3i sells Basic-Fit shares for £85m

3i sold 3.7 million shares at a price of €30.5 per share, for which it will receive proceeds of around £85m. 3i's remaining stake is worth approximately £272m.

These proceeds take 3i's cash return to date from its investment in Basic-Fit to 2.2x and, including remaining value, to 5.5x. The gym chain listed on the Euronext Amsterdam at €15 per share in June 2016.

Previous funding
Basic-Fit was acquired in 2010 by Health City International Group, which was itself acquired by Waterland Private Equity Investments in June 2005 for €12m. Waterland divested the Health City business in 2013 in a management buy-back, through which the founders acquired Waterland's 50% stake in the Health City/Basic-Fit group.

In November 2013, 3i invested €97m in the MBO of Basic-Fit in a deal valuing the business at €275m. The firm invested alongside the company's founder and CEO Rene Moos and members of the management team. As a result of the transaction, Moos and co-founder Eric Wilborts retained significant minority stakes, while CFO Hans Van der Aars became a new shareholder.

3i's IPO of the Dutch gym operator in June 2016 generated gross proceeds of approximately £89m for the GP. The share price was set at €15 per share. 3i's stake in the group was reduced from 44.4% to 23.7% through the listing. As part of the offering, 26.7 million shares were placed by the company and its shareholders, generating gross proceeds of €400m and implying a market cap of €820m.

Company
Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Hoofddorp, near Amsterdam, Basic-Fit is a Dutch low-cost fitness club network operating 350 gyms across the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and France.

People
3i – Pieter de Jong (partner, managing director Benelux operations); Robert Van Goethern (partner).

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