Gildan Activewear Inc. has reinstated Glenn Chamandy as president and CEO following a months-long proxy battle between the company and activist investor Browning West that began when Chamandy was terminated late last year.
The company announced Chamandy’s reinstatement Friday, along with the appointment of Michael Kneeland as non-executive chair of the board, both effective immediately.
“I’m extremely excited to return as Gildan’s CEO and am gratified for the incredible support I have received from both shareholders and employees over the past six months,” Chamandy said in the release. “I’m proud of our dedicated employees for their hard work and focus through a tumultuous period. The resilience of the team and the high quality of our newly seated Board give me great confidence that Gildan’s best days are yet to come.”
Last week, Vince Tyra, who Gildan appointed to the top spot when it fired Chamandy, resigned along with the entirety of the company’s board of directors. The slate of board candidates selected by Browning West stood for election at Gildan’s annual meeting Tuesday, and received a majority of shareholder votes.
The previous clash between Gildan’s board and Browning West played out in various press releases and in the courts in the months since December 2023. Some of the legal challenges Gildan filed against Browning West were dismissed.
Also during that time, the previous board was weighing the possibility of selling the company. When Tyra and the former board resigned, the sale process was suspended.
When it was announced that Tyra was stepping down, David Swartz of Morningstar Research Services said his group was “uncertain much will change at Gildan after Chamandy returns as CEO.”
“[W]e are unclear as to why the operating model will change much under Chamandy, given that Gildan has been following the Gildan Sustainable Growth strategy that he himself unveiled in 2022,” Swartz wrote in an analyst note at the time.
