National Post du lieu suivant : Toronto, Ontario, Canada • 42

FINANCIAL POST, WEDNESDAY, JULY 5, 2000 I Placer Dome faces ultimatum I in Venezuela B.C. COURT REFUSES TO KILLWESTAR LAWSUIT S500-MILLI0N ACTION IN NEGOTIATIONS Gold miner given 15 days to agree on Las Cristinas project Dome does not want to reactivate the project, even on a small scale, CVG could be open to find offers from other companies interested in developing Las Cristinas," said Lunin Villa, a spokeswoman for CVG. Under the terms of the partnership, CVG can start legal proceedings to rescind Placer Dome's rights to the property if the project is suspended for more than 12 months. Placer Dome said it had presented CVG with a series of proposals that would enable the Canadian group to retain its rights without immediately restarting construction. However, Placer Dome refused to provide details of the proposals.

"If we can't build it, it's unlikely that anybody can," the company said. Last month, Placer Dome said it intended to write off its investment in Las Cristinas and reclassify the property's 7-4 million ounces of gold reserves as resources. Mr Taylor said at the time that the company wanted to maintain the property until technology or market conditions improved. Las Cristinas has been the source of numerous headaches for Placer Dome. The company was involved in a protracted legal battle with Crystallex International a Vancouver-based mining group that claimed ownership rights to the property.

Placer Dome eventually gained control, but only after the case was decided by Venezuela's supreme court in 1998. The CVG's decision could pave the way for Crystallex to enter the project, winning by default what various court cases have failed to give it. The court said last month it could agree to review Crystallex's case. Financial Times with file from Bloomberg News By Andy Webb-Vidal and Scott Morrison Placer Dome North America's third-largest gold producer, said yesterday it was negotiating to retain rights to develop Venezuela's Las Cristinas gold deposit without committing itself to doing so. The company was responding to threats by its Venezuelan partner, which said the Canadian group must agree within 15 working days to develop the project one of the biggest undeveloped gold deposits in the world or risk losing the rights to the concession.

Corporacion Venezolana de Guayana, the Venezuelan heavy industries state holding company that controls 30 of the project, has said it could award the concession to another partner if Placer Dome is not willing to proceed. Placer Dome owns the rights to 70 of the project. CVG's position was prompted by Placer Dome's announcement last month that it would not restart construction on the mine because the project would not be economically viable at current bullion prices. The company halted construction of the mine in July 1999 as it became apparent gold prices would not rebound. CVG's ultimatum followed a meeting in Venezuela on Monday between Jay Taylor, president and chief executive of Placer Dome, and Antonio Lopez Reina, president of CVG.

"This implies that if Placer CIBC, Pattison say issue in Samos case settled by court By Drew Hasselback VANCOUVER The British Columbia Court of Appeal has dismissed the latest attempt by Jimmy Pattison and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce to throw out a $500-million lawsuit accusing them of fraud in the reorganization of Westar Group Inc. Mr. Pattison and the CIBC previously asked a lower court to dismiss the suit launched by Samos Investments an investment firm controlled by Peter Pollen, the former mayor of Victoria. But last February, Mr. Justice -Robert Bauman of the B.C.

Supreme Court denied that request and let the case stand. In April, Mr. Pattison and the CIBC challenged Judge Bau-man's ruling before the B.C. Court of Appeal. The appeal was dismissed yesterday in a two-to-one decision.

The case stems from a 1997 "going private" transaction following the restructuring of Westar. Samos claims that Mr. Pattison and the defendants engaged in a "fraudulent civil conspiracy" to boost Mr. Pattison's stake in the company. Westar's restructuring plan was before Judge Bruce Cohen at a hearing in 1997.

He approved it following a 25-minute hearing. In the appeal, lawyers for Mr. Pattison and the bank argued the Samos' claim is "fundamentally flawed" because the 1997 transaction received court approval. The lawyers said the Samos lawsuit therefore amounts to a "collateral attack" on an issue that has already been settled by the court. A dissenting judge agreed with Mr.

Pattison and the bank. But the majority ruled that while Judge Cohen's addressed the valuation of Westar, he did not address the way shares were issued. The judges said that since the conspiracy allegation centres on the way that the shares were issued, the lawsuit is not an attack against the 1997 ruling by Judge Cohen. Financial Post PHIL CARPENTER NATIONAL POST Ivanhoe says the Montreal Eaton Centre is one of the country's top retail performers. Ivanhoe buys Eaton Centre in Montreal Microsoft Canada Co.

