CVC acquires majority stake in Virgin Active

Although the value of the deal has not been disclosed, reports suggest it is in the region of £900m. Equity for the transaction was provided by the CVC European Equity Partners V fund, which raised €11bn at final close in December 2008.

CVC was attracted to the deal because it believes the company has shown consistent and significant growth. CVC will support Virgin Active's growth in existing and new geographies. This will be achieved through a combination of further rollouts of clubs and targeted acquisitions. As part of the deal, Virgin Active will acquire four Australian clubs currently owned by Virgin, marking its first expansion into the Asia-Pacific region.

Debt
The deal was fully financed with equity.

Company
Virgin Active was founded in 1999 and is a health club operator with 254 clubs in the UK, South Africa, Italy, Iberia and Australia. The company has generated double-digit revenue and profit growth for 11 consecutive years. In 2010 Virgin Active recorded sales of £445.2m and EBITDA of £115m.

People
Pev Hooper is senior managing director at CVC Capital Partners.

Advisers
Equity – Global Leisure Partners (Corporate finance); Citigroup (Corporate finance).
Vendor – Ashcombe (Corporate finance).

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• Topics
• UK / Ireland
• Buyouts
• Consumer
• CVC Capital Partners
• United Kingdom