TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

MCI to Buy SHL Systemhouse for $1 Billion: Washington-based MCI Communications Corp., the nation’s second-largest long-distance company, said it will pay $13 for each share of Canada-based SHL Systemhouse Inc. In bidding for a piece of the information technology market, analysts said, MCI will expand into another niche of information processing. SHL helps its customers, primarily corporations and governments, handle internal communications and specializes in helping them move from mainframe to networked computers. SHL’s shares jumped $5.02 to $12.64 in trading on Nasdaq. MCI fell 62.5 cents to $25.875, also on Nasdaq. After the acquisition, SHL will operate as a stand-alone firm, and MCI’s existing professional services organization will be combined with the new company, MCI said. It said the acquisition will hurt its 1996 earnings slightly but that it will add to earnings the next year.