BGF injects £10m into Gymbox

The fresh capital will enable Gymbox to invest in new sites across the UK. The company has already secured three locations for new gyms in London and will seek additional outlets across the country.

The investment also marks the first deal for mid-market advisory firm Clearwater International since its merger with Advizer and Imap Lynx last month.

Following the investment, Paul Campbell, founder and CEO of The Clapham House Group, will join the company's board as non-executive chairman.

BGF was attracted to the deal by Gymbox's management team and the company's growth record to date. It also cited an increasing UK trend away from mid-market gyms, towards low-cost and premium brands.

BGF also recently injected £2m into portfolio gym company Xercise4Less, having initially invested £5m in August 2013.

Previous funding
According to unquote" data, Hotbed invested £3.25m in Gymbox in 2005, with a follow-on investment of £2.1m in 2008. In April 2010, Octopus Ventures provided £1.3m for additional sites, drawing capital from Octopus Capital for Enterprise Fund. At the time the company operated three gyms in central London.

Company
Gymbox is a London-based health club business founded in 2001 that already operates five gyms in the UK capital. The company offers evening activities in conjunction with live sets from resident DJs.

The company has 13,400 members and anticipates a turnover of £10m for the year to October 2014 with EBITDA of £3.5m.

People
Alistair Brew is an investment director for BGF and will take a seat on the Gymbox board. Richard Hilton is founder and managing director of Gymbox.

Advisers
Equity – Morrison & Foerster (Legal); Mazars (Financial due diligence); Global Leisure Partners (Corporate finance).
Company – Clearwater International, Marcus Archer, Alex Patey (Corporate finance); Olswang (Legal).

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• Topics
• Expansion
• UK / Ireland
• Consumer
• BGF (Business Growth Fund)
• United Kingdom
• Octopus Ventures