MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Jan. 10, 2017) - Gildan Activewear Inc. (TSX:GIL)(NYSE:GIL) today announced that it has emerged as the winner in the court supervised auction to acquire the American Apparel® brand and certain assets from American Apparel, LLC, (American Apparel). The transaction is subject to Bankruptcy Court approval on January 12, 2017 and Gildan anticipates completing the acquisition by early February.

As announced on November 14, 2016, Gildan entered into an asset purchase agreement with American Apparel that served as the initial bid in a Bankruptcy Court-supervised auction. American Apparel voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on the same day. The Company's final cash bid of approximately $88 million includes the acquisition of the worldwide intellectual property rights related to the American Apparel® brand and certain manufacturing equipment. The Company will also separately purchase inventory from American Apparel to ensure a seamless supply of goods to the printwear channel while the Company integrates the brand within its Printwear business. Consistent with the terms of the original agreement, Gildan will not be purchasing any retail store assets.

"We are excited to be moving forward with this acquisition. The American Apparel® brand will be a strong complementary addition to our growing brand portfolio. We see strong potential to grow American Apparel® sales by leveraging our extensive printwear distribution networks in North America and internationally to drive further market share penetration in the fashion basics segment of these markets." said Glenn Chamandy, President and CEO of Gildan.

The Company will provide details on the projected financial contribution of the acquisition on the Company's earnings in February, when it reports its full year 2016 earnings results and initiates guidance for 2017.

Guggenheim Securities, LLC is acting as the Company's financial advisor for the transaction and Sullivan and Cromwell LLP is acting as legal advisor.

Caution concerning forward-looking statements

Certain statements included in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Canadian securities legislation and regulations, and are subject to important risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. This forward-looking information includes, amongst others, information with respect to our objectives and the strategies to achieve these objectives, as well as information with respect to our beliefs, plans, expectations, anticipations, estimates, and intentions. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of conditional or forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "project", "assume", "anticipate", "plan", "foresee", "believe" or "continue" or the negatives of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology. We refer you to the Company's filings with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as the risks described under the "Financial risk management", "Critical accounting estimates and judgments", and "Risks and uncertainties" sections of the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three and nine-month periods ended October 2, 2016 and for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2016 for a discussion of the various factors that may affect the Company's future results. Material factors and assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making a forecast or projection are also set out throughout such documents and this press release.

Forward-looking information is inherently uncertain and the results or events predicted in such forward-looking information may differ materially from actual results or events. Material factors, which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from a conclusion, forecast or projection in such forward-looking information, include, but are not limited to:

• our ability to implement our growth strategies and plans, including achieving market share gains, obtaining and successfully introducing new sales programs, implementing new product introductions, increasing capacity, implementing cost reduction initiatives, and completing and successfully integrating acquisitions;
• the intensity of competitive activity and our ability to compete effectively;
• adverse changes in general economic and financial conditions globally or in one or more of the markets we serve;
• our reliance on a small number of significant customers;
• the fact that our customers do not commit contractually to minimum quantity purchases;
• our ability to anticipate, identify or react to changes in consumer preferences and trends;
• our ability to manage production and inventory levels effectively in relation to changes in customer demand;
• fluctuations and volatility in the price of raw materials used to manufacture our products, such as cotton, polyester fibres, dyes and other chemicals;
• our dependence on key suppliers and our ability to maintain an uninterrupted supply of raw materials and finished goods;
• the impact of climate, political, social and economic risks in the countries in which we operate or from which we source production;
• disruption to manufacturing and distribution activities due to such factors as operational issues, disruptions in transportation logistic functions, labour disruptions, political or social instability, bad weather, natural disasters, pandemics and other unforeseen adverse events;
• changes to international trade legislation that the Company is currently relying on in conducting its manufacturing operations or the application of safeguards thereunder, including agreements that may be affected by the United Kingdom's June 23, 2016 vote to leave the European Union;
• factors or circumstances that could increase our effective income tax rate, including the outcome of any tax audits or changes to applicable tax laws or treaties;
• compliance with applicable environmental, tax, trade, employment, health and safety, anti-corruption, privacy and other laws and regulations in the jurisdictions in which we operate;
• operational problems with our information systems as a result of system failures, viruses, security and cyber security breaches, disasters, and disruptions due to system upgrades or the integration of systems;
• adverse changes in third party licensing arrangements and licensed brands;
• our ability to protect our intellectual property rights;
• changes in our relationship with our employees or changes to domestic and foreign employment laws and regulations;
• negative publicity as a result of actual, alleged or perceived violations of labour and environmental laws or international labour standards, or unethical labour or other business practices by the Company or one of its third-party contractors;
• our dependence on key management and our ability to attract and/or retain key personnel;
• changes to and failure to comply with consumer product safety laws and regulations;
• changes in accounting policies and estimates;
• exposure to risks arising from financial instruments, including credit risk, liquidity risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk, as well as risks arising from commodity prices;
• the adverse impact of any current or future legal and regulatory actions; and
• an actual or perceived breach of data security.

These factors may cause the Company's actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any estimates or projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements do not take into account the effect that transactions or non-recurring or other special items announced or occurring after the statements are made, may have on the Company's business. For example, they do not include the effect of business dispositions, acquisitions, other business transactions, asset write-downs, asset impairment losses or other charges announced or occurring after forward-looking statements are made. The financial impact of such transactions and non-recurring and other special items can be complex and necessarily depends on the facts particular to each of them.

There can be no assurance that the expectations represented by our forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. The purpose of the forward-looking statements is to provide the reader with a description of management's expectations regarding the Company's future financial performance and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Furthermore, unless otherwise stated, the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and we do not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required by applicable legislation or regulation. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

About Gildan

Gildan is a leading manufacturer and marketer of quality branded basic family apparel, including T-shirts, fleece, sport shirts, underwear, socks, hosiery, and shapewear. The Company sells its products under a diversified portfolio of company-owned brands, including the Gildan®, Gold Toe®, Anvil®, Comfort Colors®, Alstyle®, Secret®, Silks®, Kushyfoot®, Secret Silky®, Peds®, MediPeds® and Therapy Plus™ brands. Sock products are also distributed through the Company's exclusive U.S. sock license for the Under Armour® brand, and a wide array of products is also marketed through a global license for the Mossy Oak® brand. The Company sells its products through two primary channels of distribution, namely printwear and retail markets. The Company distributes its products in printwear markets in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. In retail markets, the Company sells its products to a broad spectrum of retailers primarily in the U.S. and Canada and also manufactures for select leading global athletic and lifestyle consumer brands.

Gildan owns and operates vertically-integrated, large-scale manufacturing facilities which are primarily located in Central America, the Caribbean Basin, North America, and Bangladesh. These facilities are strategically located to efficiently service the quick replenishment needs of its customers in the printwear and retail markets. Gildan has over 48,000 employees worldwide and is committed to industry-leading labour and environmental practices throughout the Company's supply chain. More information about the Company and its corporate citizenship practices and initiatives can be found at www.gildan.com and www.genuinegildan.com, respectively.