Based in Austria, Runtastic is said to be one of the three key digital app companies in the sports sector, with 70 million registered users around the world and 15 million active participants every month who use its 20-plus applications, offered in 18 different languages for a variety of endurance, health and fitness activities. Its apps have been downloaded more than 140,000 times.
Runtastic is described as market leader in around 20 countries including France, Italy and Spain. It has close to 10 million users in the U.S., where it has gained five million users since discussions started with Adidas two months ago. The company has an office in San Francisco.
Just before releasing its results for the second quarter of 2015, Adidas announced the acquisition of all the shares in Runtastic in a transaction that gives the Austrian company an enterprise value of €220 million. A German publishing company, Axel Springer, had acquired a controlling interest of 50.1 percent in Runtastic at the end of 2013 for €22 million.
The takeover positions the group in the connected digital space more firmly and more competitively after the recent incursion into the sector by Under Armour and Amer Sports. Synergies are expected with Adidas applications such as MiCoach, but Runtastic will continue to be managed independently by its team of about 130 young digital nerds at Pasching near Linz. It will continue to be led by Florian Gschwandtner, who co-founded the company in 2009.
Adidas declined to comment on Runtastic's turnover or its profitability. It said that about half of the revenues come from Europe, 12 to 15 percent from North America, 25 percent from Asia and the rest from Latin America.
