First Call signs distribution agreements with five leading Canadian brokerage firms.

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 2, 1997--

Deacon Capital Corp., Griffiths McBurney & Partners, Peters & Co.

Limited, Research Capital, and Sprott Securities,

now contribute to FIRST CALL Notes

Five leading Canadian brokers -- Deacon Capital Corp., Griffiths McBurney & Partners, Peters & Co. Limited, Research Capital, and Sprott Securities - now distribute their morning meeting notes and intra-day research broadcasts electronically and in real-time to their clients over FIRST CALL Notes. These agreements bring the total number of Canadian brokers contributing to Notes to 19.

Notes offers real-time, electronic delivery of commingled morning meeting comments, intra-day research broadcasts and special equity notes from over 200 sell-side institutions worldwide. More than 1,700 institutional money management firms use Notes. There is an average of 1,250 notes per day and a peak of 2,800 notes per day during quarterly earnings report periods. Notes is available at users' desktops through a LAN via Microsoft Windows, through a dedicated First Call terminal, through FIRST CALL On Call -- a dial-up method, and via third party distributors.

"Servicing our clients is our main priority," said Richard Stoneman, Director of Research at Deacon Capital Corp. "That is why we have chosen to deliver our research to them electronically and in real-time using First Call."

"There has been an increasing demand for electronic delivery of research in the marketplace recently," said Gregory Misztela, Director of Research at Griffiths McBurney & Partners. "By partnering with First Call, we now can meet that demand."

"We are pleased to be a contributor to FIRST CALL Notes," said Wilfred A. Gobert, Managing Director of Research at Peters & Co. Limited. "This is evidence of our commitment to be on the leading edge of technology."

"The feedback we have received from our clients to date has been excellent," said Rik Parkhill, Executive Vice President - Institutional Equities at Research Capital. "They are thrilled to no longer have to rummage through piles of faxes to find the one page that they need."

"We are pleased to offer our clients real-time electronic access to our morning meeting notes," said Marko Pencak, Vice President of Research at Sprott Securities. "FIRST CALL Notes enables us to distribute our research to our institutional clients in an effective and efficient manner."

"We are delighted that such prominent firms are now distributing their morning meeting notes and intra-day research broadcasts over Notes," said Milan Popadich, Managing Director of First Call's Canadian Division. "They are a welcome addition to the high caliber research already available over the service."

Deacon Capital Corp. is an independent Canadian brokerage firm with institutional, private client and corporate finance divisions. The company's investment advice and research are focused on specialized areas of expertise. Effective investment recommendations and corporate underwritings enhance the firm's long-term relationships with its clients. A wholly-owned subsidiary in the United States (a NASD member), plus European associates, complement Deacon's activities in Canada.

Griffiths McBurney & Partners serves the needs of institutional investors through its equity sales, trading, research and investment banking operations. The firm, established in March 1995, has grown to include 28 partners and a staff of 60 with offices in Toronto, Montreal and Calgary. Griffiths McBurney's research group brings a growth oriented and idea driven approach to the analysis of Canadian equities. Their research focuses primarily on the natural resource, technology, biotechnology/pharmaceutical, environmental service, and specialized industrial sectors - areas the firm believes offer the best prospects for growth among Canadian investments.

Peters & Co. Limited is an independent Canadian investment dealer with equity sales, trading, research and corporate finance, specializing in oil and gas securities for institutional equity investors. A broad range of services is offered to raise capital for corporate clients and to provide financial advice to corporate and government clients. Through its corporate finance group, the firm structures, manages and markets private placements and public offerings of debt and equity securities for corporate issuers. These services are provided to a diverse clientele of small and large corporations located primarily in western Canada.

Research Capital Corp., an independent mid-sized investment dealer with nearly 70 years of experience, is based in Toronto and has offices in Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver and New York. The entirely employee-owned company with a staff of over 150 has seats on the Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Alberta Stock Exchanges. Research Capital's institutional equity department is comprised of 23 analysts, sales, trading and research personnel who cover a number of major industry groups, including oil & gas, mines & minerals, real estate, high technology, telecommunications, environmental, transportation and consumer products. The firm publishes reports and commentary on over 120 publicly listed companies. Research Capital has consistently been ranked among the top mid-cap research houses in Canada.

With offices across Canada and seats on all of the country's major stock exchanges, Sprott Securities is able to provide full service to and close relationships with its corporate and investor clients nationwide. Its intimate understanding of Canadian equities has led the company to serve as a specialist to a growing number of foreign investors. Sprott Securities is committed to providing astute business analysis and sound investment advice, based on tested instincts and through investigative research. The firm's analysts provide specialized in-depth knowledge of several important industry sectors. Sprott Securities' strength is not to know a little about a lot of stocks, but to know a great deal about a select few. As a result, the company's analysts are able to advise investor clients on undervalued and overvalued situations with exceptional accuracy, reliability and timeliness.

First Call Corp. is the premier source of real-time, commingled research, earnings estimates and corporate information serving the worldwide financial community. In addition to the information available over Notes, First Call also offers its customers delivery of corporate financial news releases from more than 1,400 companies. Other First Call products include timely earnings estimates on more than 17,000 companies as provided by leading research firms; a fundamentals database covering 6,900 public companies; and a recommendations database that compiles individual buy/sell/hold recommendations from Wall Street analysts. First Call is also a leading electronic distributor of full-text equity research reports from 82 of the world's most prestigious sell-side firms through its FIRST CALL Research Direct, as well as a leader in delivery of commingled research, news and commentary on the fixed income markets.

Boston-based First Call, which launched its first product in 1985, is part of Thomson Financial Services, a leading provider of quality financial information, research, analysis and software products to the worldwide financial and corporate communities.

CONTACT: Lisa Myre, First Call Canada -- 416-777-9112

Faye Fardshisheh, First Call -- 617-856-1158