July 24, 2023
The global sauna industry got a little more horizontal today as Sauna360 agreed to be acquired by Masco Corporation (NYSE: MAS), a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of branded home improvement and building products.
Our sources indicate that “Sauna360 will operate within Masco’s Plumbing Products segment as an affiliate of one of its subsidiaries, Watkins Wellness®️, a leader in the hot tubs and aquatic fitness systems categories, including Hot Spring®️ Spas, Caldera®️ Spas, Freeflow®️ Spas, Fantasy®️ Spas and Endless Pools®️ Fitness Systems.”
Sauna synergies
This is a logical place to put Sauna360. Though we may use other Masco brands like Killz to prime our subfloor, Behr to treat our sauna patio benches, or Delta Faucets to run our cold plunges, there are sales synergies with saddling up with the hot tubs and pool brands, with the division called Watkins Wellness.
We don’t have to be a Sherlock Holmes to imagine the Watkins Wellness rounded umbrella underneath Masco Corporation. And the Sauna 360 brands of Tylö, Helo, Kastor, Finnleo and Amerec will join Masco’s existing hot tubs and aquatic fitness product lines.
To visualize the synergies, imagine the Watkins Wellness product booth at the next healthy living trade show. Spas and hot tubs next to sauna cabins, and you get the circular reasoning of this acquisition.
Around the block with Sauna360
A large Sauna360 dealer who wishes to remain anonymous asks: “will this turn their fate around or is it the start of a tail spin?” We have a little time to see how this unfolds as “integration activities cannot commence until after the transaction closes, which is expected to occur in late August.”
This isn’t the first time Sauna360 has hit the acquisition block. In 2019 Nordic Mezzanine acquired all the shares in the company. At that time, the company had several names, as here in North America, the company could be referred to by any one of Tylö, Helo, Finnleo, Saunatec, or in the Northeast, Amerec. In 2021, at the same time as its name was changed from TylöHelo to Sauna360, Swedish CEO Pekka Lettijeff, CEO had his sights on taking the company public.
Swedes vs Finns at Sauna360
For some on the inside, the culture at Sauna360 was not much different than a hockey locker room. The Swedes on one side, and the Finns on the other. In the middle, here in North America, were the well intended soldiers passing along assists for the rising sauna tide.
More information will be added to this article as it becomes available. Comments welcome.
Reference for this article: LinkedIn here.
Bonus history reading:
- In 2012, SaunaTimes founder threw Finnleo under the bus for launching their own line of Infrared cabins (and calling them infrared saunas) here.
- In 2015, SaunaTimes helped promote their warehouse sale here.
- In 2016, we had the pleasure of visiting on the sauna bench with then commercial sales manager Scott. Episode here.
1 thought on “Sauna360 acquired by Masco Corporation”
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It will be very interesting to see how the sauna industry changes over the next several years especially here in North America. With an increased desire of European sauna companies wanting to enter the market plus the large hot tub industry taken notice it usually all comes down to the mighty desire to make a dollar (Or a billion)! Hopefully the love of good sauna will keep people grounded and on the flip side the resources available to the large companies should allow them to bring out some very innovative products.