Valu-net announces private placement       15:16 EST Thursday, January 20, 2000
        CANADIAN VENTURE EXCHANGE SYMBOL: VNE 
        TORONTO, Jan. 20 /CNW/ - Valu-net Corporation ("Valu-net") (CDNX: VNE) -       Valu-net Corporation is pleased to announce a proposed private placement of 2.5       Million units at a price of $1.20 CDN per unit, to raise gross proceeds of       $3,000,000 each unit being comprised of one common share and one common share       purchase warrant. Each common share purchase warrant will entitle the holder to       acquire one common share of the Company at an exercise price of $1.85 for eighteen       months following the date of closing of the proposed private placement. Proceeds will       be used to repay certain indebtedness, marketing and product development and for       other general working capital purposes. The private placement is subject to receipt of       all necessary regulatory approvals and certain other conditions.
        The Company has entered into an agreement with Canaccord Capital Corporation       "Canaccord", under which Canaccord would act, at arm's length, on a "best efforts       basis" in connection with the aforementioned private offering.
        25% of the funds raised in the offering will be made available to the company upon       closing of the transaction and the remaining net proceeds will be placed in escrow       pending shareholder and regulatory approval and completion of the Applied       Innovations Group Inc. transaction by no later than April 15, 2000. In the event such       condition is not satisfied investors will be entitled to be refunded such monies placed       in escrow.
        On November 4, 1999, Valu-net Corporation and Applied Innovations Group Inc.       announced the signing of agreements expanding the business relationship between the       two firms to include reciprocal equity investments, as well as exclusive, revenue based       e-commerce services to AI Group companies, including Bid Freight Global. The       transaction between Valu-net and Applied Innovations is subject to the approval of       Valu-net shareholders and receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals and certain       conditions.
        About Valu-net Corporation
        Founded in 1995, Valu-net develops online marketing and electronic commerce       programs for selling products over the Internet. This expertise is used to directly       create Internet business initiatives through Valu-net's own divisions, joint ventures,       and industry partnerships. In addition, Valu-net is able to offer merchants a complete       range of business enabling services to meet the growing demand for secure and       effective electronic commerce. These services are available to merchants directly       through Valu-net or indirectly through agreements with agencies and resellers.       Valu-net's division, The eMerge Alliance (www.emergealliance.org) offers merchants       easy entry into the electronic commerce market with a turnkey solution that is both       scalable and cost-effective. Further information is available through Valu-net's       corporate web site at www.vncorp.com.
        About Applied Innovations Group Inc.
        AI Group is a private company with global business operations through offices in       Canada, the United States, and Europe. The company earned in excess of $230       million in revenues in 1999 and is engaged in the supply and reallocation of large       volumes of computer and related hardware. AI's management brings with it fifteen       years of unparalleled computer product sourcing excellence and experience that has       positioned AI Group among the top five distributors in its market sector. AI Group       also includes two leading edge e-commerce companies, Open Portal and Bid Freight.       Open Portal's proprietary database and content management solution benefits the       entire value chain of selected industries where the ability to publish and maintain       complete online lists of products, as well as automated catalog maintenance is       essential. Bid Freight is a transportation exchange and is in the business of transacting       land, sea and airfreight shipments using the Internet. Bid Freight's proprietary       software provides a total logistics management solution that supplies automated       methods for shipment placement, bidding, negotiation, scheduling, delivery notification       and payment settlement through a centralized, real time information network. Applied       Innovations can be reached online at www.aiicorp.com
        Valu-net trades on the Canadian Venture Exchange under the symbol VNE and has       approximately 40 million shares outstanding.
        The Canadian Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the
        information herein contained. |