Iconic Canadian outdoor retailer Mountain Equipment Co-op has been sold.
The business said Monday that its board of directors unanimously approved a deal in which a Los Angeles-based private investment firm called Kingswood Capital Management will acquire its assets, including the majority of its retail stores.
As part of the deal, MEC will no longer operate as a member-owned cooperative.
It was granted protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, allowing it to continue operating while the transaction and other elements of the plan are completed.
The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2020.
MEC was founded in Vancouver in 1971, and currently has more than five million members and 22 stores across Canada.
In July, it announced it was making 200 frontline staff layoffs permanent because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
— With files from The Canadian Press