Western Energy Services Corp. Confirms Its Offer; Highlights the Key Benefits to Savanna Shareholders; and Asks for Savanna Shareholders' Support

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - March 21, 2017) -

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

Western Energy Services Corp. ("Western") (TSX:WRG) confirms its proposed arrangement (the "Arrangement") with Savanna Energy Services Corp. ("Savanna") providing for the issuance of 0.85 of a Western common share plus the payment of $0.21 of cash for each Savanna common share held. Based on Western's closing price of $2.25, the offer price per Savanna share is $2.12 which is 9.1% higher than the hostile proposal (the "Competing Bid") from Total Energy Services Inc. (the "Competing Bidder").

The proposed arrangement between Savanna and Western is better for Savanna shareholders in the following ways:

• MOST IMPORTANTLY, WESTERN'S OFFER IS HIGHER THAN THE COMPETING BID;
  
  
• Western knows the contract drilling and oilfield well servicing businesses in great depth, while the Competing Bidder receives 94% of its revenues from other lines of business. Western's senior management team has over 200 years of combined experience in contract drilling and oilfield well servicing, both domestically and internationally. Western's management team is also seasoned at integrating companies;
  
  
• Western has a clear strategy for integrating and growing the combined businesses, as it is already strong in drilling, well servicing and oilfield rentals. The end result is expected to be higher cash flow per share for all shareholders and an expected $20 million per year in synergies, from both operating and administrative cost savings and through the ability to achieve better scale in purchasing;
  
  
• Western is offering a fairer deal than the Competing Bidder. In Western's offer, the percentage of shares to be held by Savanna shareholders aligns well with Savanna's relative cash flow contribution. In the Competing Bidder's proposal, Savanna shareholders would own significantly less shares than are representative of Savanna's cash flow contribution to that combined company;
  
  
• Western's offer involves very limited business integration risk. In addition to its greater experience, the friendly deal Western has offered is more conducive to buy-in and support of the Savanna employees;
  
  
• The combination of Western and Savanna will be better than Savanna's alternatives. There are considerable benefits to size, scale and diversification. The combined company would be the second largest drilling contractor and second largest service rig operator in Canada, and would have key US operations in the growing Permian, Bakken and Marcellus regions of the US. The resulting customer base will be much broader, with limited customer overlap; and