Asics has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to buy all shares in FitnessKeeper, the development company behind popular fitness app Runkeeper, and turn it into a wholly owned subsidiary. With over 33 million registered users, RunKeeper will instantly put Asics at the front of the pack when it comes to sportswear-affiliated fitness communities.
While Asics isn’t commenting on how much the deal is worth, it is following in the footsteps of several other high-profile acquisitions in recent times. UnderArmor acquired Endomondo, MapMyRun and MyFitnessPal and Adidas bought Runtastic last year.
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Runkeeper’s CEO Jason Jacobs noted that the partnership makes a lot of sense too, as the app’s Shoe Tracker feature means the company already knew that “Asics shoes are by far the ones that Runkeeper users run in the most.” With many of the major fitness apps now being acquired by individual brands, it will be interesting to see if the communities these apps developed splinter into brand-loyal followings or if their original brand-agnostic nature can be retained.
Which fitness app do you use? What do you think of them being bought by fitness companies?
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