June 14, 2016
Issue N9
BFIT shares
at lower end
of price range
B
asic-Fit shares were
priced at the lower end
of the range set for the
Dutch low-cost fitness
chain when they started trad-
ing on the Euronext stock ex-
change in Amsterdam on June
10, implying a market capital-
ization of 820 million.
While the indicative price
range was set at 15 to 20,
shares debuted under the
BFIT symbol at 15 million,
suggesting an enterprise
value of 994 million. With
nearly 26.7 million exist-
ing shares and newly-issued
shares, the initial public offer-
ing (IPO) amounted to about
400 million.
Ren Moos, Basic-Fits co-
founder and chief executive,
turned up to hit the gong at
the stock exchange in Amster-
dam in the early afternoon
(the usual opening slot was
taken up for a bigger flota-
tion) but BFIT shares ended
their first trading day with a
decline of 3.3%. They contin-
ued to slide early this week,
below 13.5 at the time of
writing.
Basic-Fit has turned into
the largest operator in Eu-
rope in number of clubs, with
351 gyms and 1,076,752
members in five countries at
the end of March. The Dutch
group generated sales of
202.2 million and adjusted
EBITDA of 60.1 million last
year, but debt weighed heav-
ily on the companys results.
The listing process has
been an exciting journey and
we are pleased with the re-
sponse of both institutional
and retail investors to Ba-
sic-Fit, Moos said in a state-
ment last Friday.
Continued on page 5....
CMG and Silhouette
takeover finalised
L
FPI Group, a French-based
asset management firm,
has taken over the major-
ity of CMG Sports Club in
France and Silhouette Fitness
in Switzerland, with a plan to
support the development of the
two entities.
21Centrale Partners (21CP), a
French-Italian investment com-
Pure, Paris Bastille/ CMG Sports Club
pany, started holding talks last
year to sell its stake of about
85% in the former Club Med
Gym, which it acquired in 2008.
Three years later 21CP bought
a majority stake in Silhouette,
Jatomi pulls out of Turkey
J
atomi Fitness Group faced
angry members in the last
days, after it decided to
cease its Turkish business
and to file for the bankruptcy
of its consistently loss-making
operations in the country.
A Turkish businessman in-
volved in the fitness equip-
ment market has declared his
interest in taking over assets
of the Jatomi group in Turkey,
but the Polish-based group
said that its Turkish business
is to be liquidated, with pro-
ceeds used to repay as much
debt as possible.
Jatomi Fitness Group took
the unfortunate decision to
cease operations within Tur-
key due to heavy financial
losses since opening its first Is-
with support from Swiss Equity
Capital Partners.
After a substantial clean-up
and rebranding, CMG Sports
Club started opening clubs
again and currently runs a net-
work of 23 service-oriented
clubs in and near Paris, with
a strong emphasis on group
classes. CMG Sports Club re-
ported sales of 52 million for
the full year until October 2015
with 64,000 members.
LFPI is very familiar with the
French gym group since it pro-
vided mezzanine financing for
CMG Sports Club and has been
represented on its supervisory
board since 2008.
Franck Hdin, CMG Sports
Clubs chief executive, says that
the buyer intends to work with
current managers on a two-
pronged strategy for the Paris
market leader.
Continued on page 6....
tanbul club, said Trevor Bren-
nan, chief executive officer at
Jatomi, at the start of June.
Jatomi later added that it had
suffered a loss of about 18.7
million in earnings before in-
terest and tax (EBIT) for the
four years from 2012 until
2015 and that it was forecast-
ing another operating loss of
more than 3.5 million for this
year. The group emphasised
that the loss was funded en-
tirely by shareholders.
The Polish-based company
said that the clubs had about
25,000 members but that they
were unsustainable due to the
highly expensive and uneco-
nomical leases entered into
by the previous management
team.
Continued on page 6....
