Third Avenue Announces Support for Engine Capital Director Nominees to Strengthen the UniFirst Board and Unlock Shareholder Value

Notes that Engine’s Slate has Public Support from Several Leading Proxy Advisory Firms

Current Board has Failed to Capture Value-Creation Opportunities, Board Renewal is Essential to Improve Governance and Drive Shareholder Returns

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Third Avenue Management LLC (“Third Avenue”), on behalf of its clients, is a long term owner of Class A common shares of UniFirst Corp (“UniFirst”). Funds and accounts managed by Third Avenue have held shares of UniFirst since 2010.

Third Avenue intends to exercise its voting authority, over all UniFirst shares held within client accounts and funds under its management, in favor of Engine Capital’s (“Engine”) proposed UniFirst directors at the upcoming December 15^th annual meeting. Third Avenue notes public support for Engine’s nominees from other institutional shareholders of UniFirst and recommendations from leading proxy advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services, Glass, Lewis & Co and Egan-Jones to vote for Engine’s director nominees.

Third Avenue Management also believes that changes to the composition of UniFirst’s board of directors have the potential to improve corporate governance, with the ultimate goal of improving upon what has been an extremely disappointing record of shareholder value creation. To this end, we believe that opportunities to create significant value for all shareholders continue to exist for UniFirst, both as a standalone, independent company as well as through a potential takeover transaction. However, in our view, neither avenue for value creation has been seized upon under the stewardship of UniFirst’s current board of directors.

About Third Avenue Management:

Founded in 1986, Third Avenue Management is a New York City based asset manager that utilizes a disciplined and value-oriented approach to investing in publicly traded securities. Our investment approach aligns with well-capitalized enterprises whose discounted securities offer long-term wealth creation potential. We invite you to gain a deeper understanding of Third Avenue’s value-oriented strategies by visiting our website at https://www.thirdave.com.