Lululemon Founder Selling Stake

(RTTNews) - Canadian yogawear maker Lululemon Athletica, Inc. (LULU) revealed in a regulatory filing Thursday that its founder and former Chairman/Chief Executive Officer Dennis 'Chip' Wilson is set to exit his family's entire stake in the company.

The move follows a period of tense relations with the company, which Wilson once accused of losing its "core values."

The Vancouver, Canada-based company said in a Form 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the Wilson family will sell a total of 20.11 million shares or a 14.22 percent stake in the company at a proposed maximum offering price of $60.95 for total proceeds of up to $1.23 billion.

Wilson sold off half of his stake of 27.7 percent in August 2014 to private equity firm Advent International for about $845 million and also agreed not to launch a proxy fight or a hostile takeover of the company. He also left the board in early February 2015.

Wilson sold his stake in August 2014 as part of a settlement with the board after he had voted his entire 27.7 percent stake against the re-election of the company's chairman and another director at the June 2014 annual meeting. He has had differences with the board, and wanted the company to have product development a top priority.

Wilson began testing the waters over taking the company private in July 2014 and actively explored options to exert more influence over Lululemon's operations. His advisers sounded out private-equity firms including Leonard Green & Partners to team up with Wilson in a buyout.

Wilson founded Lululemon in 1998, relinquished his role as CEO in 2005, and stepped down as chairman in May 2014. However, he remained a director until February 2015.

He had led the company through many business cycles as he expanded it from a small storefront in Vancouver to an international brand with over 250 stores.

In January 2012, Wilson left his position as Chief Innovation and Branding Officer at lululemon and began a sabbatical in Australia where he was away from day-to-day management. In the spring of 2013, he was asked by the lululemon board to return to help handle a crisis that occurred while he was away and position the company towards longer-term corporate objectives.

Lululemon made headlines in 2013 when customers complained that some of their black yoga pants being too sheer. The recall of these products cost the company millions of dollars and dented its image.

LULU closed Wednesday's regular trading session at $66.77, down $1.78 on a volume of 5.55 million shares. In the past 52-week period, the stock has been trading in a range of $36.26 to $70.00.