lululemon athletica to acquire in-home fitness company MIRROR for $500m

Canadian athletic apparel retailer lululemon athletica has agreed to acquire MIRROR, a US-based in-home fitness company, for $500 million.

MIRROR created an interactive workout platform for live and on-demand classes. Through its in-class fitness content and versatile platform, MIRROR is expected to help lululemon athletica in accelerating its vision and build upon an ecosystem that will fuel its Power of Three growth plan, which includes driving the business by providing omni guest experiences.

Furthermore, MIRROR will also strengthen the digital sweatlife offerings of the Canadian athletic apparel retailer, while bringing immersive and customized in-home sweat, and mindfulness solutions to the latter’s new and existing guests.

Calvin McDonald – CEO of lululemon athletica said: “In 2019, we detailed our vision to be the experiential brand that ignites a community of people living the sweatlife through sweat, grow and connect. The acquisition of MIRROR is an exciting opportunity to build upon that vision, enhance our digital and interactive capabilities, and deepen our roots in the sweatlife.

“We look forward to learning from and working with Brynn Putnam and the team at MIRROR to accelerate the growth of personalized in-home fitness.”

lululemon athletica to acquire in-home fitness company MIRROR. Raysonho @ Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine / Wikipedia.org.

MIRROR has weekly live classes and thousands of on-demand workouts apart from offering immersive one-on-one personal training. The in-home fitness company was launched in 2018 and since then is said to have grown rapidly due to the significant increase in demand for in-home fitness offerings.

The transaction builds on a partnership between the two companies, which commenced in mid-2019 with an initial investment in MIRROR by the Canadian athletic apparel retailer, and also includes a content partnership which brought sweat and meditation classes to the fitness company’s platform by the latter’s global ambassadors.

Brynn Jinnett Putnam – founder and CEO of MIRROR said: “We are thrilled to officially become a part of the lululemon family. As part of lululemon, MIRROR can further strengthen its position and accelerate its growth by leveraging lululemon’s deep relationships with its guests, ambassadors and communities, as well as the company’s infrastructure, including its store network and ecommerce channels, to acquire new users.”

After closing of the deal, MIRROR will operate as a standalone firm within the Canadian athletic apparel retailer and Brynn Jinnett Putnam will continue as its CEO. Subject to customary closing conditions, the deal is likely to be closed in the second quarter of fiscal 2020.