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CONTENTS
New owners for CMG Sports
Club and Silhouette.......p1-6
Jatomi out of Turkey......p1-6
Basic-Fit shares at lower
end of price range..........p1-5
Planet Fitness in Italian
distribution tie-up............p2
Netpulse raises $13 m..... p4
Italian club owners want
special status.................. p4
Nuffield Health buys 35
Virgin gyms.......................p5
DiR launches franchises...p7
Anytime starts in Italy.....p7
Other news
Adidas (p4), Lenovo (p2),
Lululemon (p2), Les Mills (p3),
Polar (p3), Pure Gym (p3),
Rimini Wellness (p4), Skechers
(p2), TomTom (p3) Under
Armour (p3)
Fitness News Europe is
published by Zelus (France)
info@fitnessnewseurope.com
Editor: Barbara Smit
news@fitnessnewseurope.com
@ All rights reserved.
The information published in this newsletter
cannot be copied or distributed electronically
without the publishers written permission.
FITNESS NEWS Europe 1

Planet Fitness and Transatlantic tie-up in Italy
P
lanet Fitness in France has agreed to
take over 60% of Transatlantic Fit-
ness Italia, the distribution partner
for TRX and several other brands,
allowing it to sell a wide range of fitness
equipment and programs in Italy.
The deal forms Planet Fitness Italia,
which regroups Transatlantic Fitness Ita-
lia and six sales people of Les Mills Italia
- an entity in Milan owned by Les Mills
Euromed, which has the same owner as
Planet Fitness in France.
Along with TRX, Transatlantic Fitness
Italia sold Rock Tape kinesiology tape and
Dynamax medicine balls. Based north of
Bologna and led by Stefano Ermacora, it
was previously controlled by Transatlantic
Fitness in Germany. Under the agreed take-
over, Planet Fitness says the German group
retains 10% in the Italian company, with
the remaining 30% for the management.
Prior to the agreement, Planet Fitness
obtained Italian rights for some of the
brands that it sells in France. Trigger Point,
n Skechers made a statement at the Rimini
Wellness fair with a stand of 4,500 square
meters that occupied an entire hall, as part
of its investments into the training category.
While Skechers has long been recognised as
a sportswear brand, it has been putting more
emphasis on sports performance in the last
three years, with technical ranges for running
and several other sports. Daniel Levy, global
vice president in charge of the Skechers
performance division, suggested that the
range launched to retailers for 2017 would
be more strongly targeting the training and
fitness markets. Among the products most
suitable for this purpose is the latest version
of the Go Run 4, which was picked as the
editors choice by Runners World in its June
issue. The magazine explained that Skechers
had decided not to switch to the Go Run 5
because it only slightly tweaked the previous
version of the Go Run 4, but they thought
the changes brought just the right balance
of comfort, light weight and response. The
huge Skechers stand in Rimini featured a
store as well as a stage and a running track.
The Skechers performance ranges have
found strong resonance in international
markets, enabling Skechers to report earlier
this year that its foreign wholesale turnover
had surpassed sales to U.S. retailers for the
first time in the first quarter of this year.
Its European business could further be-
nefit from the completed expansion of its
European distribution centre this year.
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2 FITNESS NEWS Europe
Top Gear
Disq, ViPR and Reebok fitness equipment
were added to the offering of Transatlan-
tic Fitness Italia.
Planet Fitness Italia appeared with the
full assortment on a busy stand at Rimini
Wellness, which marked the start of the
partnership for the Italian market.
Along with all the above brands, Planet gress was held there on June 9-10. The or-
Fitness Italia also started selling HBX (Hu- ganisers boasted that it was attended by
man Body Exercise) programs in Italy, most of the leading players in France.
Soft Briefs
n Lululemons management has come
under attack from its founder and largest
shareholder, Chip Wilson, who has aired his
disappointment with the Canadian yoga
apparel brands performance in a contribu-
tion to the Globe and Mail. He wrote that,
since Lululemons current chief executive
has been in place, the value of Under Armour
has increased by 79% and Nike by 45%, while
Lululemons share price dipped by 8%. This
appears to indicate that investors do not
believe Lululemon can grow and earn like
its competitors, Wilson claimed. However,
the criticism came just before Lululemon
upgraded its forecast for the full year, after
a 17% increase in sales to $495.5 million for
the quarter until the end of April. With store
openings and growing online sales, the rise
amounted to a hike of 19% in constant cur-
rencies, above Lululemons own estimates.
The Vancouver-based groups shares were
up on the day, with investors apparently
reassured that it was reporting ample growth
and that inventories have improved. Lu-
lulemons gross profit margin dipped by 0.3
percentage points to 48.3% and income from
operations dwindled by 15% to $57.6 million.