Cadillac gets full ownership of two suburban malls If i I i It owns or manages 51 shopping centres in Eastern Canada and the United States with total leasable area of 23 million square feet and valued at about $7-bil-lion. It also controls more than 20 million square feet of office, commercial and industrial space in North America, Europe and Mexico worth nearly $3-billion through subsidiary SITQ. Ivanhoe wants to take 67-owned Cambridge Shopping Centres Ltd. private with a $700-million buyout proposed in May. Cambridge's directors said yesterday Ivanhoe's offer of $12.50 a share for the minority shares is "financially inadequate," based on the advice of its committee of independent directors, but it won't make a specific recommendation.

Cambridge has 40 shopping centres in Canada. Financial Post give details. Many potential out-of-town tenants don't realize the mall and the nine-storey Eaton building are contiguous and linked at basement and street levels, making close integration possible, she said. talks are under way with several principal tenants, but leases have yet to be signed. Les Boutiques San Francisco Inc.

wants to open a Les Ailes de la Mode unit in the Eaton Building, and Sears Canada Inc. is reported to be negotiating to locate one of its new Eatons stores there. The upper four or five floors may be converted to a hotel, say some developers, but they estimate the redevelopment project will cost more than $50-million and take two years to complete. Ivanhoe has other shopping centres in suburban Montreal and Quebec City. Memotec shares rise sharply on takeover talk TSE PROBING ONE TRADE By Robert Gibbens MONTREAL Ivanhoe Inc.

yesterday bought the Montreal Eaton Centre from Toronto's Cadillac Fairview giving it a huge frontage on the Ste-Catherine Street shopping strip. Ivanhoe, the main property arm of the Caisse de depot et placement, also owns the old Eaton building adjacent to the Eaton Centre and the Place Montreal Trust, half a block away. The price paid for the Eaton Centre was not disclosed, but real estate analysts said the 10-year-old mall is worth about $150-mil-lion. As part of the deal, Ivanhoe sold Cadillac its 32.45 stake in two big suburban shopping malls Carrefour Laval and Les Promenades Saint Bruno where Eaton's had been the anchor tenant. Cadillac now owns 100 of these two malls and plans to develop them further.

Cadillac bought it from a banking group in 1997 for what was reported to be $115-milllion. It has 175 stores and is linked to the subway and several other shopping centres by underground concourses. Tenants in the Eaton Centre will remain unchanged, but the mall will be closely integrated with the Eaton building when it is redeveloped, said Rene Tremblay, president of Ivanhoe. "The mall is one of Canada's top performers with $670 sales per square foot and a first-rate investment for us." Ivanhoe will announce its redevelopment plan for the old Eaton building "in the next few weeks" and also reveal the identities of key future tenants, said Helene Brault, communications director. "ItH be something truly exceptional," she said, but refused to Claudio Sllvestrl Director of Small Business and Channels Simon Witts, President of Microsoft Canada is pleased to announce the appointment of Claudio Silvestri, Director of Small Business and Channels.

In his new role, Mr. Silvestri will be responsible for all aspects of how Microsoft and its partners address the Small Business market as well as for all channel relationships that serve the entire business market Microsoft is well known for providing innovative and valuable Small Business solutions with products like the Small Business Edition of Microsoft Office and the Microsoft Small Business Server. Mr. Silvestri will help extend the ease of access of these and other technologies to small businesses and their chosen IT service providers through the future launch of a Canadian version of www.bcentral.com. Mr.

Silvestri will be responsible for Microsoft relationships with its Solution Providers, Large Account Resellers, Distributors, Direct Marketing Resellers and OEM partners where he will drive product sales and channel training across Canada. Mr. Silvestri will be a member of the Senior Management Team, helping guide Microsoft's corporate vision and direction in Canada. Mr. Silvestri comes to Microsoft Canada from Compaq Canada, where he served as Vice President eBusiness Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

During his 12 years with Compaq Canada, he held various management roles including Manager, Systems Engineering and Director, Information Management Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq is the worldwide leader in software for personal and business computing The company offers a wide range of products and services, each designed to make it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of computing every day. Microsoft' EVERY THURSDAY IN NATIONAL POST By Michael Lewis Shares in Memotec Communications Inc. nearly doubled in Toronto trading yesterday on speculation that the maker of devices that route data along communications networks is about to be acquired. Stock in the Montreal-based company, with a market value of about $35-miliion, jumped to $2.50 from $1.50 before trading was halted. The company said the Toronto Stock Exchange is investigating at least one trade.

Jacques Demanche, chief financial officer, said Memotec has been in talks with an unidentified phone-equipment vendor about the possibility of a business combination, but he said the suitor is not a large multinational company. That could rule out such telephone gear makers as Brampton, Nortel Networks Corp. from the list of potential buyers. Mr. Demanche said it's likely talks will wrap up within a few weeks.

Financial Post TO SUBSCRIBE CALL 1-800-668-POST EXT.30 PHIL CARPENTER NATIONAL POST Eaton Centre links to the Eaton building, already owned by Ivanhoe..