👉 Background: Gildan Activewear is the Canadian clothing giant best known for churning out basics like T-shirts, socks and sportswear. Back in 1984, the brand started in Montreal making children’s clothes and now makes more than 700 million garments a year. On the other hand, Hanesbrands is one of the global leaders in basics, like socks, activewear and underwear.

‍👉 What happened: In Australia, Hanesbrands is also the owner of Bonds, Sheridan, Berlei and Bras N Things. Last week, Gildan agreed to buy the US apparel brand, Hanesbrands, in a $2.2 billion USD cash and stock deal at a 24% premium to Hanesbrands closing price pre-offer.

‍👉 What else: As part of this deal, Gildan’s CEO said that the Australia portfolio could end in a “sale or other transaction”. And that doesn’t give us great hope that Bonds will remain in the broader Gildan portfolio in the future.

‍What's the key learning?

‍💡When multibillion-dollar mergers happen, there are often real ripple effects thousands of kilometres away. When new owners take over, they reassess every asset. This often means offloading or shutting down underperforming assets.

💡When the deal closes (late this year, or early next year), Hanesbrands' Australian assets could be in the firing line. And this could affect thousands of local jobs, supplier relationships, and even the fate of Robert Irwin’s Bonds ambassadorship.

💡This ain’t the first group of companies to be in limbo following a major global acquisition. Network Ten is also facing an uncertain future. It is owned by Paramount, which recently merged with Skydance, who is also likely to re-assess underperforming assets. And Network Ten has been struggling so much that last year Paramount wrote down their broadcast licences to $0.