BGF backs Xercise4less with £5m

The capital will be used to back the management's five-year plan of further expansion within the UK. The company is aiming to open around 100 new gyms and hire 4,000 new staff.

BGF's latest investment was a £2.25m capital injection into Abacus e-Media, a London-based content management system provider, earlier in August.

BGF provides growth capital to UK businesses across the country. The firm's investment in Xercise4less is its third deal completed by its Northern team in two months. The private equity firm bought a minority stake for £10m in York Mailing, a producer of retail flyers, media inserts and catalogues, in July. In the same month, BGF invested £10m in bathroom retailer Better Bathrooms, based in Leigh.

The firm typically invests between £2-10m per deal, acquiring minority stakes and adding a BGF director to each business's management board. It currently holds 30 companies in its portfolio.

Company
Fitness chain Xercise4less was founded in Castleford in 2006. It now runs nine fitness sites, mainly in the north of England. The company has around 80,000 members across the UK.

Xercise4less employs 250 full-time staff as well as 150 freelancers. It reported a turnover of £7.5m last year.

People
Jon Wright is the CEO and founder of Xercise4less. Richard Taylor is a senior investment manager at BGF.

Advisers
Equity – Squire Sanders (Legal); KPMG (Financial due diligence).
Vendor – Walker Morris (Legal); Sentio Corporate Finance (Financial due diligence).

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• Topics
• UK / Ireland
• Consumer
• Expansion
• BGF (Business Growth Fund)