Lululemon founder looking to sell entire remaining stake in company

Chip Wilson, who founded Lululemon Athletica Inc left the company's board earlier this year after disagreements with fellow board members, is now looking to potentially sell his entire stake in the yoga apparel maker.

Lululemon, which disclosed the news in a regulatory filing on Thursday, said Wilson, his wife and other entities that they control may look to sell more than 20 million shares in the company.

According to the Vancouver Sun daily, Lululemon, which is based in Vancouver, has filed a 20.1 million share offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, allowing Wilson and his wife to exit their roughly 14 per cent stake.

The couple's stake in the company was worth $1.34 billion, based on Wednesday's closing price on the Nasdaq.

Ads

"The prospectus supplement filed by Lululemon simply enables Chip Wilson to sell his shares in the future, if he chooses to do so, on the same basis as any other stockholder," a spokesman for Wilson said in an email to Reuters.

Shares in Lululemon were down more than 3 percent at $64.46 after the regulatory disclosure and ahead of the opening of trading on the Nasdaq on Thursday.

The Canadian newspaper reports that the move follows the settlement of a dispute between Lululemon and Wilson, who had said he was unhappy with the direction the retailer took after he left as chairman. As part of that deal, Wilson agreed not to pursue a buyout of the company for at least a year and to sell half of his stake to private-equity firm Advent International Corp. for about $845 million.
 
Lululemon on Tuesday raised its full-year outlook and reported better-than-expected first-quarter profit.