The entire board of directors at Canada’s Gildan Activewear (GIL) has resigned and will be replaced by eight nominees put forward by activist investor Browning West.
Gildan Activewear said in a news release that its entire 12-person board is resigning effective immediately and will be replaced by the people put forward by Browning West.
Browning West is also reinstating company founder Glenn Chamandy as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Gildan Activewear.
Browning West and other supportive shareholders had been fighting to bring back Chamandy as CEO after he was ousted last December in favor of Vince Tyra.
Activist investor Browning West had argued that Gildan’s board showed a “complete disregard for sound corporate governance” through its removal of Chamandy.
The last time an entire board resigned during an activist battle was also in Canada. In 2012, railroad Canadian Pacific’s (CP) board stepped aside following a proxy fight with activist investor Pershing Square.
Headquartered in Montreal, Gildan manufactures branded clothing, mostly sports apparel and activewear such as t-shirts and polar fleeces.
Gildan’s board that just stepped down spent $30 million of company money to try and fend off Los Angeles-based Browning West. A battle the board ultimately lost.
Michael Kneeland, a former CEO of United Rentals (URI), now becomes chair of Gildan’s new board of directors.
The stock of Gildan Activewear has risen 27% over the last 12 months to trade at $48.81 per share. However, the stock is down 1% over the past five years.
Related Stories
