Public Analysis & Review Announces Investment Opinion on M & A West, Inc.

Business Editors

NOTE TO EDITORS: The following is an investment opinion issued by Public Analysis & Review:

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 17, 2000

M & A West, Inc. BUY recommendation reconfirmed by PAR analyst.

A $33 12-month price target is maintained.

The April 17, 2000 PAR Update Report on MAWI is available at

www.investrend.com.

(InvestorWire)A Quarterly Update Report on M & A West, Inc. (OTC BB: MAWI) by PAR Analyst Darren Robinson, CFA was released today for Public Analysis & Review (PAR). PAR is the unique professional independent security analyst program distributed Investrend Research. According to John M. Dutton, Investrend Research president, Mr. Robinson maintained his target price for MAWI, a highly successful Internet incubator, at $33 compared to its recent closing price of $11.81.

A summary of Mr. Robinson's conclusions follows:

M&A West, Inc. develops, invests in, and operates Internet and technology related companies. Its strategies include the internal development and operation of majority owned subsidiaries, as well as investments in other Internet companies, directly or through venture capital arrangements. Shareholders of MAWI are provided a diversified portfolio of Internet companies that have substantial upside potential.

Revenues in its latest quarter were $3,610,904. The company reported additional comprehensive income of $1,978,149 from its holdings of Virtuallender.com. MAWI currently owns 11% of the outstanding shares, which is accounted for using the market value. A one-time gain of $1.2 million related to the sale of Virtualwagering.com (MAWI exited the I Gaming field) is reflected in this quarter's earnings.

Our estimate for fiscal 2000 revenue is $8.5 million, a reduction due to the company's focus on acquisitions. With its current market capitalization of $130 million, the price to sales ratio is approximately 15.3X. We expect a MAWI price to sales ratio of 30-33x, based on our sales estimates for the next 4 quarters and comparables. We maintain our $33 price target.

Mr. Robinson, CFA is a member of the Toronto Society of Financial Analysts and the Association for Investment Management and Research. He has worked as an analyst in the investment industry for over 6 years, most recently as an analyst with a leading Canadian Mutual Fund company. Along with being a CFA charterholder, he has completed course work with the Canadian Securities Institute and holds a bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics from York University.

Please read PAR disclaimers found on its web site (www.investrend.com) before investing. Public Analysis & Review (PAR) is a program of the Investors Research Institute, Inc. (IRI), a non-profit membership organization for individual investors and others advocating higher standards of "accessibility", "scrutiny" and "disclosure" for public companies. Anyone, including a company, may enroll a company for coverage. PAR reports are performed on behalf of the members of the Institute, and are not a service to any company. PAR analysts are responsible only to the public, and are qualified and assigned solely by the Institute, separate from the fiduciary entity, which is Investrend Communications, Inc. (IRIK), a public company in registration and financial administrator for the non-profit Institute. PAR analysts are paid in advance to eliminate pecuniary interests and insure independence. PAR enrollment fees are $17,500 per annum.