Peterson Partners

May 3, 2007 Mity Enterprises Inc., an Orem-based manufacturer of furniture primarily used in institutional settings, has reached an agreement to be acquired by two private investment firms for approximately $72 million. Sorenson Capital and Peterson Partners, both of Salt Lake City, are offering Mity stockholders $21.50 for each share of stock. Mity's board of directors is endorsing the transaction and recommending that the company's shareholders approve the acquisition, said Bradley T. Nielson, the furniture maker's chief executive officer. He noted two primary reasons: * It is too costly for Mity to remain in compliance with all the regulations governing publicly held companies. "We were spending about $500,000 a year to remain in compliance and we were doing it cheaply. Those costs are only going to go up." * Nielson explained that with Mity being a small, publicly held company with a limited number of shares trading, some of its largest shareholders didn't have the required liquidity necessary to increase their holdings or dispose of their shares. Fraser Bullock, co-founder and a managing director at Sorenson Capital, said Mity has a strong franchise and a management team that will remain in place once the acquisition is completed. "It is our plan to give Mity's workforce long-term support as they continue to serve the company and grow the business," he said. "Of course at some point - five, seven, nine years down the road - we'll take another look at our position and our investment in the company and see where we might want to go." For its third quarter ended Dec. 31, Mity reported that sales totaled $15.2 million, compared with $13.4 million a year earlier. Net income for the period was $1.1 million, or a 10 percent decline from the previous year. The company noted its increase in sales reflected growth of 14 percent in the health care seating unit. There also was 11 percent growth in the multipurpose-room unit that the company attributed to increases in demand in the public assembly, government, recreation, education and hospitality markets. Bullock said the Mity acquisition marks the first time Sorenson Capital, which controls an equity fund valued at approximately $250 million, and Peterson Partners have worked together. Peterson specializes in investments in small to midsized companies. It has more than $300 million under management. The acquisition is expected to be completed either late in the second calender quarter or early in the third calendar quarter of 2007. Mity's shares closed Thursday at $21.13, up $1.45 for the day.