Overview:

Founded in 1992, Veridian is a leading provider of firefighter protective apparel, including fire and rescue garments, gloves and boots, with an annual revenue of approximately $21 million. Veridian has approximately 150 employees and is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa.

Jim Jenkins, President, CEO and Executive Chairman of Lakeland, stated, "We are very excited to welcome Veridian to the Lakeland family. With an outstanding reputation for quality and a loyal following among firefighters, Veridian brings a strong brand and high-quality U.S. manufacturing capabilities to Lakeland's portfolio of safety products. This acquisition enhances Lakeland's head-to-toe fire service portfolio offering, and expands our market share in the United States, the world's largest fire services market, as well as Latin America.”

Since acquiring Veridian in 1999, Bill Van Lent, owner and president of Veridian, has been widely recognized and respected within the North American fire services industry. Van Lent added, "Since its founding in 1992, Veridian's mission has been to offer exceptional quality, comfort, performance and value to firefighters nationwide. Firefighting is a hazardous occupation, and Veridian's protective products have earned the respect and trust of customers around the world. With Lakeland's commitment to quality and customer service and its impressive portfolio of head-to-toe products, I'm confident they are the ideal partner to grow Veridian to new heights.”

Cherry Tree's Role:

Cherry Tree served as exclusive buy-side M&A advisor to Lakeland. Cherry Tree supported Lakeland on its evaluation of Veridian, including financial modeling, due diligence coordination, and negotiation of key transaction terms.

“Cherry Tree served as a trusted advisor for our acquisition process – coordinated and led the process from letter of intent to closing. It was an excellent partnership that led to a successful transaction that further positions Lakeland as a leader in the firefighting protective apparel market.”

— Jim Jenkins, President, CEO, and Executive Chairman of Lakeland Fire + Safety

About:

About Veridian

Created in 1992 to serve an established international customer base, Veridian has earned the respect and acceptance of customers around the world. Veridian is growing quickly in the U.S.A., offering exceptional quality, comfort, performance, timely delivery and value to firefighters nationwide.

For more information, please visit www.veridian.net.

About Lakeland Industries, Inc.

Lakeland Fire + Safety (NASDAQ: LAKE) manufactures and sells a comprehensive line of industrial protective clothing and accessories for the industrial and public protective clothing market. Its products are sold globally by its in-house sales teams, its customer service group, and authorized independent sales representatives to a network of over 2,000 global safety and industrial supply distributors. In addition to the United States, sales are made into more than 50 foreign countries, including China, the European Economic Community ("EEC"), Canada, Chile, Argentina, Russia, Kazakhstan, Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, India, Uruguay, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australia, Hong Kong and New Zealand.

For more information concerning Lakeland, please visit www.lakeland.com.

Cherry Tree & Associates

Cherry Tree & Associates is a private investment banking firm headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1980, it specializes in M&A transactions for both buyers and sellers of middle market companies. Additionally, it conducts private placements for high quality, entrepreneurially managed growth companies, provides strategic advisory services for CEOs and boards of directors, and prepares fairness opinions and other valuation services.