Kayla Itsines and Tobi Pearce share $400m from sale of fitness platform Sweat, but will continue to lead it from Adelaide

Kayla Itsines and Tobi Pearce spent six years building their fitness empire, Sweat. Now they’ve sold it to a US company for an astonishing price – but will keep leading it.

The glamour duo behind global health and fitness empire Sweat will collect $400m from the sale of their powerhouse platform to US software giant iFIT Health & Fitness Inc.

Sweat co-founders Kayla Itsines and Tobi Pearce have sold out for the staggering sum just six years after they established the first version of the app in 2015.

The young rich listers, who split early last year, will continue to lead Sweat from Adelaide, where the business will be headquartered as a stand-alone brand within the iFIT group.

Sources familiar with the deal said it was worth about $US300 million.

Pearce said it was a proud day for the pair, who remained committed to building the business further from their home city.

Tobi Pearce and Kayla Itsines before their split early last year. Picture: Kayla Itsines/ Instagram

“Kayla and I have had a very strong and long working relationship and this is the beginning of chapter two for both of us,” he said.

“I’m very much looking forward to a bigger and better Sweat – our headquarters will remain in Adelaide and we have a second office in Melbourne and that will reman there as well.”

Pearce, 28, and Itsines, 30, both personal trainers, shot to fame after forming the Bikini Body Guide fitness program in 2015.

It evolved into Sweat, the top ranking home fitness app which has become one of the world’s largest digital fitness training platforms for women. It has been downloaded more than 30 million times.

In the year to June 2020, the company generated $99.5m in revenue, 11.2 per cent higher than 2019 as new subscribers signed up during the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The US remains the company’s biggest market, where $53.7m of its revenue was sourced during the 2020 financial year, while Australian subscribers generated $8.7m.

Pearce and Itsines shared a $23.2m dividend in 2020 despite the company slipping to a $5.4m loss.

The deal with iFIT follows months of speculation that the duo was seeking to sell the business they created together.

Pearce said the tie-up with iFIT would enable further investment in the Sweat brand and would help accelerate its global expansion.

Kayla Itsines started training women one-on-one in her Adelaide backyard before establishing the first Sweat app in 2015.

“Off the back of that (the sale) it will ultimately allow for significant investment from the new parent company, and that will bring significant jobs growth for the organisation,” he said.

“We’re really looking to investing in our member experience and in content creation and there will be incredible job opportunities with that in product, engineering and marketing.”

Itsines and Pearce split early last year but have continued as business partners, with Pearce as chief executive and Itsines as head trainer.

They were valued at $209m each on last year’s Young Rich List.

With Itsines remaining the face of the platform, Sweat has built a global fitness community of more than 50 million women across its social channels.

She said the deal with iFIT “opened the door to an exciting new future” for the brand.

“Sweat has had an incredible journey from our humble beginnings training women one-on-one in my Adelaide backyard to launching the Sweat app in 2015 to now joining the iFIT family,” she said.

“Sweat was founded on our simple belief that fitness can genuinely help women improve their confidence, health and quality of life. Through iFIT’s strategic leadership, we will be able to create new world class fitness content and product experiences to support more women on their fitness path forward.”

Tobi Pearce will remain Sweat’s chief executive.

Utah-based iFIT is one of the world’s biggest health and fitness technology companies, with millions of members across 120 countries.

Its health and fitness platform delivers live and on-demand workout sessions that integrate with the company’s range of treadmills, exercise bikes and other equipment.

The company has an office in Melbourne and owns equipment brands including NordicTrack, ProForm and FreeMotion. The company was valued at more than $US7bn in its most recent round of funding in late 2020, and is expected to attain a valuation in excess of that in an expected IPO later this year.

Chief executive Scott Watterson said the company would use its more than four decades of experience to “strengthen the Sweat member experience, build brand presence in key international markets and grow and diversify content offerings”.

Jobs in product, engineering, marketing and content divisions of Sweat would also flow from the deal, Mr Watterson said.

“Kayla, Tobi and the team at Sweat have built an incredible brand and community of fitness enthusiasts,” he said.

“We are delighted to welcome Kayla’s authentic fitness training and charismatic personality - along with all of Sweat’s other star trainers - to the iFIT family.”