“We said, our company is doing well, we’re growing in a very good way, we have 140 people now, we’re very profitable, and we have a very good roadmap,” continued Gschwandtner. Faced with interest from Adidas and others, Gschwandtner was in a position where he had to decide whether staying semi-independent or becoming a fully owned subsidiary would be the best way forward.

To outsiders, however, Axel Springer and Runtastic was an odd pairing. Divide that figure down the middle, and that’s not a bad return on Axel Springer’s initial investment two years ago. The company bought a 50.1 percent stake in Runtastic back in 2013 for an enterprise value of €22 million ($25 million), with the Runtastic’s four founders, and a single angel investor, retaining the other 49.9 percent.Īs events transpired, Axel Springer did rather well out of the deal, with Adidas paying €220 million ($239 million) to gain 100 percent control of the company. It’s also worth noting here that Runtastic had a majority shareholder in the form of Germany-based Axel Springer, one of Europe’s biggest media companies. While Gschwandtner couldn’t confirm which other companies, or how many, were showing interest, he did state that it was “more than a handful” from around the world, with talks kicking off around four months ago. It seems this might’ve prompted Adidas and others into action, and Runtastic was an obvious target. The acquisition Gschwandtner is referring to is American sports clothing company Under Armour, which bought MyFitnessPal and Endomondo - two massive fitness platforms - for $560 million. “After the acquisition that happened earlier this year, with Under Armour and those other players, some companies came knocking on our door,” said Gschwandtner. It was its size that ultimately attracted the sports accessories behemoth, but Adidas wasn’t the only company sniffing around. Runtastic is a big company in its own right, one that often falls under the mainstream radar. While big-name American brands such as Runkeeper and Nike+ are perhaps better-known globally, Runtastic has notched up 140 million downloads around the world, and claims 70 million registered users. But what exactly sparked Adidas’s interest, and why sell now?

Runtastic by adidas