Yoga firm extends reach
YogaWorks of Santa Monica buys Bay Area company Yoga Tree in a cash deal.
Two of the oldest yoga chains in California are bent on combining.
Yoga Tree, a small San Francisco Bay Area chain, has been acquired by growing Santa Monica company YogaWorks.
The deal increases YogaWorks’ reach into the lucrative Bay Area market, said Phil Swain, the company’s chief executive.
“We’re very excited about the Bay Area,” Swain said. “It’s a very strong community.”
The deal attempts to capitalize on yoga’s growing popularity.
The U.S. yoga industry has grown over the last five years, with more than 26,000 businesses across the country, according to market research firm IBIS World. Almost 10% of adults practiced yoga in 2012, up from 6.1% in 2007, according to a survey by the National Institutes of Health.
The two yoga brands have much in common, Swain said, including similar philosophies on yoga and training.
Yoga Tree was established in 1999 and owns nine studios in San Francisco, Berkeley and Marin County.
YogaWorks operates 38 locations in California and New York, though most of its studios are concentrated in Los Angeles and Orange counties. The 28-year-old company also has online classes through MyYogaWorks and a teacher training program.
YogaWorks is owned by Great Hill Partners, a Boston private equity firm. Great Hill Partners bought YogaWorks last year for about $45 million from Cambridge, Mass., venture capital firm Highland Capital Partners, according to the Wall Street Journal. YogaWorks has annual revenue of $50 million, said Peter Garran, principal of Great Hill Partners.
Terms of the cash deal for Yoga Tree were not disclosed.
YogaWorks plans to continue expanding in California, including San Diego and farther into the San Francisco Peninsula, Swain said.
Over the next few years, the company also plans to expand from its other hub in New York to East Coast locations such as Boston and Washington.