National Post from Toronto, Ontario, Canada • 51

NEWS 51 The Financial Post Wednesday, April 10, 1996 Business Bries ce to launch Intranet products yuan ttfgital Equipment MCI Communications Corp. and Mi-c-osoft Corp. said yesterday they are forming an alliance to deliver "Intranet" products and services to business customers. Intranets are private networks that mirror the global Internet, with Web sites, bulletin boards, E-mail and so on. The new products include electronic mail and messaging services, electronic bulletin boards and sales tracking.

These will provide business information to employees and customers via the World Wide Web, but anyone who is not part of the internal network will be blocked from access. Microsoft's Internet Information Server and customized versions of its Internet Explorer software will be included in the Intranet services. Reuter 1 mediator is expected to try to get negotiations moving again in a few CANADA provide application maintenance services. Reuter Hearings scheduled on Westcoast purchase The National Energy Board will hold a public hearing on the application by Vancouver-based West-coast Energy Inc. to acquire and operate about 172 kilometres of natural gas pipelines in northeastern British Columbia.

The hearing will begin on June 17 in Vancouver. The purchase is worth about $30 million. Dow Jones Cambior to do more work on Argentine deposit Mining giant Cambior Inc. of Val d'Or, has completed a pre-feasibility study for the El Pachon copper project in Argentina and its board has agreed to exploration continuing. Reserves at El Pachon are estimated at 687 million tonnes, grading 0.63 copper.

The Canadian base-metals miner paid million for 40 of Pachon SA Min-era from Compania Minera San Jose SA in 1994 and is completing the funding commitment of million required to acquire an extra 10. The company said mining of the deposit would be based on an initial milling capacity of 40,000 tonnes a day and an initial investment of about million. Reuter Toronto shelf labels to invade U.S. Telepanel Systems the Toronto-based manufacturer of electronic shelf labels, has signed a deal with Fleming Cos. that will see the labels installed in U.S.

su permarkets. Fleming, a major food marketing and distribution company, serves more than 3,500 supermarkets in 42 states and operates about 370 company-owned stores. Under the deal, Telepanel will see its systems installed in in 50 Fleming customer sites over the next 24 months. Dow Jones Spectral Diagnostics gets distribution deal Toronto-based Spectral Diagnostics Inc. has signed a distribution agreement for northern Europe.

Tamro Group will handle its cardiac diagnostic products in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway and the Baltic states. Spectral said the Tamro pact is the first of several distribution arrangements it expects to announce this year. Dow Jones Abacan Resource joins TSE 300 The Toronto Stock Exchange is adding Abacan Resource a Calgary oil and gas company, to the TSE 300 composite index before today's opening. At the same time, it will remove Kerr Addison Mines Ltd. from the TSE 300.

Earlier yesterday, Noranda Inc. completed its previously announced takeover of the Toronto-based zinc miner. The TSE said Abacan will also replace Kerr Addison on the TSE 200 index. Dow Jones QSound in deal with Microsoft Audio-technology specialist QSound Labs Inc. of Calgary has signed a licensing agreement with Microsoft which will see the U.S.

software giant use QSound's 3D audio technology in a personal computer game now be- ing developed. The new video game is expected to be released in time for the 1996 Christmas season. Dow Jones UNITED STATES Nabisco hires executive for international unit Nabisco Holdings Corp. has named Charles Lieppe president and chief executive officer of its Nabisco International unit Lieppe, 51, succeeds James Postl, who was promoted to president of Nabisco's U.S. cookie and cracker unit in December.

Lieppe was president and chief executive of Berol a Tennessee-based school- and art-supplies company. He will oversee the production and sale of Nabisco products outside the U.S. Bloomberg Alcoholics more likely to die from tobacco People treated for alcoholism are more likely to die of tobacco-related illnesses such as cancer than alcohol-related problems such as liver disease, a new study has found. Dr. Richard Hurt of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, and his colleagues studied the records of patients admitted to the in-patient addiction program for alcoholism and all other addictions except tobacco use.

Of those who died, 50.9 succumbed to cardiovascular disease, cancer, or other tobacco-related ailments; 34.1 died from chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, or other alcohol-related diseases. Bloomberg days. Robert GibbensFP Credit watch lifted from Fairfax Financial Standard Poor's has taken the senior debt of Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. off credit watch and affirmed its triple-B-plus rating. The credit watch was imposed in February after the financial services holding company announced it wanted to buy Skan-dia America Reinsurance Corp.

for million. The move follows recent talks between and management at Fairfax and Skan-dia. "Standard Poor's believes Fairfax's acquisition of Skandia America, if approved, further will diversify Fairfax's earnings base while keeping debt-service levels in line with this rating," said New York-based Dominion Bond Rating Service lifted its review of Fairfax last month. Susan YeiunFP Toronto eye-surgery firm to help run Miami clinic TLC The Laser Center Inc. is to co-manage ColumbiaHCA Healthcare refractive eye-surgery clinic in North Miami Beach, Fla.

