Canadian apparel maker Gildan Activewear is up for sale

Canadian clothing maker Gildan Activewear said on Tuesday that its board has decided to put the company up for sale following a review by a special committee.

The embattled Montreal-based company says it received a non-binding expression of interest from a potential purchaser that it did not name.

It mandated investment banks RBC Capital Markets and Goldman Sachs Group to look for additional bidders, according to a report by The Globe and Mail, citing two sources familiar with the matter.

“The special committee determined that it was consistent with its fiduciary duties and in the best interests of Gildan to contact other potential bidders with a view to maximizing the value of any potential transaction,” a company spokesperson said.

CBC News has reached out to the company for further information.

Gildan has been embroiled in a battle between its top stockholders, such as investment firm Browning West, and the board, which fired co-founder and then-CEO Glenn Chamandy in December and replaced him with Vince Tyra.

In late January, Gildan said it would hold an annual and special shareholder meeting on May 28 amid the ongoing dispute to replace a majority of its board members and re-instate Chamandy as CEO.

While Gildan’s executives claimed Chamandy had no credible long-term strategy and had lost the board’s trust, a group of the company’s shareholders insists he was the superior leader and have called for his return.

Gildan’s listings on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges were halted. Its U.S.-listed stock was last up 10 per cent before the trading halt.