Gildan investor pulls meeting request but boardroom scrap rages on

A top shareholder of Gildan Activewear Inc. withdrew its request for a special shareholder meeting, but will still press ahead with its campaign to replace most of the board of the Canadian clothing manufacturer. 

Los Angeles-based Browning West LP, which holds a 5% stake in Gildan, said it will simply try to get its proposed slate of eight new board members elected at Gildan’s May 28 annual meeting. The investment firm is seeking to oust current directors and reinstate longtime Chief Executive Officer Glenn Chamandy, who was fired in December, prompting a corporate governance row.

Browning West, which is supported by several large shareholders in backing Chamandy, tried to force the special meeting to get a relatively quick vote on a new board. 

But Gildan, the Montreal-based company that owns the American Apparel brand, launched a legal challenge Monday in a Quebec court, arguing that Browning West broke US regulations when it bought more shares last month.

Now, Gildan investors will wait nearly four months before making a decision on who they want in charge.  

“The board responded to our January 9th requisition by spending three weeks disregarding the feedback of numerous longstanding shareholders, leaking misinformation about Glenn Chamandy, and waging a low-road smear campaign and incessant legal harassment of shareholders,” Browning West Co-Founders Usman Nabi and Peter Lee said in a statement Wednesday.

Gildan called Browning West’s efforts a “spectacular failure” and indicated the board and management will keep fighting. 

“The company is continuing to investigate the scope of Browning West’s misconduct, including the implications of their illegally purchased shares on their capability to nominate and their capability to vote,” Simon Beauchemin, a Gildan representative, said in an emailed statement.