Nautilus Inc. is seeking a buyer for Octane Fitness so it can once again focus solely on its home fitness equipment brands.
Nautilus, which has been in the home fitness equipment market for more than 30 years, purchased Octane Fitness in late 2015 from North Castle Partners for US$115 (AU$165.57) million.
“Our decision to explore the potential sale of Octane Fitness is as a result of our long-term strategic planning process and a conclusion to refocus more resources on what we do best: deliver best-in-class home fitness products and connected fitness experiences,” Jim Barr, CEO of Nautilus Inc., said in a media release.
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This isn’t the first time Nautilus has exited the commercial fitness equipment market. Nautilus Inc. owned the commercial brands Nautilus and Schwinn before selling those in 2009 to Med-Fit. Washington based Core Health & Fitness, then purchased the two brands from Med-Fit in 2014.
Nautilus Inc. reported US$104.2 (AU$150.02) million in fourth quarter 2019 revenue and US$309.3 (AU$445.31) million in full-year 2019 revenue, representing year-over-year decreases of 9.7 percent and 22 percent, respectively, according to financials released by the company on Feb. 24.
However, sales turned around in first quarter 2020 with the COVID-19 shutdown and growth in home equipment sales. First quarter 2020 net sales were US$93.7 (AU$134.9) million, an increase of 11 percent compared to first quarter 2019.
That growth did not carry over to Octane Fitness and the commercial club market in the first quarter due to commercial clubs being closed.
The company’s home equipment brands include Bowflex, Nautilus and Schwinn.
In Australia, commercial fitness equipment specialists Novofit are the exclusive distributor for the Octane Fitness range.