Lululemon Shares Plunge as Two Major Shareholders Reduce Positions

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU) shares were down more than 11% on Thursday, after the company's largest shareholder, Advent International Corp. distributed another large portion of its stake in the yoga retailer to partners, according to regulatory filings on Wednesday. Advent International owned about 18.2 million shares when Lululemon went public, and now owns roughly 4.6 million shares. Highland Capital Partners, another large Lululemon shareholder also reportedly reduced its holdings, and now owns less than 5% of the company.

With only 27% of the company's stock offered in its initial public offering last July, there has been concern of late about how Lululemon shares would react after the company exited a 180-day lockup period for insiders on Jan. 23, 2008.

In a research note in late January, BMO Capital analyst Adam Clark lowered his rating on Lululemon shares from "market perform" to "underperform" citing consumer spending concerns. He also said the stock would come under pressure should speculation that two major private equity shareholders were planning to sell a majority of their position come true.