Lululemon Athletica Inc. announced that the company has agreed to repurchase 3.3 million shares of the company’s common stock in a private transaction with funds affiliated with Advent International Corporation.
These shares will be repurchased under the company’s recently increased $600 million share repurchase authorization and funded with cash on hand and available borrowings. Advent has also informed Lululemon that it has sold an additional 6.7 million shares of the company’s common stock pursuant to Rule 144. Prior to these sales, Advent owned approximately 20.1 million shares of Lululemon common stock.
“We are extremely proud of our partnership with Lululemon, which spans back to our first investment in 2005,” said David Mussafer, chairman and managing partner at Advent International and lead director of Lululemon’s Board of Directors. “Our work with the company this second time, which began four years ago, has been especially gratifying, as it continues to execute on its long-term goals.”
Mussafer continued: “Today’s partial sale is consistent with our planned monetization of our interest in Lululemon. We remain actively involved with the company as investors and board members and look forward to its continued success.”
Stuart Haselden, chief operating officer of Lululemon, stated: “Advent has been a great partner to Lululemon during a period of growth and global expansion. We look forward to their ongoing guidance to the company. We are pleased to be in this position of strength which allows our participation in this transaction. In addition, we expect today’s share purchase will be accretive to our fiscal 2018 earnings per share by approximately $0.03.”