That amounted to an operating margin of
11.6%, down from 16.1% for the same quarter
in 2015. Lululemons latest guidance calls
for sales to end up in the range of $2.305
billion to $2.345 billion for the full fiscal year,
compared with previous guidance of $2.285
billion to $2.335 billion.
with small group classes held at Rimini
Wellness. HBX consists of five functional
training classes with boxing and wrestling
themes, among others.
It makes sense to be able to offer a full
assortment of products to the gyms and
personal trainers, said Bruno Gayraud,
deputy chief executive at Planet Fitness.
TRX and other brands sold by Transatlan-
tic Fitness Italia should particularly bene-
fit from the added sales force in Italy.
Shortly after Rimini Wellness, Planet
Fitness inaugurated its sprawling campus
in Aix-en-Provence last Friday. Hundreds
of guests assembled at the new campus,
which includes the head office of Les Mills
Euromed, a Les Mills immersive studio
and plenty of other facilities on 3,300
square metres.
Aix was particularly busy last week
since the third Fitness Challenges con-
n Yet another technology giant is making its
way into the smart footwear space, as Lenovo
brought a prototype of connected sneakers to
the Tech World conference in San Francisco
last week. While the Chinese technology firm
has yet to provide all the details about the
product, it appears that it provides all the pre-
dictable functions, such as tracking distance
covered and the equivalent calorie consump-
tion, but no heart rate monitor. The Verge
reports that Lenovo sneakers run on an Intel
wearable chip and that they charge wirelessly
when placed on a shoe-sized charging panel.
The prototype was apparently made with a
customizable insole and a Vibram outsole.
LEDs are embedded in the soles, so that they
light up along the bottom. But perhaps most
intriguingly, theres a gaming functionality
built into the product: Wearers can use their
feet as a controller to step back and forth,
move left and right, jump and perform various
other actions in a mobile game. The concept
may tie in well with the gamification trend in
the fitness industry. But as The Verge points
out, it should take some time before Lenovos
latest smart shoes hit the market. Other com-
panies that have been working on such smart
shoes include Under Armour, which unveiled
its own version at the Consumer Electronics
Show in Las Vegas in January. Another entrant
is Altra Footwear, the running footwear com-
pany that was acquired at a majority in 2011
by Icon Health & Fitness, the big American
fitness equipment supplier.
 Fitness Tech

Netpulse raises $13 m for global expansion

N
etpulse, the American
company that specia-
lises in fitness apps for
fitness clubs, has raised
$13 million in a round of fund-
ing led by August Capital to
pursue its global expansion.
Netpulse, which focuses on
larger operators, currently
works most intensely with
American chains such as Planet
Fitness, Orangetheory Fitness,
UFC Gym and Golds Gym.
But since last year it started
spreading its platform in in-
ternational markets, with the
opening of an office in London
in August.
Previous investors, from Jav-
elin Venture Partners to Nokia
Growth Fund and DFJ Frontier,
took part in the latest round as
well. The company from San
Francisco previously raised
$15.6 million in 2012 and
$18.6 million in 2014. After
that second fundraise, which
was led by Nokia Growth Fund,
Netpulse bought Club Apps for
an undisclosed sum.
August Capital is a Califor-
nia-based venture capital firm
established in 1995, which
manages more than $2.5 billion
in committed capital, focusing
on companies in the informa-
tion technology business.
While lots of fitness tech-
nology companies compete for
consumers outside of the gym,
no one even comes close to
Netpulse inside the gym, Dave
Marquardt, founding partner of
August Capital, said in a state-
ment. They were the leader in
bringing entertainment, work-
out tracking and virtual scen-
ery to nearly all of the brands
of cardio equipment, and now
they are the clear leader in
bringing a sophisticated mobile Peacock said that the fund-
app to fitness clubs throughout raising would help Netpulse to
the world. explore global markets as well
John Gengarella, chief exec- as adding functionalities to its
utive at Netpulse since June products. Earlier this year it
2015, said in a statement that launched mobile app features
the company has implemented meant to facilitate the acqui-
many of its plans in the last sition of new customers. Over
months, starting with the com- the next months it will add new
panys move into international workout management features
markets. and an add-on for feedack.
