Canadian apparel maker Gildan Activewear announced Thursday that its board of directors had resigned and CEO Vince Tyra was stepping down. Former top man Glenn Chamandi.
The company’s U.S.-listed shares rose more than 5% on Friday to close at $37.62.
The outgoing directors appointed nominees from activist investor Browning West to the board and terminated previously announced discussions regarding a sale process.
The clothing maker’s board has been at odds with Browning West, which owns 35 percent of the company, and seven other investors since co-founder Chamandi was fired in December.
The board asked Chamandi to step down without giving specific reasons, but later cited a failure to identify further avenues for long-term organic growth.
“Notably, preliminary results show that an overwhelming majority of shares had voted in support of all eight of Browning West’s director nominees prior to the board’s resignations,” said Browning West USA, which owns 5.7 percent of Gildan.
“We also recognize that this is the first time in more than a decade that an overwhelming majority of shareholders and all of the major proxy advisory firms, including ISS, Glass Lewis and Egan Jones, have supported a complete restructuring of our board.”
