Spafinder Wellness has announced it has been acquired by Blackhawk Network, the global gift card distributor. The two companies traded together before the buyout, with Blackhawk being one of Spafinder’s distribution partners.

The deal was finalised some weeks ago, but the news has only just been confirmed.

John Bevan, who had been COO of Spafinder Wellness, will lead the Spafinder business for Blackhawk. Pete and Susie Ellis have both bowed out of the business to concentrate on other ventures.

Blackhawk declined to disclose the value of the acquisition, but David Tate, senior vice president of Blackhawk’s US retail business, said price was not the primary reason for the deal, but rather, the motivation was “the terrific opportunity to partner with a large network where we can drive impact and value.”

Tate said Spafinder represents “a network through which we can provide additional services and drive both customer acquisition for spas and the sale of spa services.”

Blackhawk will improve Spafinder’s service by introducing in-spa barcode scanning and working to grow gift card sales in the US and the UK. There will also be a focus on lowering costs.

“We’re also excited to expand our reach into spas by offering Blackhawk’s platform solutions,” said Tate. “For example, we enable spas to sell their own branded giftcard or e-gift on their own website – we call this Hawk Direct. We will be able to expand Hawk Direct to spas, which will grow their branded value with the their customer base.”

Tate said the company can also support spas with card design, production and processing.

Spafinder has more than 25,000 wellness partners worldwide, including travel destinations, spas and fitness, yoga and Pilates studios. The company's gift cards are available online and at more than 40,000 retailers, as well as through corporate incentive and rewards programmes. Customers in some countries can use Spafinder’s Wellness App to book, review and pay for spa services through their phones.

Spafinder also organises the annual Wellness Travel Awards, which were announced last week at World Travel Market in London.

Spa Business understands that the Global Wellness Summit (GWS) and Global Wellness Institute (GWI) – both founded by Pete and Susie Ellis – are not part of the deal, with Susie Ellis continuing as head of both.