The companys London of-
fice is about to launch apps
for three big European fitness
chains, in the U.K. and France.
Other focus markets in Europe
are Germany and Scandinavia,
said Alex Peacock, who became
vice president of Netpulses in-
ternational business last year.
He supervises the European
expansion from London, as
well as Netpulses business in
other markets outside of North Netpulse
America.

n Under Armour is moving to take advant-

age of the billions of physical activities and
meals logged on its digital fitness platform
to push its apparel and footwear. The com-
pany has invested $710 million to buy three
connected fitness companies and it has
built up a digital community of 170 million
members - with platforms from MapMyFit-
ness to Endomondo, MyFitnessPal and the
groups own UA Record. The U.S. company
will capitalise on these investments through
UA Shop, a mobile app that could make
suggestions for shoes and footwear based
on the activities of the user. For example, if
a member logs in plenty of treadmill-based
training, the app could send tips on Under
Armours latest running shoes. Nike took
a similar approach with the updated Nike+
app, which provides information about
products and events as well as targeted pur-
chase suggestions. Under Armour reported
$53.4 million in turnover from its connected
fitness division last year but Kevin Plank, the
companys chief executive, has repeatedly
made it clear that the division was meant
to drive much broader growth by providing
unparalleled insights into consumption
and workout habits. Customers would have
to opt in for UA Shop, meaning they could
continue to use other apps owned by Under
Armour without any unwanted shopping
tips. The Baltimore-based group says that
members of UA Record and MapMyFitness
may sync their existing account information
to UA Shop, while MyFitnessPal and Endo-
mondo integration is to be added shortly.
Tech Briefs
n Polar reports that it has teamed up with
Les Mills, adding another motivational
dimension to the companys group exercise
programs. The idea is that the heart rate
monitoring devices of the Finnish sports
and fitness technology group should allow
Les Mills participants to keep track of their
workouts and ensure effective exercise. The
personalized and adaptive heart rate guidance
that Polar provides inspires people to get the
most from their workouts. Team this with
Les Mills proven workouts and people get
the results they desire and in turn, continue
to fall in love with fitness, said Vaughan
Schwass, chief executive of Les Mills Enter-
prises, in a statement. The two companies
add that this could work whether the wearers
are sweating in a fitness class or in their living
rooms with the groups workout streaming
service. Polar will be taking Les Mills workout
sessions further with the Polar Flow on-
line platform and app: When syncing their
devices with Polar Flow, the participants will
be able to check out details of their workout
and to receive guidance and suggestions for
long-term training programs. As part of their
wide-ranging partnership, the two companies
are working together on product development,
joint research and more integration of Les
Mills workout information and Polar devices.
The deal should be particularly helpful for
Polar, which is strongest in outdoor training
activities so far, to make further inroads into
the indoor training market. The Finnish brand
will get further exposure as a partner of the
global Les Mills Live events.
n TomTom has become the wearable tech
partner for Pure Gym, the leading British
low-cost gym chain, in a tie-up that is
meant to make fitness and technology
more accessible. TomTom has been involved
in the fitness market for the last three
years with its GPS sports watches. The
Dutch company has already been offering
three months of free membership to Pure
Gym clubs with the purchase of fitness
watches from January to March this year.
The two parties are now starting to set
up TomTom branding in Pure Gym clubs
around Britain. Pure Gym has more than
800,000 members at 150 sites across the
U.K., making it the largest in the country
for both measures. Andrew Stocks, sales
and marketing director at TomTom, said in
a statement that the operators scope and
its strategy to make fitness facilities more
accessible for consumers provided a strong
platform for the technology company to
engage consumers with its fitness watches.
Pure Gym points out that the use of wear-
able technology to achieve personal fitness
goals has been on the rise in the country:
Judging from research by Mintel, sales of
wrist-worn fitness devices reached more
than 3 million in 2015, more than doubling
compared with the previous year. The group
struck several other partnerships in the last
months with a healthcare company that
will offer access to Pure Gym locations for
its private medical insurance members, and
with the organisers of alternative triathlon
and running events.
