The new boss of the fitness equipment company Peloton has put a damper on speculation about the sale of the former Corona winner. He wouldn’t move from California to New York if he was anticipating a takeover any time soon, Barry McCarthy told the Financial Times newspaper. Peloton shares were down about 6 percent in late U.S. trade after the comments were released on Monday. Investors had let the price rise sharply after media reports about an interest in buying from Amazon and Nike, among others.
Peloton is a specialist in connected exercise bikes and treadmills. When the fitness studios closed at the beginning of the corona pandemic, sales of Peloton equipment jumped. But the company overestimated how long the increased demand would last. The construction of a new plant in the USA for 400 million dollars was decided – the plans were dropped last week.
McCarthy was CFO of the Netflix and Spotify streaming services, making him a specialist in digital business models. Among other things, he wants to expand the range of training subscriptions at Peloton. Co-founder and longtime boss John Foley handed over the top job to McCarthy a few days ago after pressure from some investors. At the same time, thanks to shares with 20 times more voting rights, Foley and a core of company insiders would retain control of the company and would also have the final say in purchase offers. (dpa)