Alo Yoga’s parent company cleared a major structural hurdle toward a potential public offering or sale last week, finalizing the divestiture of its wholesale T-shirt manufacturing business Bella+Canvas to apparel giant SanMar in a deal that industry sources estimate at roughly $400 million. The transaction removes what analysts had described as a “valuation drag” — a low-margin commodity business that complicated how investors priced Alo’s high-growth direct-to-consumer yoga and lifestyle brand.
Bella+Canvas, which Alo’s parent had owned since the 1990s, operated a fundamentally different business from the premium athleisure label. The wholesale T-shirt company focused on blank-garment production for promotional merchandise and custom printing — a volume-driven, thin-margin operation that sat uneasily alongside Alo’s brand-driven retail model with its $128 leggings and $98 sports bras.
Alo’s revenue trajectory has attracted attention from private equity and strategic buyers. The brand has capitalized on the broader shift toward wellness-driven dressing — the same cultural current that lifted Lululemon to a $40 billion valuation — but with a distinct California-casual aesthetic that resonates with a younger, digitally native demographic.
The separation allows Alo to present itself to investors as a pure-play premium activewear brand with recurring revenue, high customer retention, and a growing direct-to-consumer channel. The company has expanded into footwear, launched a skincare line, and opened experiential retail flagships in Los Angeles, New York, and London over the past eighteen months.
Neither Alo nor its parent company has confirmed an IPO timeline. Sources close to the process indicate the company is exploring both an initial public offering and a strategic sale, with investment banks already circulating preliminary materials. The Bella+Canvas divestiture was a prerequisite for either path — without it, the conglomerate structure made any clean valuation impossible.
