Type Private Company Key people CEO Tyron Brant Founded 1997 Parent organization Esperança Timor Oan, Lda | Founder Kim Brant Products Sportswear Headquarters Helensvale, Queensland | |
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Industry Textile, Sportswear, Clothing Area served Oceania, Europe,
North & South America
Asia and UAE Profiles | ||
Beyond Limits Known, generally styled as BLK (pron: "B-L-K"), is a sportswear clothing company which was established in 2011 in the city of the Gold Coast.
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" (Beyond Limits Known) in 2011.
BLK's primary business is in Australia with a sizeable portfolio of sport's in Queensland.
BLK also has apparel agreements with three major netball teams, Australia, New Zealand and England while being the official partner with the ANZ Championship.
Rugby Union is a major market for the company with BLK boasting five Super Rugby teams and some of the biggest European club outfits.
Stade Toulousain, Connacht and Opsreys are essentially managed in their entirety by independent global distributors, as our Canterbury, Wellington, Tasman and Manawatu in New Zealand.
The company 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 United States to maintain a growing worldwide footprint.
BLK's headquarters in the Gold Coast features its own fully operational warehouse that famously opens its doors twice a year while they have production facilities in Fiji and China.
The offices in Helensvale house the Australian senior management team including extended members of the Brant Family, with eldest son Tyron Brant the company CEO.
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.
Olympic Games
At the 2016 Rio Olympic games BLK joined an elite list of sportswear manufacturers by supplying kit to the National Fiji team and the USA Sevens Rugby team.
A part of the Fijian Team was the historic Fiji Sevens team that won against Great Britain 43 to 7 to take home Fiji's first ever Olympic gold medal