Abruptly dismissed last month, the former CEO of Gildan is on the attack to protect his reputation tarnished in recent weeks by the board of directors of the Montreal clothing manufacturer.
In a public outing where he indicated that he had sent a formal notice to the board to stop its “disruption tactics”, Glenn Chamandy said he wanted to set the record straight on three main points: his performance as CEO, the ultimatum that the board accuses him of having launched by presenting an acquisition plan deemed high risk, and preferential treatment that he would have granted to the shareholder Browning West who is leading the campaign for his reinstatement.
“I have not had any inappropriate individual interactions with any representative or agent of a Gildan shareholder,” Glenn Chamandy said in a communication sent Tuesday.
Since the dismissal on December 10, Gildan’s board of directors has made several statements to clarify why it had gradually lost confidence in Glenn Chamandy.
In particular, the directors noted that Glenn Chamandy appears to have treated Browning West differently from other shareholders by hosting representatives of Browning West and investors from this American hedge fund on an exclusive tour of Gildan’s manufacturing facilities in Honduras. .
Glenn Chamandy says Gildan’s investor relations team had been planning this visit for a long time and was originally scheduled to take place last September before being postponed until November due to scheduling conflicts. Other members of the company’s management and manufacturing team attended the visit, according to the former CEO.
“The allegation that there is no record in recent history of any other Gildan shareholder being hosted by the CEO for an exclusive tour of a Gildan facility is simply false. Similar factory tours in Honduras were organized by the company’s investor relations team for other shareholders, including Coliseum Capital, as recently as last June,” says Glenn Chamandy.
The board said that Glenn Chamandy has had difficulty finding new avenues for long-term organic growth in recent years and that Gildan has an eight-year annual revenue growth rate of less than 1%. During this period, the board mentions that the amount incurred by write-offs and restructurings exceeds $450 million.
Glenn Chamandy’s former bosses also claim he had no vision for the future and tried to keep his job by telling the board to approve an acquisition strategy and the succession plan that came with it. failing which he would exit and sell his shares.
The Gildan co-founder says he presented a long-term planning proposal at the end of October, at the board’s request, and maintains that he looked at various inorganic options as he does every year, but that there was never any commitment regarding inorganic options. “And there was never an ultimatum regarding these options. »
Glenn Chamandy specifies that a month later – at the end of November – shortly after the publication of the company’s most recent quarterly results, he informed the board in writing that it was untenable for the board to continue to acting on the assumption that he was still the CEO, when the decision regarding the need to terminate his functions had already been made without having been communicated while Gildan had only just discussed with the shareholders who were in the ignorance of the council’s plan.
“I warned the board that they were taking a path that would destroy value and put the company at risk. I demanded immediate clarifications, and only this approach could have been interpreted as an ultimatum,” says the co-founder of Gildan.
The board maintains that contrary to what the former CEO claims, the presentation made by Glenn Chamandy at the end of October was not a routine annual strategy exercise, but rather a formal strategy proposal.
In response to the board suggesting that he was an ineffective leader who lacked commitment, and that this had gradually eroded trust in him over the past four years, the man who led the company from 2004 to 2023 says that: none of these allegations were brought to his attention.
“This approach clearly contravenes the company’s own decisions regarding public information and compensation,” said Glenn Chamandy, implying that if these allegations were true, the board should have fired him well before the month. last.
“The decisions of the board relating to my remuneration – including the achievement of objectives – and the information published on this subject in no way suggest that the assessment of my performance by the board has been anything other than excellent throughout the period. ‘year. Statements made or approved by the board about my performance are filled with nothing but glowing comments. »
Glenn Chamandy’s personal projects have also been put forward to justify his lack of commitment. In addition to asserting that he rarely showed up at the office and sent only a few professional emails per day, the board maintains that he increasingly turned his attention to setting up a club. golf at Babarde.
Glenn Chamandy claims his personal plans were explicitly communicated to the company every year and were never questioned in any way by the board. He also claims that his management style has not changed in recent years. “I was deeply committed on all levels. I encouraged the board chair to meet privately with our vice chairs to gather their feedback. As part of this feedback process, the president [du conseil] never questioned any aspect of my level of commitment. »
This exit by Glenn Chamandy comes as institutional shareholders are pressing Gildan to immediately convene an extraordinary meeting to vote on his return to office and the reconstitution of the board of directors.
Around ten institutional shareholders controlling approximately 35% of Gildan’s shares have publicly expressed their opposition to the dismissal of Glenn Chamandy in recent weeks.