is comprised of some 200 insurance carriers, 3000 hospitals and over 200,000 physicians and 14,500 ancillary medical facilities. In 2000, the eHealth Solutions Group handled over US $ 4 billion worth of claims.

About BCE Emergis

The BCE Emergis eHealth Solutions Group serves as a financial and technology interface between health care payors (insurance companies) and health care providers (hospitals and physicians) to produce cost savings and other benefits for payors and their beneficiaries and to improve claims submission efficiency for providers.

BCE Emergis is a premier B2B e-commerce infrastructure provider, strategically focusing on market leadership in the transaction-intensive eHealth and financial services sectors. By layering technologically advanced e-commerce services on existing Internet-based platforms, Emergis offers its customers increasing value in their e-commerce adoption and ever-increasing levels of sophisticated services. These scalable solutions electronically transform business processes, such as buying, selling, invoicing and payment, and enable companies to succeed in the web-centric, cost-driven, and highly competitive global Internet economy. BCE Emergis' customers include leading North American banks and insurance companies. The Company's shares (TSE:IFM) are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange and included in the TSE 100 composite index.

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements that reflect the current views and/or expectations of BCE Emergis with respect to its performance, business and future events. Such statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Actual results and events may vary significantly.