8 January, 1997

Estec Acquires Engineering Company

The management and directors of ESTec Systems Corp. ("ESTec") and Allan R. Nelson Engineering Ltd. ("ARNE") are pleased to announce a share purchase agreement whereby ESTec purchases Allan R. Nelson Engineering 1997 Inc. ("ARNE 1997"). The agreement allows ESTec to purchase all the issued and outstanding shares of ARNE 1997 from ARNE for C$465,000. ESTec will pay the purchase price by issuing 3.1 million common shares of ESTec at a price of $0.15 per common share. The purchase agreement is subject to shareholder approval and acceptance by the Vancouver Stock Exchange.

The above transaction is not at arms length. ARNE currently owns 32% of the outstanding common shares of ESTec and the primary shareholders of ARNE, being Allan R. Nelson and Margaret H. Nelson, also hold a further 15% of ESTec's issued and outstanding common shares.

Allan R. Nelson Engineering (1997) Inc. is comprised of a group of professionals who have provided engineering services to the Mining, Construction, and Petroleum Industries since 1966. The company's experience is primarily in the areas of drilling rig design and construction, heavy equipment design, mining equipment and appraisal, general machinery design and insurance investigations and appraisals.

The acquisition of all the issued and outstanding shares of ARNE 1997 serves a number of purposes for both companies in terms of business development. For ARNE 1997 this will entail business development activities in the areas of marketing and product development. ESTec management believes there are significant opportunities to improve the level of sales generated by ARNE 1997 in the forensic and certification areas of the business. The strategy is to employ more resources to market the existing expertise of ARNE 1997 and to build on that strength by hiring more qualified engineers to expand the business. As a subsidiary of the public company, some additional financing alternatives will be made available for the development of new products which ARNE 1997 will develop for the oil and gas services market in 1998.

For ESTec this acquisition will help it realize its expansion plans for the Information Technology side of its business. Having ARNE 1997 a wholly owned subsidiary of ESTec will improve the company's financial position significantly. The improved financial position and ownership of a reliable cash generating asset will facilitate ESTec's plans to expand through acquisitions.

The Vancouver Stock Exchange requires a number of conditions be met for the successful completion of this transaction. This transaction is classified as a major transaction. The purchase price of ARNE was determined by independent business valuators. The firm of Evans and Evans Inc. of Vancouver B.C. was retained for this purpose. Their resultant valuation report will become part of ESTec System's public file and was the document on which the purchase price of Allan R. Nelson Engineering (1997) was based. An information circular providing the details of this transaction will be sent to all existing ESTec shareholders shortly. A shareholder meeting will be called where shareholders can vote on the transaction as presented in the information circular. The special shareholder meeting will take place February 27 at ESTec's Edmonton office.

On behalf of the Company
A. B. Nelson
President

THIS NEW RELEASE WAS PREPARED BY THE MANAGEMENT OF THE COMPANY WHO ACCEPTS SOLE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ITS CONTENTS. THE VANCOUVER STOCK EXCHANGE HAS NEITHER APPROVED NOR DISAPPROVED OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS RELEASE.