Peloton Wants to Make Fitness Equipment Faster, So It’s Buying Precor
For $420 million, Peloton gets 625,000 square feet of manufacturing capacity and nearly 100 dedicated R&D staff.
Peloton specializes in offering exercise equipment and services allowing people to work out remotely, meaning the pandemic has seen demand for products such as the Peloton Bike+ soar. Now the fitness company wants to produce new equipment faster, so it went directly to the source and decided to acquire manufacturer Precor.
As CNBC reports, the deal was announced by Peloton yesterday, offering $420 million to acquire Precor with a view to closing the deal early next year. If everything goes to plan, Precor will become a business unit within Peloton. In return, Peloton gains control of Precor’s “significant U.S. manufacturing presence,” which includes 625,000 square feet of manufacturing capacity complete with “in-house tooling and fabrication, product development, and quality assurance capabilities in Whitsett, North Carolina and Woodinville, Washington.”
“Precor embodies the Peloton mission of putting Members first. Over the last few months, we’ve gotten to know the team and saw firsthand how much they care about their products, customers and, last but not least, their employees. By combining our talented and committed R&D and Supply Chain teams with the incredibly capable Precor team and their decades of experience, we believe we will be able to lead the global connected fitness market in both innovation and scale,” said William Lynch, Peloton’s President. “We’re looking forward to integrating the Precor team into Peloton and excited about what this means for the future of our brand and our ability to continue delivering world-class Member experiences.”
As well as a big boost to production, Peloton will benefit from the nearly 100 dedicated research and development employees at Precor. They will work with Peloton’s existing R&D team and will also be beneficial in helping Peloton understand how Precor’s design-to-manufacturing process currently functions.
“Precor is driven to create personalized health and fitness experiences that help people live the lives they desire. That passion has led us to create highly customizable solutions running on the fitness industry’s largest commercial network,” said Rob Barker, Precor’s President. “The Precor team is excited to combine our manufacturing expertise and more than 40 years of equipment innovations with Peloton’s award winning workout experiences to help commercial customers succeed and keep exercisers moving.”
Originally published at https://www.pcmag.com.
