Alo Yoga owners eye IPO or sale after offloading wholesale T-shirt business

The owners of Alo Yoga, the Los Angeles athleisure brand, are shedding their wholesale T-shirt business, Bella+Canvas, with analysts suggesting this clears a path toward an IPO or strategic deal.

Alo's parent company, Color Image Apparel, confirmed the sale of Bella+Canvas in May, although a purchase price was not disclosed. While the sale has not yet completed, analysts, M&A advisors and investors suggested to Reuters that this sets up Alo Yoga for an IPO or sale.

Co-founders Danny Harris and Marco DeGeorge, who each own 50% of Color Image Apparel, started the business in 1992 as a screen-printing and wholesale T-shirt operation.

Alo Yoga was launched in 2007 in Los Angeles and has since grown into the more visible half of the parent company portfolio. Forbes reported in April 2025 that the parent company had revenue estimated at nearly $2 billion, with Alo's sales having roughly doubled over the prior two years and grown tenfold since 2020.

Today, Alo operates more than 150 global stores, nine of which are located in the UK, with a product range spanning activewear, skincare, footwear and beauty.

The brand announced today that it was further expanding its UK footprint with the opening of a tenth "sanctuary" in Edinburgh in November this year. This marks the first time that Alo is coming to Scotland, offering its range of "studio-to-street design" to the local community.

While Alo sells premium, direct-to-consumer athleisure at higher price points - last year it launched a range of travel bags with prices reaching £3,000 for a leather duffel bag as part of its push into luxury positioning - Bella+Canvas operates in wholesale basics, selling blank T-shirts through distributors.

Bundling the two businesses under one corporate roof made it harder for outside investors to assess the company, according to the Reuters report, as the two businesses carry different margins, growth rates and customer profiles.

Shedding the Bella+Canvas business leaves the parent company with a simpler corporate structure, allowing Alo to be benchmarked against athleisure competitors such as Lululemon and Vuori.

Harris and DeGeorge first explored bringing in outside capital in 2023, speaking with private equity firms and other investors in a process that could have valued the company at roughly $10 billion. However, that transaction never materialised. The competitive landscape has shifted since 2023.

Athleisure demand has normalised after the pandemic-era surge, with consumers redistributing spending across other apparel categories. Alo now faces more competition from Lululemon, Vuori, and Gymshark, which reported a record year of sales growth for FY25.

No timeline has been given for a potential Alo IPO or sale, as the Bella+Canvas transaction must close before the founders can move forward with any next steps for the athleisure brand.

Alo's new Edinburgh store is opening at 16-17 Multrees Walk, Edinburgh, EH1 3DQ, in November 2026, although an exact opening date has not yet been confirmed.