Western Investment Company Gives Notice of Trade Resumption on April 23, 2024 and Provides Update on the Shares it has Secured in Fortress Insurance

The Total Shares Held and Secured Through Purchase Agreements Now Represents 45.5% of the Shares Outstanding in Fortress Insurance

CALGARY, Alberta, April 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Western Investment Company of Canada Limited (TSXV: WI) ("Western" or the "Corporation") today announced that it has secured agreements in aggregate to purchase 3,200,000 shares in Fortress Insurance Company ("Fortress"), or 45.5% of the total shares outstanding in Fortress, for CA$8,320,000 (the "Share Purchases"). These Share Purchases are conditional on the closing of the proposed transaction with companies affiliated with Paul Rivett to invest at least $20 million into the Corporation (the "Transaction") which was previously announced on March 22, 2024.

The Share Purchases will increase Western’s ownership in Fortress from 28.45% to 45.5% upon closing of the Transaction. To complete the Transaction Western must have agreements in place to obtain a minimum of 51% of the shares outstanding in Fortress. The vendors’ details are confidential and the vendors are not a related party to Western or Paul Rivett.

Acquisition of Additional Fortress Shares
In connection with Western acquiring additional shares of Fortress, an offer has been circulated to all existing Fortress shareholders. Western is following up with all Fortress shareholders and will provide further updates in the coming days. Each offer provides an option of receiving cash or the current common shares of Western ("Single Voting Shares") at a price of $0.40 per share which could result in the issuance of up to an additional 30,000,000 Single Voting Shares.

Trade Resumption
Western has also received notice from the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV" or the "Exchange") that the TSXV has received acceptable documentation related to the Transaction for the shares in Western to resume trading. As outlined in the TSXV April 19, 2024 bulletin, effective at the open, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, trading in the Corporation’s shares will resume.

About the Transaction
The Transaction, previously announced on March 22, 2024, proposes an investment of at least $20 million from companies affiliated with Paul Rivett to transform Western into an insurance and investment holding company. The concurrent rights offering is expected to raise up to an additional $30 million. Upon the successful closing of the Transaction, Paul Rivett is to be appointed to President and Chief Executive Officer of Western with the following initial priorities: