BLK (sportswear)

BLK (initials for "Beyond Limits Known") is an Australian sporting goods manufacturing company which was established in 1999 in the city of Gold Coast in Queensland.

BLK Sport

Formerly	KooGa (1999–2011)
Type	Private
Industry	Textile
Founded	1999 (1999)[1]
Headquarters	Helensvale, Queensland , Australia
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Andrew Suffel (CEO) [2]
Products	Apparel (T-shirts, jackets, hoodies) Sportswear (team uniforms) Accessories (netball balls, bags)
Parent	Esperança Timor Oan[3]
Website	blksport.com

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.[1] 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.[4]

The parent company of BLK Australia by then, 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 a consortium of Fijian and East Timor investors (led by oil and energy company Esperança Timor Oan –ETO–),[3] amid BLK Australia's financial issues. ETO managing director Nilton Gusmão dos Santos said the acquisition was part of their intentions to go beyond the energy field.[5][6]