Fossil Group acquires wearable maker Misfit for $260 million

Watchmaker Fossil Group has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Misfit Inc., which creates various wearable and sleep trackers in addition to a health-tracking platform, for $260 million.

Sonny Vu, CEO of Misfit, will serve as president and chief technology officer of connected devices for Fossil Group, Inc., and will be a member of the company’s executive leadership team.

Fossil Group expects the acquisition to close before the end of fiscal 2015. The purchase price of $260 million, including transaction costs, will be funded through a combination of cash on hand and bank debt.

According to Fossil, the acquisition will enable the company to:

Own a technology platform that has already solved many of the hardest problems in wearables, including battery life.
Scale Misfit’s technology across Fossil, Skagen and a targeted portion of its portfolio of 16 brands in 2016, ultimately accelerating the company’s connected accessory roadmap.
Expand its addressable market with new distribution channels, new products, new brands and new enterprise partnerships, including music, fitness, healthcare and digital entities.
Lead in the connected devices space by harnessing the power of a world-class software and hardware engineering team spearheaded by Misfit Founder, Sonny Vu.

The announcement comes just weeks after Fossil introduced its Q Series of smart wearables. With the acquisition of Misfit, Fossil aims to expand its product offerings from traditional timepieces to connected wearable devices.

Kaiser Bey

Kaiser is a tech enthusiast who likes to write, read and talk about tech. He dreams of going to Mars and never come back. We hope that you find his posts on AndroGuider helpful and informative