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The consolidation of fitness apps continues. Runkeeper on Friday announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Japanese footwear manufacturer Asics.
The popular fitness app is the latest to be bought by a large athletic apparel company. Under Armour purchased MapMyFitness for $150 million in November of 2013, followed by acquisitions of both Endomondo and MyFitnessPal for $85 million and $475 million, respectively. Adidas joined the digital race when the company bought Runtastic for $240 million last August.
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Runkeeper arrived in 2008 as one of the first fitness apps on iPhone and Android devices. It gave users an easy way to track and record fitness activities such as running, walking and cycling using the GPS on their smartphones. The app soon grew to be one of the largest, with more than 45 million users worldwide.
Jason Jacobs, the founder and CEO of Runkeeper, said in a post on social publishing platform Medium that the acquisition won’t change much for users of the app. He did note, however, that Asics will help the company realize its dream of embedding the Runkeeper platform in physical products.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
