WesternOne Equity Income Fund Reports Solid Results in 2010, Schedules Conference Call and Announces Cash Distribution for March 2011

VANCOUVER, March 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - WesternOne Equity Income Fund ("WesternOne Equity") (Toronto Stock Exchange: WEQ.UN, WEQ.DB and WEQ.DB.B) today announced the release of its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2010.

The results, consisting of WesternOne Equity's audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2010 and Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") dated March 14, 2011, are available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

Financial highlights for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2010:

• Significant organic growth in revenue (21%), gross profit (26%) and EBITDA⁽¹⁾ (55%) for the fourth quarter compared to the same period in 2009
• Fourth quarter payout percentage⁽²⁾ of 58.5% compared to 110.6% for the same period in 2009
• Increase in annual revenue (21%), gross profit (24%) and EBITDA (14%) compared to 2009
• Incremental revenue ($7.1 million) and EBITDA ($2.3 million) from the accretive acquisition of On*Site Equipment on April 1, 2010
• Successful integration of the "WesternOne Rentals & Sales" brand name across the British Columbia and Alberta regions in October 2010
• 83% of WesternOne Equity's 2010 distributions were attributable to ordinary income and the remaining 17% were distributed in form of tax-deferred return of capital.

"In 2010 we recorded significant year-over-year growth in revenue, gross profit and EBITDA through executing our integration and market expansion strategies, and the completion of an accretive acquisition," said Mr. Darren Latoski, Chief Executive Officer. "The business conditions in our major markets in Q4 continued to improve. In Alberta our operating results benefited from a strong construction market and an early arrival of winter, while in British Columbia a robust filming sector maintained a strong demand for our specialty aerial equipment and related services."

"Going forward we see the improving market conditions continuing, taking into account positive factors such as the low interest rate environment, recent strength in Western Canada's resource-based economy, and favourable government policies in areas such as film production tax credit and infrastructure project roll-outs," continued Mr. Latoski. "With our integrated network of 12 operations and our unified branding strategy, we seek future organic growth through efficient fleet mobilization and effective cross-selling of our equipment rental and fuel distribution services. We continue to actively seek external growth through identifying accretive acquisition opportunities in the construction and infrastructure services sector."

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^Notes:

^{(1)      "EBITDA" refers to earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, amortization, accretion, gain/loss on financial derivatives relating to changes in the fair market value of the fixed interest rate swap, foreign exchange gains/losses, write-down of fleet assets, intangible assets and goodwill, and non-recurring items such as fees relating to the termination of the Volvo Rents franchise. "Distributable Cash" refers to cash available for distribution to the unitholders by WesternOne Equity. EBITDA and Distributable Cash are not recognized measures under Canadian GAAP ("GAAP") and do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP. For further description of EBITDA and Distributable Cash refer to "Non-GAAP Measures" in the MD&A dated March 14, 2011.}

^{(2)     Amounts calculated using distributable cash and distributions declared for the related period, not on per Unit amounts. Calculated as distribution declared divided by distributable cash generated.}

^{(3)     Calculated based on basic weighted average number of units.}

In addition, WesternOne Equity today announced that its Board of Trustees has approved a cash distribution of $0.05 per trust unit for the month of March 2011 (equivalent to $0.60 per trust unit on an annualized basis). This distribution will be paid on April 15, 2011 to unitholders of record at the close of business on March 31, 2011.

The policy of WesternOne Equity is to pay cash distributions on or about the 15th day of each month to unitholders of record on the last business day of the preceding month.

Finally, WesternOne Equity announced that during the month of February 2011, $1,410,000 principal amount of the Series A Debentures, plus accrued interest, were converted to 339,969 trust units at $4.20 per trust unit.

Conference Call

Darren Latoski, CEO, Carlos Yam, CFO and Geoff Shorten, COO, of WesternOne Equity GP Inc. will host a conference call at 4:30pm (Eastern time) or 1:30pm (Pacific time), on Tuesday, March 15, 2011, to review the financial results and corporate developments for the year ended December 31, 2010.

To participate in this conference call, please dial one of the following numbers approximately 10 minutes prior to the commencement of the call, and ask to join the WesternOne Equity conference call.

Conference Call Replay

If you cannot participate on March 15, a replay of the conference call will be available by dialing one of the following replay numbers. You will be able to dial in and listen to the conference 60 minutes after the meeting end time, and the replay will be available until March 22, 2011. Please enter the Replay ID number 8113326 followed by the # key.

Forward-looking Information

Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking" information that involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, and it may cause actual results, performance, achievements or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance, achievements or industry results expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is identified by the use of terms and phrases such as "anticipate", "believe", "could", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "may", "plan", "predict", "project", "will", "would", and similar terms and phrases, including references to assumptions. Such information may involve, but is not limited to, comments with respect to strategies, expectations, planned operations or future actions.

Forward-looking information included in this press release includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the outlook of WesternOne Equity's business and the Western Canadian economy, the supply and demand for products and services, and management's assessment of future plans and operations. Forward-looking information reflects current expectations of management regarding future events and operating performance as of the date of this press release. Such information involves significant risks and uncertainties, should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such results will be achieved. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking information, and a description of these factors can be found under "Risk Factors" in WesternOne Equity's Annual Information Form dated March 31, 2010, which is available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

Although the forward-looking information contained in this press release is based upon what the WesternOne Equity's management believes to be reasonable assumptions, WesternOne Equity cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with such information. Forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to WesternOne Equity. Such information reflects current assumptions regarding future events and operating performance including, without limitation, stability in the economy in Western Canada, interest rates and the equipment rental and sales and fuel wholesale markets in which WesternOne Equity operates, and speaks only as of the date of this press release. The forward-looking information is made as of the date of this press release and WesternOne Equity assumes no obligation to update or revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required by applicable law.

About WesternOne Equity

WesternOne Equity seeks to acquire businesses in the sector of construction and infrastructure services located primarily in the western Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, in order to generate stable and growing distributions to its unitholders as well as to achieve overall capital appreciation.

Additional Information

Additional information relating to WesternOne Equity, including WesternOne Equity's Annual Information Form and other public filings, is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com or on WesternOne Equity's website at www.weq.ca.

Trading Symbols

Toronto Stock Exchange: WEQ.UN, WEQ.DB and WEQ.DB.B

THE TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR THE ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

SOURCE WesternOne Equity Income Fund