Terms of the deal, which is expected to be finalized by the middle of this month, weren't disclosed. Both BackWeb and Lanacom are privately held.

BackWeb found Lanacom's agents and filters expertise alluring, said Peter Dushkin, an analyst at Jupiter Communications, Inc. a New York-based research firm. "BackWeb's client software wasn't all that customizable, and by combining Lanacom's technology with their own client, they'll have a much more flexible client that will give users much better control of the information they receive," Dushkin said.

BackWeb will integrate Lanacom's Headliner tools into its "push" server software, with the first products due out in the fall, said Jo Sager, director of corporate strategy at BackWeb. The company didn't release pricing information. The Headliner tools let companies customize information from Web sites, Internet newsgroups, databases and electronic-mail systems, and manipulate that information for display on the Internet or intranets. The newly integrated BackWeb/Lanacom products will support Microsoft Corp.'s Channel Definition Format push delivery standard and Netscape Communications Corp.'s Netcaster, Sager said.

More than half of Lanacom's 24 employees are expected to be retained to work along with BackWeb's 100-member staff. Lanacom's headquarters in Toronto will remain as a development site, Sager said.

In a statement, Lanacom officials said that technical support will continue to be provided to the company's current customers and that Headliner will be made selectively available to those customers who are considering whether to buy it. Lanacom officials also said that corporate customers would be able to eventually move to the new combined product offered by BackWeb.