Fitness First has abandoned plans to sell off its German division after offers failed to match up to the gym chain’s valuations.
The attempted sale of the 80-club-strong German arm by owner Oaktree Capital proved to be a protracted process. The intended offload was first
revealed in October, but after months without an update, the deal appeared to have gone cold. However, speaking at the
European Health & Fitness Forum (EHFF) in Cologne, Germany, during FIBO week in April, Fitness First Germany MD Tilk said
the sale was still progressing.But after several more false-starts, outgoing CEO Andrew Cosslett has confirmed that the sale will no longer go ahead. On the same day that it was announced he would soon be
replaced by board member Oren Peleg, Cosslett said the sale had been scrapped after offers had been deemed too low.
Health Club Management understands that a bid in the region of £108m (US$170m €150m) would have been enough to secure the German division, but the private equity firms bidding for the business failed to match this.
Fitness First Germany will now proceed with its five-year plan to foster growth within its existing portfolio and membership base by driving secondary spend. Tilk outlined certain aspects in April, noting that the health and fitness industry – particularly in Europe – is notoriously bad at raising additional revenue, with an average club’s revenue from non-dues just five per cent. He said Fitness First would seek to drive sales of personal training, F&B and biological age profiling, as well as selling extras through its online platform.
Fitness First Germany acquired online German fitness company NewMoove in October 2014 and Tilk said the firm’s online expertise was already paying dividends and would play a key part in the five-year-plan.
“The NewMoove team are bringing expertise for handling e-leads (internet leads) and treating users how they want to be treated,” he said.
“We as an industry haven’t been geared up for online demand. At Fitness First, our conversion rate for offline leads is one in two – which is pretty good – however our rate for e-leads is one in ten. Teaming up with NewMoove has enhanced our online platform and we’re now getting much better.”
