BPI, Idia and Sofipaca invest in Keep Cool

Idia and Sofipaca are both Crédit Agricole subsidiaries. All three GPs declined to comment on financial details of the transaction.

Keep Cool's founder Guy Deville and the management team invested alongside the GPs, with Deville retaining a controlling stake in the company.

Currently focused exclusively on France, the business intends to use the fresh funding primarily to expand abroad. It is planning a launch in Toronto by the end of the year, followed by further openings in Canada.

A number of bolt-on acquisitions of other fitness club chains are also on the cards, the company added, in addition to the opening of around 30 new branches in France by the end of 2018. Keep Cool's revenues increased from €22m to €28m in the last financial year.

Company
Launched in 1982 by Guy Deville, Keep Cool is a fitness club chain. The company manages 200 clubs, 40 of which are direct branches, while the rest are franchises. It also offers a number of fitness-related activities, including an interactive video salsa-training programme, outdoors races, and a programme that promotes the benefits of walking.

Based in Avignon, Keep Cool generated €28m in revenues in 2017, and employs 600 staff.

Advisers
Equity – Viguié Schmidt & Associés, Fabrice Veverka, François Bourrier-Soifer, Charles Fillon, Olivier Peronnau (legal); Advance Capital, Olivier Mortier, Lucas Reynier (financial due diligence).
Company – Beauval, Erick Fouque (corporate finance); UGGC & Associés, Michel Turon, Anne-Laure Legout (legal).

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• Topics
• Expansion
• Consumer
• France
• France
• BPI France
• Advance Capital