Lululemon Founder Buries Hatchet; Backs Off Proxy Battle

Lululemon Athletica LULU rose sharply after hours Thursday when its founder agreed to back off from waging a proxy battle for control of the apparel maker for at least two years. Lululemon changed hands recently up more than 7 percent at 41.80 a share. The company said founder Chip Wilson will sell half his stake,or 13.85 percent of Lululemon's shares outstanding, to the private equity firm Advent International for $845 million. Advent previously invested in Lululemon in 2005 and worked closely with Wilson and five of the company's 10 current board members. Advent completed its exit from the original investment in June 2009. Wilson will also support the naming of two Advent representatives to Lululemon's board, expanding the number of directors to 12 from 10 and the company will hire an independent expert to recommend changes to board policies and procedures. Wilson resigned as chief executive weeks earlier this year amid a product recall and disagreements about strategy.