Mathieu Dion, Bloomberg News
Gildan Activewear Inc., the Canadian clothing manufacturer that owns the American Apparel brand, says it has “several” potential buyers interested in a friendly takeover.
The Montreal-based company has set up a special board committee to review alternatives, including an evaluation of a “confidential non-binding expression of interest to acquire Gildan,” spokesperson Simon Beauchemin said in an emailed statement. Gildan has hired Goldman Sachs, RBC Capital Markets and Canaccord Genuity Group for advice, according to a person familiar with the matter.
After receiving the expression of interest, “the special committee, with the assistance of its financial advisors, conducted targeted outreach to a small number of reputable potential counterparties,” he said in the statement.
Several of those potential buyers “expressed an interest in considering a potential friendly transaction with Gildan,” Beauchemin added, without naming them. There’s no assurance a transaction will get done, he said.
The shares were up 10.8 per cent in Toronto, giving the company a market capitalization of $8.6 billion, before they were halted Tuesday. The Globe and Mail was the first to report the interest from possible buyers.
Gildan’s board has been involved in a nasty dispute with several institutional shareholders and former Chief Executive Officer Glenn Chamandy, who was sacked in December over disagreements about the company’s succession plan and strategy. The board hired Vince Tyra, a former Fruit of the Loom executive, to replace him.
The dissident group of investors, which holds more than one third of Gildan’s shares, is led by the Los Angeles-based investment firm Browning West LP. The money manager seeks to reinstate Chamandy by electing a new board at the company’s annual meeting on May 28.
Browning West is now suing the company and its board, accusing them of disregarding the rights and interests of shareholders.