Wanda Group bought the Ironman brand/business in 2015 and has just agreed to sell it in cash to the ADVANCE investment firm partnered by Orkila Capital. ADVANCE has holdings in the companies that own GTN, GCN and Eurosport.
It looks like Alistair Brownlee and the PTO failed to secure their prize.
Opinion
Yeah, why not. Ironman needs shaking up.
It’s a great brand but a full Ironman is too hard and that will always limit participation. 70.3 doesn’t sound great as a sub-brand and even that distance is very hard for most people. If only they could successfully spread the brand to other race distances and types eg they used to run the London Duathlon IIRC (world’s largest)
https://the5krunner.com/2018/01/26/ironman-floated-ipo/
Last Updated on 16 January 2026 by the5krunner
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tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors.
Is it official?
I saw the rumors this morning…
yup, reported at multiple sources