In a move that joins two empires, Phillip Anschutz is selling his 27% stake in the Los Angeles Lakers to Los Angeles Dodgers owners Todd Boehly and Mark Walter.

The deal values the Lakers at around $5 billion, meaning that the sale was for around $1.35 billion. The Dodgers were valued at $3.57 billion in May.

With Boehly and Warner now holding the top minority stake in the Lakers, there are suddenly deep links between two historic sports franchises.

• There is speculation that the Lakers and Dodgers could one day bundle their media rights together. L.A. has over 5.7 million homes — the second-largest media market in the U.S. 
• Walter and Boehly are part-owners of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks. Former Lakers great and executive Magic Johnson is part-owner of the Dodgers and Sparks.

Anschutz Entertainment Group owns the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, MLS’ Los Angeles Galaxy, and the Staples Center, where the Lakers, Kings, Sparks, and Los Angeles Clippers play. Anschutz explored selling AEG 10 years ago but ultimately decided to hold. 

The new deal could set up Boehly and Walter for a majority stake in the Lakers one day. The pair gained right of first refusal, meaning that they would have the first opportunity to fully buy the team, should owner Jeannie Buss decide to sell.

Subscription-based fitness platform Beachbody is going public.

On Friday, Beachbody and at-home connected cycling provider Myx closed their merger with blank-check company Forest Road Acquisition.

The combined entity, The Beachbody Company Group, is valued at $2.9 billion and began trading publicly on Monday.

Carl Daikeler, the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Beachbody, owns a 43% stake in the company and is now worth $1.7 billion, according to Forbes.

“We’d like to consider ourselves the Disney+ of Fitness because [our] content has this substance that’s not ephemeral,” Daikeler said.

Together, Beachbody and Myx recorded a combined revenue of $243.3 million from their 2.6 million users in Q1, up 43% from the year prior, per the Los Angeles Business Journal.

• Forest Road Acquisition raised $300 million in an IPO in November 2020 and will add another $225 million for the merger in a private placement with institutional investors.
• The SPAC is led by three former Disney executives and includes Shaquille O’Neal and Martin Luther King III as advisors.
• Openfit, also owned by Beachbody, acquired nutrition company Ladder in December. Ladder was founded by LeBron James and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Beachbody expects more than $1 billion in 2021 revenue, a notable jump from last year’s $880 million.

Xponential Fitness filed for an initial public offering on Friday after a year-long delay caused by the pandemic, per Bloomberg.

The company is seeking a valuation of about $1.3 billion.

Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and Jefferies Financial Group will lead the $100 million offering. A $200 million private placement is also set to take place. 

Founded in 2017, Xponential owns a total of eight brands including Pure Barre, CycleBar, StretchLab, and YogaSix.

The company is wasting little time establishing its footprint in a dynamic fitness industry. 

• It acquired boutique boxing workout brand Rumble in March in a deal valued at as much as $300 million.
• In the last year, Xponential has opened 35 new StretchLab locations in the U.S.

Xponential generated $29 million in revenue in Q1 2021 but suffered a net loss of $4.8 million, compared to $32 million in revenue and a loss of $1.9 million for the same period a year prior.