Toronto-based TLC, which already runs seven refractive eye-surgery clinics in Canada and the U.S., uses laser surgery to correct nearsightedness and astigmatism. About 150 ophthalmologists and optometrists will use the Miami centre or refer patients to it. TLC will receive all revenue and pay ColumbiaHCA a fee. Bloomberg DMR Group gets contracts worth $10M Montreal-based DMR Group Inc. has won contracts worth more than $10 million to develop a large-value transfer system for the Canadian Payments Association, including operating and maintaining it for five years.

System development will begin this month. Once implemented and accepted by CPA in 1997, the system will be operated by CDSL Canada Ltd. from one of its data centres, while DMR will Banks lend tfo entrepreneurs TWo major banks are contributing $5.5 million to the Canadian Youth Foundation to encourage young entrepreneurs. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Royal Bank of Canada are kicking in the funds for loans to people aged 18 to 29 who want to start their own businesses. The loans of $7,600 to $15,000 will be at prime lending rates but no collateral is needed.

Instead, the funding will be based on the approval of a business plan by a foundation advisory board. Holger Kluge, CIBC president, personal and commercial bank, said the program hopes to encourage the creation of 5,000 businesses, each employing two to five people, over the next five years. Alan ToulinFP Toronto's Inn on the Park sold for $13M The Inn on the Park, a landmark hotel in Toronto, has been sold for $13 million to a Vancouver-based international hotel investor. Real estate brokerage house Jones Lang Wooton, the company that handled the transaction, would not disclose the name of the buyer. The 568-room hotel was owned by Four Seasons Hotels Inc.

1 I Susanne CraigFP Iron Ore Co. still shipping despite strike Iron Ore Co. of Canada said it can continue shipping pellets and concentrates to world steelmakers for several weeks from its stockpile at Sept lies, despite a week-old strike that has closed its big Labrador City mines and processing plants. More than 1,400 workers represented by the United Steelworkers of America struck the mine and plants after twice rejecting their negotiators' recommendation to accept a new contract with improved pension benefits, said IOC spokesman Jean Pierre Mal-tais. A Newfoundland government Weather for April 10, 1996 Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation.

City Forecast Hifhs City Forecast High Calgary rain 12 Los Angeles sunny 23 Charlottetown snow 2 Miami partly sunny 26 Edmonton partly sunny 9 New Orleans sunny 23 Fredericton snow 2 New York partly sunny 8 Halifax snow 3 Orlando sunny 23 Montreal snow 4 San Francisco partly sunny 18 Ottawa flurries 4 Tampa sunny 21 Quebec rain 5 Washington partly sunny 9 Fsegina rain 17 SaintJohn snow 2 INTERNATIONAL St. John partly sunny -4 Toronto partly sunny 5 Amsterdam partly sunny 14 Vancouver rain 14 Athens partly sunny 17 Victoria showers 14 Beijing pally sunny 14 Whitehorse partly sunny 6 Berlin partly sunny 15 Winnipeg rain 18 Bermuda partly sunny 23aft Yellowknife partly sunny -6 Brussels partly sunny 17 Geneva partly sunny 17 Hong Kong cloudy 24 UNITED STATES Jerusalem sunny 18 Atlanta sunny 18 London showers 15 Boston snow 4 Madrid sunny 22 Chicago sunny 13 Moscow partly sunny 13 Dallas sunny 27 Paris partly sunny 16 Denver partly sunny 27 Rome partly sunny 18 Detroit sunny 9 Seoul partly sunny 12 Houston sunny 27 Sydney partly sunny 24 Las Vegas sunny 28 Tokyo partly sunny 15 StaMM T-8tormi Ram FVrtM Snow torn AccuWeather. Inc All maps, forecasts and data provided by AccuWeather, Inc. 1996 ACROSS 1 Sleep interrupter 6 Pound of poetry 10 Chest protectors, of a sort 14 Civilian clothes 15 Dock 16 Earthnut 17 City on the Rhone 18 Lasting power 20 Masterson 21 Positive 23 Harper's 57 Encore! 60 Developed 62 Juan's wife 64 Give off 65 Place for laps 66 Impressionist artist 67 Code symbols 68 Muscle quality 69 Turns, at Stowe SOLUTION TO TUESDAY'S PUZZLE 36 Say with authority 40 Wrongs 41 Constables hang here 43 Planetary lead-in 45 Cherishes 47 Wealth and health 49 Bounce on one's knee 51 Adjust 53 Grew less green 54 Office comm. 55 Military group 56 A billion years 57 Twisting stem 58 List part 59 Entrance exams: Abbr.

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