Deal Traveler - Jan. 30, 2002.

Byline: Erica Schlesinger

North America

Luxell Technologies Inc. of Canada is beginning to see revenue from current licensing agreements and announced a deal with Tohoku Pioneer Corp. of Japan. The National Post reported Luxell, an Ontario firm that designs, produces and licenses flat-panel display technologies, said it reached a non-exclusive agreement that lets Tohoku Pioneer integrate Luxell's patented Black Layer technology into its existing and future organic light-emitting-display products. Black Layer is a semiconductor-based, microscopically thin layer that can be integrated into various display screens and eliminates reflection. Luxell says this delivers a crisper and more readable OLED imagery, and is more cost-effective than its main technology competitor, a polarizing filter.

The National Post also reported Bombardier Inc., the biggest maker of passenger trains, won a C$161 million ($100.5 million) order from Germany's Local Transport Authority of Lower Saxony for electric locomotives and double-deck rail cars. Bombardier will build 10 locomotives and 66 double-deck rail cars for regional express service on the Hamburg-Bremen and Hamburg-Uelzen lines starting in December 2003. The trains will be built in its plant in Kassel, Germany.

Two mid-sized brokerages, Thomson Kernaghan & Co. and Research Capital Corp., have agreed to merge, further shrinking the number of independent investment dealers in Canada. The Globe and Mail reported the two employee-owned firms have said they have signed a letter of intent for a "merger of equals" that will create a dealer with about C$3 billion ($1.87 billion) in client assets and more than 500 employees — 180 of whom are retail financial advisers. The new company will use the Research Capital name. The details of who will lead the new entity have not been worked out, but its executive committee will have equal representation from both companies. No money will change hands in the merger.

General Motors of Canada has launched a multimillion dollar ad campaign to promote its luxury Cadillac vehicles, a deal the country's …