(Filed Under Financial and General Interest News). Gildan Activewear Inc. purchased 100% of the common shares of Anvil Holdings, Inc. Earlier this month Gildan had announced it had signed a definitive agreement to make the acquisition for a total purchase price of approximately $88 million, financed by utilization of Gildan’s bank credit facility. Under the agreement, Gildan said it was not going to assume any of Anvil’s currently outstanding indebtedness.

According to the Gildan announcement, “Anvil is a supplier of high-quality basic T-shirts and sport shirts for the print wear market. It has positioned itself as a supplier of high-value branded niche products within the U.S. distributor channel, including products such as Anvil Organic, Anvil Recycled and Anvil Sustainable. It has also increasingly established itself as a strategic supplier of basic apparel products which meet rigorous quality and social compliance criteria for major non-retailer brands.

“For its fiscal year ended January 28, 2012, Anvil generated EBITDA of approximately U.S. $17 million on sales revenues in excess of U.S. $200 million. Gildan expects to generate significant acquisition synergies as a result of integrating Anvil’s production for the print wear market into Gildan’s low-cost vertical manufacturing, the integration of Anvil’s U.S. and international distributor sales into Gildan’s print wear business, consolidation of purchasing of raw materials and other purchased cost inputs, the elimination of certain duplicate administrative functions, and savings in ongoing working capital requirements. The acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive. The projected EPS accretion, including synergies, is currently estimated to reach a run rate of approximately U.S. $0.20 per share in fiscal 2014, when the integration plan has been implemented. EPS accretion in fiscal 2013 is not currently expected to include any material impact of acquisition synergies.

“The acquisition immediately provides Gildan with higher market share in the U.S. distributor channel, for the same investment that would be required to support the incremental sales revenues from the acquisition if they were generated through organic growth. Subsequent to the acquisition, Gildan intends to continue to pursue further sales growth in the print wear market, through leveraging the combined strengths of the two companies.

“Anthony Corsano, president and CEO of Anvil, will continue his career with Gildan as a member of Gildan’s senior management team. Corsano will join Gildan’s Branded Apparel division and focus on the continuing development of Anvil’s strategy to grow its business of providing high-volume quality products for non-retailer brands. “We believe that the acquisition of Anvil and the combination of the compatible cultures and strengths of our two companies will position Gildan to further enhance our product offering for our print wear customers and build further on our leadership position in this market.” said Glenn Chamandy, president and CEO of Gildan. “In addition, the projected economic returns from the acquisition are highly attractive and are expected to create further value for our shareholders.””

Gildan describes itself as “a marketer and global low-cost vertically-integrated manufacturer of quality branded basic apparel. Gildan is the leading activewear brand in the screen print market in the U.S. and Canada. The brand is continuing to grow in Europe, Mexico and the Asia-Pacific region. The company sells T-shirts, sport shirts and fleece as undecorated blanks, which are subsequently decorated by screen printers with designs and logos. The company is also one of the world’s largest suppliers of athletic, casual and dress socks sold to a broad spectrum of retailers in the U.S. Gildan markets its sock products under a diversified portfolio of company-owned brands, including Gold Toe, PowerSox, SilverToe, Auro, All Pro, GT, and the Gildan brand. In addition, the company supplies selective national retailer brands. The company is also the exclusive U.S. sock licensee for the Under Armour and New Balance brands. In addition to socks, the company is pursuing a strategy to grow its sales of branded underwear and activewear products in the U.S. retail market. With approximately 30,000 employees worldwide, Gildan owns and operates highly efficient, large-scale, environmentally and socially responsible manufacturing facilities in Central America and the Caribbean Basin and has begun the development of a manufacturing hub in Bangladesh to support its planned growth in Asia and Europe.”

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Published 05-18-2012 by -