The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 2006–2025
HanesBrands owned Champion, Hanes, Playtex — it sold its crown jewel and still lost
HanesBrands owned Champion, Hanes, and Playtex. It sold its hottest brand for $1.2B to pay debt — then was acquired for pennies on the dollar.
HanesBrands · Sara Lee · 2024-06-05
What happened
HanesBrands spun off from Sara Lee in 2006 with an iconic portfolio of American apparel brands: Hanes, Champion, Playtex, Bali, and Maidenform. It pursued debt-funded acquisitions while underinvesting in brand marketing. By the late 2010s, private labels from Walmart and Target ate its core underwear business.
Champion became a streetwear phenomenon, but HanesBrands sold it at discount retailers. When the trend peaked, ubiquity killed its cachet. In June 2024, it sold Champion for $1.2 billion to Authentic Brands Group to pay down mounting debt.
The sale bought time but not survival. In fiscal 2024, it reported a $320 million net loss on $3.51 billion revenue. Total equity was $34 million. In December 2025, Gildan acquired the 120-year-old company for $2.2 billion.
Why it happened
- HanesBrands loaded up on debt for acquisitions while underinvesting in its brands, leaving it vulnerable when private label competitors eroded its core underwear business
- When Champion became a streetwear phenomenon, management failed to protect the brand's exclusivity — it was sold at Walmart and Target, diluting the cachet that made it valuable
- The company sold Champion for $1.2B to pay down debt, but losing its highest-margin brand left it with only $34M in equity and a $320M net loss
- Gildan acquired the 120-year-old company for $2.2B — a price that reflected a company that had sold its future to survive the present
The lesson
HanesBrands did not die from a single bad decision. It died from a thousand small ones: underinvesting in brands, overloading on debt, and letting its hottest brand become too common to be cool.
Sources
spotted an error? The club wants to know.
More like this
IndexPDX closed its 12-year Portland sneaker shop — Old Town foot traffic never came back
Hanifa's 45%-off sale became a two-month fulfillment mess — then it paused production
H&R Hosiery, the South Bronx shop that dressed hip-hop, closes after 60 years
Somewhere, someone solved the problem this company failed at. 2nd Opinion →
Comments · 0
Sign in to join the comments.