Gildan Activewear provides update on former CEO

MONTREAL, Jan. 16, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gildan Activewear Inc. (GIL: TSX and NYSE) ("Gildan" or "the Company") today provides further information with respect to Glenn Chamandy's conduct around the time of his removal as CEO on December 10, 2023. The information sheds new light on at least one undisclosed relationship between Mr. Chamandy and a shareholder who is now calling for his reinstatement, and the Company is looking into others.

The Board has stated that it gradually lost trust and confidence in Mr. Chamandy. This new information, much of it obtained by accessing Mr. Chamandy's files and electronic information following his departure, underscores that view. Mr. Chamandy's actions and lack of transparency with the Board are further indication that new leadership was required at Gildan.

In its January 8, 2024 letter, the Board explained how Mr. Chamandy, who was chief executive for 20 years, became more disengaged as CEO as he was increasingly distracted by outside personal pursuits including the development of a luxury golf resort in Barbados.

Gildan has new information to share with its shareholders:

• In addition to rarely being in the office, holding few senior management meetings and never bothering to visit the Company's newest manufacturing plant, Gildan has now learned that Mr. Chamandy sent on average no more than a handful of work emails a day and had few business-related meetings diarized on his calendar.
• Mr. Chamandy failed to disclose that he had invested in funds managed by a Gildan shareholder who has now come out in support of reinstalling Mr. Chamandy as CEO. A senior executive of that shareholder also purchased a multi-million-dollar property at Apes Hill, the private golf resort in Barbados owned by Mr. Chamandy.
• Mr. Chamandy also seems to have a close relationship with Browning West, the activist hedge fund now leading the aggressive and misleading campaign to reinstall him as CEO. He was invited to be one of the guest speakers at the hedge fund's February 2023 Investor Day, and while Browning West has been invested in Gildan for years, Mr. Chamandy appears to have treated Browning West differently than other Gildan shareholders.
  
  For example, on November 8, 2023, just a week after Mr. Chamandy proposed his high-risk acquisition plan to the Board and was pressing them to retain him as CEO, he welcomed Usman Nabi and Peter Lee, the co-founders of Browning West, and a number of Browning West investors, on an exclusive visit to the Gildan manufacturing plant in Honduras.
  
  The company has no record in recent history of any other Gildan shareholder and their own investors being hosted by the CEO to an exclusive visit to a Gildan facility. And, as the Board pointed out in its January 8, 2024 letter, it seems that Browning West was provided with a vastly different view of the potential future value of Gildan's share price than what Mr. Chamandy told the Board.

• On Saturday, November 25, 2023 Mr. Chamandy sent the Board a letter with an ultimatum to approve his risky multi-billion-dollar acquisition strategy and his succession plan. The next day, on Sunday November 26^th, before the Board had even responded, Mr. Chamandy began moving out of his office.
  

Finally, in its ongoing campaign of misinformation, Browning West has claimed that Gildan plans to hold its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders "...as late as Fall 2024." That is false. The Company will respond to the requisition in due course.

The Company will continue to update Gildan shareholders on any significant developments in these matters.

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements included in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Canadian securities legislation and regulations and are subject to important risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. This forward-looking information includes, amongst others, information with respect to our objectives and strategies. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of conditional or forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "project", "assume", "anticipate", "plan", "foresee", "believe", or "continue", or the negatives of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology. We refer you to the Company's filings with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as the risks described under the "Financial risk management", "Critical accounting estimates and judgments", and "Risks and uncertainties" sections of our most recent Management's Discussion and Analysis for a discussion of the various factors that may affect these forward-looking statements. Material factors and assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making a forecast or projection are also set out throughout such document.

Forward-looking information is inherently uncertain and the results or events predicted in such forward-looking information may differ materially from actual results or events. Material factors, which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from a conclusion or projection in such forward-looking information, include, but are not limited to changes in general economic and financial conditions globally or in one or more of the markets we serve and our ability to implement our growth strategies and plans. These factors may cause the Company's actual performance in future periods to differ materially from any estimates or projections of future performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements included in this press release.

There can be no assurance that the expectations represented by our forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. The purpose of the forward-looking statements is to provide the reader with a description of management's expectations regarding the Company's future financial performance and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Furthermore, unless otherwise stated, the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof, and we do not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise unless required by applicable legislation or regulation. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

About Gildan

Gildan is a leading manufacturer of everyday basic apparel. The Company's product offering includes activewear, underwear and socks, sold to a broad range of customers, including wholesale distributors, screenprinters or embellishers, as well as to retailers that sell to consumers through their physical stores and/or e-commerce platforms and to global lifestyle brand companies. The Company markets its products in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America, under a diversified portfolio of Company-owned brands including Gildan^®, American Apparel^®, Comfort Colors^®, GOLDTOE^®, Peds^®, in addition to the Under Armour^® brand through a sock licensing agreement providing exclusive distribution rights in the United States and Canada.

Gildan owns and operates vertically integrated, large-scale manufacturing facilities which are primarily located in Central America, the Caribbean, North America, and Bangladesh. Gildan operates with a strong commitment to industry-leading labour, environmental and governance practices throughout its supply chain in accordance with its comprehensive ESG program embedded in the Company's long-term business strategy. More information about the Company and its ESG practices and initiatives can be found at www.gildancorp.com.