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Gildan Looks To Appoint New Board Chairman

Donald C. Berg is being lined up for the position.

Top 40 promotional products supplier Gildan (asi/56842) is gearing up to name a new chairman of its Board of Directors.

The Montreal-headquartered company said Monday that its board has approved appointing Donald C. Berg to the chairman position. The appointment would become effective May 2, provided that Berg is re-elected to the board at Gildan’s annual shareholder meeting, which is being held the same day.

Should things go as planned, Berg will succeed William D. Anderson. While Anderson is retiring as chairman, he is seeking re-election to the directors’ board to “support a seamless transition at the company,” Gildan said. A director since 2006, Anderson has been chairman since February 2012.

Berg, meanwhile, has been a Gildan director since 2015. During that time, he has served on all three of the board’s committees, including a run as chairman of the compensation and human resources committee.

According to Gildan, Berg has significant public company board experience, which includes serving on the Board of Directors of Meredith Corporation, a publicly-held media and marketing company, where he is also chair of the audit and finance committee. Recently, Berg was appointed to the board of Beam Suntory International, the world's third largest premium spirits company, Gildan said.

Last week, Gildan announced that its first quarter earnings could fall up to $0.11 below its per-diluted-share forecast as a result of a $19 million to $23 million charge tied to the anticipated liquidation of Top 40 supplier Heritage Sportswear (asi/60582), which is one of a number of suppliers that sell Gildan product to the promotional products industry. While a court filing in Georgia asks for Heritage’s liquidation to be approved, sources close to the situation have said that the supplier continues to operate and is not about to be shuttered. Full details here.

With estimated 2017 North American promotional product revenue of $540 million, Gildan ranks fourth on Counselor’s latest list of the largest suppliers in the industry.