Published May 17, 2023 08:05AM
Wahoo Fitness founder 'eliminates all debts' in a buyback from banks
Wahoo founder Chip Hawkins has led a range of investors to buy back the company from the banks in a "clear sign of confidence in the strength of Wahoo,"
Looks like Wahoo Fitness has figured out how to eliminate all of their debt.
Pre-pandemic, Wahoo Fitness was a fairly standard sports technology company. The Wahoo RFLKT was the first bit of tech to really stand out, but the Atlanta, Georgia-based company really hit their stride with the Wahoo KICKR line of smart trainers and ELEMNT GPS computers.
Today? Wahoo Fitness is a much more sprawling sports tech company selling a massive array of hardware and software solutions. The only problem is that finances couldn’t keep up.
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Just a month after Wahoo’s credit rating was downgraded to a grade ‘D’ by Moody’s Investors due to a missed debt service payment, Wahoo has found a solution. Here’s what they said:
“Wahoo has fully recapitalized its business with significant equity support from new and current investors with substantial experience in supporting diverse connected fitness and endurance athlete platform businesses.
“Confidential terms of the arrangements eliminate all debt and provide significant cash liquidity designed to extend the company’s prominence in advancing innovation in the global smart fitness and training category.”
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Wahoo says its founder, Chip Hawkins, led the recapitalization alongside new and current investors. Hawkins sold off a majority share of Wahoo Fitness to a private equity firm in June 2021 right at the peak of indoor cycling tech sales. But when that ended, a number of issues cascaded into what there is today.
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Eliminating all debt is a massive step for Wahoo. Here’s to the company finding its stride again as it had in the past, perhaps with a bit of a refocusing on “delighting its customers and continuing Wahoo’s mission of building a better athlete in all of us,” per Hawkins.
And hopefully, the cycling tech company won’t need to be floated by Hawkins’ other company, Wahoo Docks.