Mindbody, San Luis Obispo, California, is promoting its president, Fritz Lanman, to CEO, and Josh McCarter is moving from CEO to its board of directors, the company announced Aug. 2.
The changes. which will be effective Sept. 3, occur as reports circulate that the software management and experience company for health clubs, studios and spas is considering an initial public offering (IPO) in 2023.
McCarter began with Mindbody in 2018 as chief strategy officer, became president in 2019 and then CEO in 2020 when Mindbody founder Rick Stollmeyer exited that role to become executive chair. McCarter led Mindbody through the pandemic and through the company’s acquisition of ClassPass in October 2021.
“It’s the right time to pass the baton to Fritz who will lead Mindbody through this next chapter,” McCarter said. “Fritz’s tech and entrepreneurial background and his CEO experience make him the perfect fit to lead Mindbody and ClassPass.”
Lanman was CEO of ClassPass when it was acquired by MindBody, moving into the role of president of ClassPass and Mindbody Marketplace after the acquisition. Lanman led ClassPass through Seed and Series A funding rounds. A graduate of Yale, Lanman started his career at Microsoft where he held a number of product management and corporate strategy roles and worked on several deals, including Microsoft’s multi-million-dollar investment in Facebook. He is co-inventor on several technology patents.
“I am excited to build on the strong foundation the company has built over the years and bring new approaches to help accelerate our growth and deliver greater value for wellness business owners and wellness enthusiasts alike,” Lanman said in the announcement. “There is tremendous opportunity in the wellness industry right now, and Mindbody is poised to capitalize on market changes and challenges.”
In March, Mindbody launched Mindbody Capital, which was designed to provide wellness businesses with access to funding.
At that time, the company said that statistics show the wellness industry is not only rebounding but expanding. In-person reservations were up 27 percent since December 2021, according to data at the time from ClassPass. Additionally, February 2022 saw the most ClassPass reservations since February 2020. Looking to the future, 55 percent of Mindbody fitness customers estimate that their attendance will be back to 100 percent of pre-pandemic levels by December 2022.
Mindbody, which was founded in 2001, has been considering going public, according to a report in the Financial Times.
McCarter told the Financial Times that the IPO would not be about liquidity but about having a public currency the company can use for mergers and acquisitions.
Club Industry reached out to a Mindbody spokesperson to get further comment, and the spokesperson told Club Industry, “Mindbody’s main focus right now is bringing together the synergies of the Mindbody and ClassPass teams.”
Mindbody isn’t new to IPOs. It went public in June 2015, trading on Nasdaq, but in early 2019, it returned to private status after Vista Equity Partners purchased all of its stock for $1.9 billion. Its peak stock price was $43.85 per share.
Mindbody recently agreed to settle a class action lawsuit filed by shareholders related to the acquisition.