Lululemon founder unloads half his stake back to firm

Lululemon’s controversial founder Chip Wilson has lured some old friends back to the yoga retailer’s board — and, as an incentive, he’s selling them half of his 27.7 percent stake in the company.

Advent International, a buyout firm that had been a key Lululemon investor a decade earlier, will pay $845 million for half of Wilson’s 40.2 million shares, valuing them at $42 a pop.

The stock — which got hammered last year after the retailer had to recall yoga pants that were so sheer they revealed customers’ buttocks — rose more than 7 percent to $41.89 in late trading Thursday on news of the deal.

The deal averts the threat of a proxy battle or a takeover bid from Wilson, who got heat last year for blaming the pants problems partly on overweight customers.

Wilson, who has skirmished with fellow board members, cut the deal with Advent to “get the board focused on what it needs to get Lululemon back to where it was,” a source said.

Under the agreement, Wilson and Advent have pledged not to launch a proxy battle or a takeover bid until after Lululemon’s 2016 annual meeting. But the pact also calls for a review of Lululemon’s governance practices, posing a potential venue for disagreement as the parties approach a closing in the next 30 to 60 days. Two Advent execs will rejoin Lululemon’s board