Lululemon takes steps to enable founder Chip Wilson to sell remaining stake

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Lululemon founder Dennis (Chip) Wilson could sell his family’s remaining stake in the yoga gear retailer a year after pushing for board changes.

The company filed papers that would allow Wilson to sell about 20.1 million shares, which constitutes his remaining 14 per cent stake in the company, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Thursday.

The move comes months after he made a truce with the company he created by also selling 20.1 million shares as part of a deal to avoid a messy battle.

He resigned as chairman in December 2013 and in June 2014 announced that he was voting against the re-election of two returning directors, including his replacement, chairman Michael Casey, and private equity executive RoAnn Costin.

At the time, Wilson argued that he didn’t think the two members aligned with the company’s “core values of product and innovation.”

Wilson started Lululemon in 1998 in Vancouver after taking a yoga class and helped turn it into an international brand, with more than 250 stores.

The stock sale comes on the heels of a positive quarterly report for the company.

The Vancouver-based company more than doubled its fiscal first-quarter profit on a boost in clothing sales. Lululemon also raised its outlook for full-year profit and revenue.

Note to readers: This story includes a clarification. An earlier item said Wilson “is selling” his family’s remaining stock but this story specifies he has not yet sold any shares but now can do so if he chooses.