EX-1 3 doc2.txt [GRAPHIC OMITED] NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DECEMBER 18, 2002 Contact: Allen & Caron Inc. Rene Randall Joseph Allen (investors) (604) 683-8286 (212) 691-8087 rrandall@bmgmt.com joe@allencaron.com ------------------ ------------------ or Kari Rinkeviczie (media) (616) 647-0780 kari@allencaron.com MFC BANCORP LTD. ANNOUNCES EXTENSION OF EXPIRY TIME OF BID FOR MED NET INTERNATIONAL LTD. NEW YORK CITY, (December 18, 2002) - - - MFC Bancorp Ltd. (Nasdaq: MXBIF and Frankfurt Stock Exchange: MFC GR) today announced that 1,339,167 common shares of Med Net International Ltd. ("Med Net") have been tendered to MFC's offer dated November 7, 2002 to purchase all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Med Net (the "Offer"). As a result, MFC has taken up and owns an aggregate of approximately 1,656,703 Med Net common shares, representing approximately 47.8% of the issued and outstanding Med Net common shares. MFC has announced that it has extended the expiry time of the Offer for Med Net common shares from 12:00 a.m. (PST) on December 17, 2002 to 4:00 p.m. (EST) on January 17, 2003 in order to allow shareholders of Med Net that have not as yet been able to tender their common shares pursuant to the Offer additional time to do so. Contact information is provided above if you require further information regarding the Offer. ABOUT MFC BANCORP MFC Bancorp Ltd. owns companies that operate in the financial services industry, specializing in merchant banking internationally. To obtain further information on the Company, please visit our web site at http://www.mfcbancorp.com. Certain statements included herein are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Management of MFC cautions that forward-looking statements are not guarantees and that actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause the actual results of operations or financial condition of MFC to differ include, but are not necessarily limited to, the risks and uncertainties discussed in documents filed by MFC with the Securities and Exchange Commission. # # # #