Holtzman spares Lakeland Industries further expense by dropping bid for board representation

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., April 22 - Lakeland Industries, Inc. veteran shareholder activist Seymour Holtzman and his affiliates agreed to drop their notice of intent to nominate individuals for election to the company's board of directors at the 2008 annual meeting.

In an April 22 letter to the company, Holtzman said he would not nominate anyone to Lakeland Industries' board and does not intend to solicit proxies with respect to the 2008 annual meeting in order to avoid additional expenses for the company. The letter was included in a schedule 13D filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Holtzman, in his letter, chided the board for spending money on attorney's fees in connection with the proposed proxy contest when the investor said he was "willing to accept one non-voting observer at the board" after the company rejected his earlier request for board representation.

In January, Holtzman recommended the nomination of himself, Dennis R. Hernreich and Efrem Gerszberg as candidates for election to Lakeland's board of directors.

Holtzman is a director and chairman of the board of Casual Male Retail Group, Inc. Hernreich is the executive vice president, chief operating officer, chief financial officer and treasurer of Casual Male Retail Group. Gerszberg has been the president of George Foreman Enterprises, Inc. since May of 2004.

Lakeland said in a prior news release that it would not bullied into accepting the demands of Holtzman, whom the company accused of seeking to further his own personal agenda.

The company cited Holtzman's taking control of "past targets" Casual Male Retail Group and George Foreman Enterprises.

Lakeland is a Ronkonkoma, N.Y.-based safety garment manufacturer.

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