FSN sells Fitness Word to Pure Gym

Greg Gille
12 December 2019

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FSN Capital has sold gyms operator Fitness World to UK-based Pure Gym, which is backed by US private equity house Leonard Green & Partners.

Unquote sister publication Mergermarket reported earlier this month that final bids for Fitness World were expected on 3 December. Sun Capital, Nordic Capital and KKR were also linked to the process.

Fitness World generates around €60m in EBITDA and €300m in revenues, as previously reported by Mergermarket. The asset was expected to fetch between 8-9x EBITDA.

The transaction is expected to close in January 2020.

FSN acquired Danish health-club chain Fitness World from its founders and management in 2015. The GP invested via its FSN Capital IV fund, which closed on SEK 5.25bn at the end of 2013. Fitness World's founders and management retained a 45% stake in the business. Danske Bank provided a debt package to finance the acquisition.

CCMP Capital sold its majority stake in UK-based gym operator Pure Gym to US buyout house Leonard Green & Partners in late 2017. The deal valued Pure Gym at around £600m. CCMP acquired a majority stake – in excess of 75% – in Pure Gym in May 2013. The business was considering an IPO in 2016, but abandoned the plans due to weak investor enthusiasm.

Company
Fitness World was founded in 2005 and is active in the value segment of the gym market. Its main market is Denmark, with a growing presence in Poland and Switzerland. The company has 600,000 members visiting its 240 clubs.

FSN stated that the number of members has grown by 150,000 since it became owner in 2015, with EBITDA increasing by around 1.7x.

People
FSN Capital – Thomas Broe-Andersen (partner).
Fitness World – Steen Albrechtslund (CEO).
Pure Gym – Humphrey Cobbold (CEO).

Advisers
Vendor – Harris Williams (corporate finance); Plesner (legal); Wardynski (legal); Pestalozzi (legal); PwC (financial due diligence); McKinsey (commercial due diligence).