A number of Gildan Activewear Inc. executives are pleading with investors to support an activist shareholder’s attempt to take over the board and bring back former CEO Glenn Chamandy.
“We firmly believe that reinstating Glenn as CEO is vital for Gildan’s success,” the executives said in a letter to Gildan shareholders, highlighting how important it is to bring Chamandy back. “The ongoing proxy battle will determine the future leadership of our company,” they wrote.
With a market value of US $ 6 billion, Gildan is among the biggest manufacturers of reasonably priced casual clothing worldwide, supplying Walmart Inc. and other retailers as well as designers and printwear shops with blank T-shirts. The American Apparel brand was bought by the Montreal-based corporation during bankruptcy proceedings.
The executives assert that most of Gildan’s vice-president-level executives or above support Chamandy; however, Bloomberg was unable to independently confirm this.
The board removed Chamandy because of serious differences on strategy and succession. The business claims that when the board decided the suggested purchases were too risky, Chamandy put pressure on them to adopt a multibillion-dollar acquisition strategy and gave them an ultimatum.
