Lakeland Fire + Safety Completes Acquisition of Veridian

Strategic Acquisition Expands Lakeland’s Global Fire Services Portfolio with Veridian’s Leading Firefighter Protective Apparel Offering

Additional Annual Revenue of Approximately $21 Million Further Builds Upon Lakeland’s 245% Third Quarter Year-over-Year Growth in Fire Services Products

HUNTSVILLE, AL / ACCESSWIRE / December 16, 2024 / Lakeland Fire + Safety (NASDAQ:LAKE), a leading global manufacturer of protective clothing for industry, healthcare, and first responders, announced today the successful completion of its acquisition of U.S.-based Veridian in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $25 million subject to post-closing adjustments and customary holdback provisions. The acquisition was financed under Lakeland’s revolving credit facility with Bank of America.

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.

“We are also very excited about the market expansion and cross-selling opportunities with our Pacific helmets and Jolly boots this acquisition brings, and we are confident that it will be immediately accretive to Lakeland. Since acquiring Veridian in 1999, Bill Van Lent has built an impressive fire services sales and manufacturing organization. Bill is widely recognized and respected within the North American fire services industry, and we are honored that he will remain with the company as president,” concluded Mr. Jenkins.

Bill Van Lent, owner and president of Veridian, 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. Lakeland Fire + Safety shares our passion for protecting our heroes, and I’m thrilled that Veridian is joining the Lakeland family. 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.”

About Veridian

Created in 1992 to serve an established international customer base, Veridian protective products have 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. 

About Lakeland Industries, Inc.

Lakeland Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: LAKE) manufactures and sells a comprehensive line of industrial protective clothing and accessories for the industrial and public protective clothing market. Our products are sold globally by our in-house sales teams, our customer service group, and authorized independent sales representatives to a network of over 2,000 global safety and industrial supply distributors. Our authorized distributors supply end users, such as integrated oil, chemical/petrochemical, automobile, transportation, steel, glass, construction, smelting, cleanroom, janitorial, pharmaceutical, and high technology electronics manufacturers, as well as scientific, medical laboratories and the utilities industry. In addition, we supply federal, state and local governmental agencies and departments, such as fire and law enforcement, airport crash rescue units, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and the Centers for Disease Control. Internationally, we sell to a mixture of end users directly and to industrial distributors, depending on the particular country and market. In addition to the United States, sales are made into more than 50 foreign countries, the majority of which were into 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.

SOURCE: Lakeland Industries, Inc.