Global fashion company Gildan Corp, the ultimate owner of Bras N Things and Bonds in Australia, has just sold its Australian intimate apparel arm to retail billionaire Brett Blundy.
Blundy – through an associated entity of his BB Retail Capital business – acquired the HanesBrands Australia business for an approximate valuation of A$700 million, subject to customary purchase price adjustments.
This comes eight years after BBRC had sold Bras N Things to HanesBrands for around $500 million. It also comes after HanesBrands International was acquired by Gildan in 2025.
Gildan had communicated its intention to pursue a sale of the Australian arm – which also includes Berlei and Sheridan – and announced the launch of a formal sale process in its fourth quarter 2025 earnings release.
The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to the receipt of required regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
Blundy's latest transaction follows the launch of Leays in Australia last year, another lingerie business. Blundy was also part of the sale of Honey Birdette to Playboy in 2021, and his company also owns Best & Less.
On top of this, he holds a significant stake in Victoria's Secret, and was pushing to get onto that company's board over the last few years.
As well as his endeavours in lingerie, Blundy is also the chairman of low-price jewellery retailer Lovisa.
Proceeds from the latest transaction will be used to pay down a portion of Gildan’s outstanding debt, accelerating the company’s return to the midpoint of its target leverage framework of 1.5x to 2.5x net debt to trailing twelve months pro forma adjusted EBITDA.
Gildan confirmed the transaction in its second quarter trading update today. The company reported second quarter net sales from continuing operations of US$1.58 billion – up 72.3 per cent over the prior year. This jump up would have included the acquisition of Hanes in the previous year.
The company updated its full-year 2026 guidance, with revenue expected to be at the low end of the previously communicated range of US$6.0 billion to US$6.2 billion, with an adjusted operating margin of approximately 21.8 per cent, and free cash flow to be approximately US$1.0 billion.