Engine Capital Criticizes Board Trustees, Suggests Sale Of UniFirst To Right Buyer

(RTTNews) - Engine Capital LP, which owns a 3.2 percent stake in UniFirst Corp. (UNF), Tuesday released an open letter to the latter's trustees after failed attempts at private engagements.

Addressed to Carol Croatti, Matthew Croatti, Cynthia Croatti, and Cecelia Levenstein, the letter criticized their "poor financial judgement", stating that it has forced UniFirst "to lose ground competitively" and hurt its stakeholders as well as employees.

The letter further suggested that a sale of UniFirst to the right buyer would be the right financial choice, instead of a standalone path, which may further result in underperformance, market share losses, employee departures, workforce layoffs, declining morale, and continued value destruction.

Moreover, the activist hedge fund pointed out that the company's virtual-only annual meeting stands in contrast to the prevailing market practice of in-person meetings for contested elections. It further noted that the scheduled date of December 15, 2025is also materially earlier than the company's historical cadence of holding annual meetings in mid-January.

Currently, UNF is moving up 3.56 percent, to $168.07 on the New York Stock Exchange.