April 22, 1997

NEW NAME, NEW SYMBOL
MIDDLEFIELD BANCORP LIMITED

Effective this week, Middlefield Bancorp Limited will begin to trade on the TSE under the symbol MBN. Formerly known as H.E.R.O. Industries Ltd., which will remain a core division of the Company, Middlefield Bancorp will engage in merchant banking and related business investment activities. The Company will be managed by the Middlefield Group, an investment management firm with offices in Toronto, San Francisco and London, England.

The Board of Directors has been expanded to oversee the new mandate, and comprises: Thomas I.A. Allen, Partner, Ogilvy Renault; Peter A. Braaten and Murray J. Brasseur, Managing Directors of Middlefield Group; George S. Dembroski, Vice-Chairman, RBC Dominion Securities Limited; Thomas C. Laurie, Vice-President, RBC Dominion Securities Inc.; and Charles B. Young, Deputy Chairman, Canary Wharf Limited. Gordon Stollery, Chairman, Northstar Energy Corporation, has been nominated to become a Director of the Company.

For more information, contact:

Murray J. Brasseur
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
(416) 362-0714