BLK (sportswear)

BLK

Type	Private Company
Industry	Textile
Founded	2011 (2011) 1999 (1999), as KooGa
Founder	Kim Brant
Headquarters	Helensvale, Queensland, Australia
Area served	Oceania Europe North America South America Asia
Key people	Tyron Brant (CEO)[1]
Products	Sportswear
Parent	Esperança Timor Oan
Website	www.blksport.com/

BLK (pron: "B-L-K") is a sportswear clothing company which was established in 2011 in the city of Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.

The overall but now heavily transitioned company has origins as far back as 1999, but evolved from the Australian arm of the brand KooGa. Australian founder and current chairman, Kim Brant, re-branded KooGa Australia to "BLK" in 2011. BLK has a network of suppliers in France; Ireland; Japan; Malaysia; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Solomon Islands; South Africa; United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates and the United States. BLK's headquarters in the Gold Coast features its own fully operational warehouse while they also have production facilities in Fiji and China.

The parent company of BLK Australia, World Rugby Specialists, was placed into external receivership in November 2016. This was due to unprofitable sponsorships and an over-accumulation of inventory, among other financial troubles. In January 2017, BLK was acquired by Timor-based oil and energy company Esperança Timor Oan, amid BLK Australia's financial issues. ETO's managing director Nilton Gusmão dos Santos said the acquisition was part of their intentions to go beyond the energy field.^[2][3]

Sponsorships

BLK is the official supplier and sponsor of sports teams, players, associations and events, including:

Olympic Games

At the 2016 Rio Olympic games BLK supplied kit to the National Fiji team and the USA Sevens Rugby team.^[4]

See also

• List of fitness wear brands

References