Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon was considering an acquisition of Peloton.
The WSJ article noted that “other potential suitors are circling”, and more companies might show interest attempting to purchase Peloton.
The Financial Times followed up that report with news that Nike is one of the other companies considering acquiring Peloton.
Like Amazon, Nike has not actually approached Peloton with an offer, and both companies are simply debating internally.
The report notes that even if a company does decide to make an offer to Peloton, they would face an uphill battle if Peloton’s CEO John Foley came out against it:
Any deal would be hard to get done without the backing from John Foley, Peloton’s co-founder, and other insiders due to the company’s dual-class shareholder structure, which gives them veto power on all big decisions.
FT also shared that Nike has previously considered trying to acquire Peloton – before they went public in 2019. However, Nike company decided to instead focus on software rather than hardware, so didn’t pursue the acquisition further at the time.
Assuming Peloton did get acquired, would you prefer it to be by Nike, or Amazon?
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Nike would bet a better fit for fitness and image. The idea of Jeff Bezos creeping on me while riding my Peloton is disheartening.
Your were dead on for AT’s ride to 80’s music. I wish he would do more rides like that.
NO NIKE, NO to NIKE. They have a long history of mistreating, not believing, not supporting their sponsored women athletes (Allyson Felix, Mary Cain, Kara Goucher). Values do not align with Peloton’s.
I prefer privacy so think Nike is a much better choice.
I think Peloton is in big trouble actually and neither Nike or Amazon will move ahead. Why pay for something you can go buy yourself. That business model has run it’s course anyway. The Asian manufacturers will sell to anyone when orders stop, which it seems they have.
+1 to Nike preference. I think they would leave the current membership and on screen talent mostly in tact. They bring supply chain expertise, and could fire Jill and take the apparel line in house. The could also close the existing showrooms and add Peloton bikes to their Nike stores. They would also maintain a close working relationship with Apple.
If Amazon buys them though, privacy goes away and they will tie it heavily to the Halo band. I also don’t see on screen talent sticking around as an Amazon company.