FITNESS NEWS Europe 3

High-voltage get-together in Rimini
A T
NIF, the association for Italian fit-
ness clubs, obtained firm support
at its annual congress in Rimini
for proposals to alter the status of
gym operators, which are meant to turn
fitness into a full-fledged economic sec-
tor and to stimulate entrepreneurial in-
vestment in the business.
ANIF has been working on the pro-
posals as part of wider discussions on a
framework law for the Italian sports
and fitness sector. Giampaolo Duregon,
ANIFs president, described the potential
changes to about 200 delegates at Rim-
ini Wellness as a turning point for the
industry.
Giampaolo Duregon, speaking at the ANIF
congress in Rimini.
One of the most important propos-
als from ANIFs standpoint is to launch
a new, alternative status for fitness
clubs, the aziende sportive dilettantis-
tiche con fini di lucro. The association
estimates that more than half of Ital-
ian gyms currently operate with a non
-profit status, which provides significant
advantages but makes it harder for the
owners to cash in profits. The gist of the
proposal is that Italian fitness club own-
ers could pay more social contributions,
in exchange for an alternative status -
allowing for a more business-oriented
approach without the costs of a full-
fledged corporate structure.
Adidas moves to clarify French rules on corporate wellness
T
he Adidas Group has filed a case
with an administrative court in
France to obtain a ruling on the fis-
cal implications of its corporate gym
and other wellness facilities, after French
authorities opined that they should be de-
clared and treated as taxable benefits in
kind.
The ruling in this case, for which a date
has yet to be set, could provide more clar-
ity on the status of such facilities in France,
at a time when employers in many Euro-
pean countries are striving to support the
health of their workforce with a variety of
investments and benefits.
4 FITNESS NEWS Europe
Community
The proposed reforms of the sports and
fitness industry were strongly backed in
Rimini by Daniela Sbrollini, a member of
parliament who was appointed as a spe-
cial delegate for sport by Matteo Renzi, the
prime minister (the Italian government
doesnt have a ministry for sports as such).
Sbrollini received a standing ovation as
she vowed to fight for the sector.
A key objective described by Sbrollini
is to give entrepreneurial value to the They boasted a 30% increase in foreign
fitness market. She supported clear rules
and standards for the management and
professionals in the sports and fitness
sector, adding that they could favour in-
vestment in the Italian economy.
Nerio Alessandri, founder and chief
executive at Technogym, praised the pro-
posals as a means to support health and
fitness in Italy. He agreed that clear rules
were required to move the industry for-
ward and that the framework law would
be most useful to add business value to
the countrys fitness sector.
There are an estimated 7,300 private
health and fitness clubs with 5.1 million
members in Italy, where the industry is
particularly fragmented, as described in
the European Health & Fitness Market
Report by Deloitte and Europe Active.
ANIF, which represents about 600 Italian
gyms, is apparently becoming increas-
ingly influential in Rome and it struck a
partnership with Europe Active last year.
As announced earlier, Rimini Well-
ness was also an opportunity to update
Italian fitness club owners on the Euro-
pean Register of Exercise Professionals
(EREPS), managed by Europe Active and
its partners around Europe - including
ANIF in Italy. Julian Berriman, direc-
tor of the professional standards com-
mittee, was in Rimini to provide more
details, as well as Gabriel Sez, Europe
Active board member and president of
Ingesport, the company behind Go Fit in
Spain and Portugal.
The filing comes after a standard inspec-
tion last year at Adidas France by URSSAF,
the independent French organisation that
is in charge of collecting social security
contributions from employers - to support
the countrys social security system.
The Adidas groups French offices fea-
ture fitness facilities as well as a resting
room and a massage service. URSSAF
apparently judged that such services
should be regarded as benefits in kind
- described as goods or services offered
to employees for free or at a price well
below the market price, which are to be
reported and taxed.
he Italian fitness industry was
in an upbeat mood at the Rimini
Wellness fair, which drew a record
number of visitors over four days
from June 2 and reinforced its standing
as an international fair to launch a wide
variety of fitness classes.
The organisers counted more than
266,000 visitors at this 11th edition,
which was an increase of about 2%.
visitors, driven by Spain, Russia and
other east European countries.
