Thomson Financial Services Positions First Call Corp. to Provide Unparalleled Solutions to Institutional Buy- and Sell-Side Markets.

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 11, 1999--

Services of Technimetrics Inc., CDA/Spectrum and CDA/Investnet

Targeting Global Institutional Buy- and Sell-Side

Markets Now Integrated With First Call

As part of Thomson Financial Services' (TFS) commitment to a customer-centric approach and a vertical market strategy, the institutional offerings of Technimetrics Inc., CDA/Spectrum and CDA/Investnet are being integrated under the First Call umbrella. First Call Corp. now is uniquely positioned to provide complete, unparalleled workflow and information solutions to the institutional buy- and sell-side markets worldwide. First Call will continue its comprehensive distribution strategy by making its data available to its sister companies targeting other vertical markets, such as the consumer, corporate and investor relations markets.

"We are very excited about this latest venture as it is a natural extension of our overall strategy, which is to offer complete solutions to institutional investors and brokerage firms worldwide," said Brent Delehey, president of First Call Corp. "This is also evidence of TFS' commitment to providing comprehensive services by leveraging the strengths and assets of its existing companies."

"This news from First Call shows they are moving in the right direction," said Carolyn Moses, director of Global Equity Research at Lehman Brothers. "As part of Thomson Financial, First Call has exciting and diverse resources at its disposal. It's great to see that it is taking advantage of these resources to meet the ever-changing and complex information demands of the institutional markets, both in the broking and investing communities."

In addition to its industry-standard research offerings, First Call's suite of solutions now includes:

--Technimetrics' Client Management Services - enables brokerage firms to accurately and efficiently target their research and sales efforts to appropriate money managers and analysts

--CDA/Spectrum's database of global securities ownership information - reveals global institutional equity and fixed income ownership positions. It also identifies potential buyers and sellers of a given security. This database is compiled from a variety of global sources, including SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) filings such as SEC form 13F.

--CDA/Investnet - tracks and analyzes the trading activities and stock holdings of officers, directors and other insiders of public companies.

By integrating Technimetrics' services with First Call products, such as Full Circle (press release issued on April 20, 1998), First Call will be able to provide brokerage firms with a complete workflow solution. This will encompass the creation, production, targeting, distribution and readership monitoring of broker-sourced equity and fixed income research. The accurate targeting of research reports will benefit buy-side institutions as well, since they will no longer receive research that is not relevant to their needs.

The information available from CDA/Spectrum and CDA/Investnet also is a great complement to First Call's existing suite of products. Institutional money managers can find out what analysts are saying about a particular stock or bond, and can then identify the current owners, as well as the potential buyers and sellers of that security. They also can identify trends resulting from insider trading activities.

First Call Corp. is the leading source of real-time, commingled research, earnings estimates and corporate information for the worldwide financial community. More than 4,700 financial institutions and corporations use First Call's services. Money managers and brokers worldwide rely on First Call's products for the real-time delivery of commingled equity and fixed income research, corporate news, and quantitative data, as well as for sell-side workflow solutions and the internal distribution of research. First Call's research services, competitive intelligence product, and usage reports provide value-added links between the buy-side and the sell-side worldwide. For more information, visit First Call's Web site at www.firstcall.com.

Thomson Financial Services (TFS) is a leading provider of information services and work solutions to the worldwide financial community. TFS, part of The Thomson Corporation (TTC), has 40 offices located throughout the world and employs more than 7,000 people dedicated to the success of its clients. With annual revenues approaching US$6 billion, TTC is one of the world's leading information and publishing companies. TTC's common shares are traded on the Toronto, Montreal and London stock exchanges. For more information, visit the TFS Web site at www.tfn.com.