By
Bloomberg
Published
Dec 20, 2023
An influential shareholder of Canadian clothing manufacturer Gildan Activewear Inc. said it’s still backing Glenn Chamandy to return to run the company again, even after a director said the fired chief executive officer pushed to make risky acquisitions.
Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd. criticized the Gildan board for sacking Chamandy last week, and for giving a board seat to the managing partner of a US investment firm, Coliseum Capital Management. In return, Coliseum agreed to vote in favor of the company’s board over the next two years.
“We find the nomination to the board of a hedge fund manager, who has only held shares since 2022, with the expectation to vote in line with the board for two years, a serious governance concern,” Charles Nadim, head of research and a portfolio manager at Jarislowsky, said in an email to Bloomberg.
Nadim’s statement underscores the solid support that Chamandy, 62, has garnered in his public battle with the board of the Montreal-based manufacturer, which owns the American Apparel brand. Since last week, at least eight investment firms with shares of Gildan have come out supporting his reinstatement to the top job of the company founded decades ago by his family.
Jarislowsky Fraser, an established Canadian asset manager that holds almost 7% of Gildan, is arguably the most important of those firms. The level of opposition by investors to replacing Chamandy is “significant and unprecedented,” Nadim said in his statement.
Representatives for Gildan and Coliseum Capital didn’t immediately reply to requests for comment.
‘Significant distraction’
In an interview Sunday, Gildan Director Luc Jobin pushed back on the shareholders supporting Chamandy. Jobin said the former CEO wanted to pursue multibillion-dollar acquisitions and to be left in place to handle them while working on a longer-range succession plan involving internal candidates. Chamandy threatened to leave if he didn’t get his way, Jobin said. “These acquisitions would have been highly dilutive to shareholders.”
Chamandy denied delivering such an ultimatum.
The firms siding with the ex-CEO include Oakcliff Capital, Anson Funds Management, Browning West, Pzena Investment Management and Janus Henderson.
Jobin said that the board would be “engaging” with shareholders. “I have every reason to believe that once we have a chance to get together and to go through this, they would reconsider their position,” he said Sunday.
Shares of Gildan edged higher Tuesday, closing up 1.8% at C$46.03 in Toronto. The stock price is 7.2% below its level before Chamandy was sacked.
Stifel Financial analyst Martin Landry downgraded the shares this week to hold from buy. “These events create significant distraction for the board of directors and the management team and could result in a proxy fight,” Landry wrote. “This situation creates uncertainty for investors and shareholders, several of which could stay on the sidelines until things get clarified.”