The halls and outdoor areas of the
fair were packed with consumers who
jostled to take part in high-voltage (and
sometimes ear-splitting) group ses-
sions ranging from Les Mills classes
with hundreds of people taking up en-
tire halls to walking and aquatic fitness
classes conducted in the outdoor area,
and smaller group exercises organised
by some of the equipment suppliers.
Theres no place like FIBO but Rimini
is getting more influential in terms of
group classes and the number of inter-
national customers has also been grow-
ing, mostly from other southern coun-
tries, said one of the exhibitors.
While Technogym predictably occu-
pied a prominent stand at the fair, many
other big equipment suppliers made the
trip, such as Life Fitness and Matrix. The
organisers said about 400 companies
were represented, focusing on fitness
equipment, programs and nutrition.
But the Adidas group disagrees with
this analysis, as outlined in a contribution
to the Revue Parlementaire. The group
suggests that the attitude of URSSAF in
this case contradicts the governments
efforts to support healthy workplaces in
France.
On the one hand, there is a law and po-
litical personalities that support our com-
mitment to favour the well-being of our
employees at work, and on the other hand
an independent organisation is hamper-
ing our corporate project, said Sandrine
Sheer, human relations manager at Adidas
France, in the publication.
 Gyms

Nuffield Health buys 35 Virgin Active clubs

N
uffield Health is to be-
come the second-larg-
est British operator in
number of clubs after
the intended acquisition of 35
gyms from Virgin Active.
The buy publicised today calls
for all members and teams of
these Virgin Active clubs to be
transferred to Nuffield Health.
It was already the fifth-largest
player in the U.K. market with
of health and wellbeing they as-
pire to, said Steve Gray, chief ex-
ecutive at Nuffield Health.
Virgin Active had 96 gyms in
the U.K. at the end of 2015, with
371,000 members and sales of
311 million (391 m), which
made it the largest in the country.
The divestment leaves Vir-
gin Active with 61 gyms in the
British market. This transac-
cepts: high-end Collection
clubs, larger family clubs and
racquet clubs. It intends to up-
grade ten more London clubs
to the Collection concept,
adding to eleven such clubs in
Britain. Another is due to open
in Mansion House later this
year, using 6.5 million from
the sale to Nuffield.
The transaction has been
approved by both parties and
should be completed in the
third quarter, subject to the
transfer of existing landlord
agreements and consultation
with employees
Nuffield Health moved into
the consumer health and well-
being market with the acquisi-
tion of Cannons Health Club in
2007. It already acquired nine
Virgin Active sites in Britain
two years ago.

T
77 gyms at the end of last year.
The deal would expand its net- he sale was announced as Brait, the South African
work to 112 locations, second private equity firm that bought Virgin Active in
only to Pure Gym. April 2015, reported a turnover of 421 million
Apart from its gyms, Nuffield (530 million) for Virgin Active in Europe in
Health runs 31 hospitals and 2015, as part of its own results for the fiscal year until
over 200 corporate fitness the end of March. The figure is adjusted for current
centres, and it has moved to- clubs and constant currencies. On the same basis, the
ward further integration of turnover of the European clubs was up by 3% and their
the related services in the last Photo: Nuffield Health EBITDA jumped by 8% for the year.
months. The company de- Along with its 96 clubs in the U.K., the groups Euro-
scribes the projected acquisi- tion is an acceleration of our
global strategy to focus on high pean business included 33 clubs in Italy, nine in Spain
tion of the Virgin Active sites as and four in Portugal at the end of 2015. These clubs had
a significant step in its strategy end clubs in metropolitan ar-
eas. We will have a far more 566,000 members, a rise of 4% adjusted for the ten clubs
to provide a connected health exited in 2015. Along with openings and upgrades in Brit-
and wellbeing service across focused UK business with par-
ticular strength in London, the ain, Virgin Active reinforced its Italian business by buying
the U.K. three clubs in Milan and opening another in Turin.
This acquisition is a great South East and bigger towns
and cities, said Paul Woolf, Europe made up by far the largest share of the groups
move forward and allows us to global sales, which reached 658 million last year. Asia
increase the pace of delivery of chief executive of Virgin Active
Group. Pacific only contributed 36 million but the group said
our strategy and our charitable earlier that it would invest 150 million to open up to 30
purpose, to help people achieve, The group started rejigging
its British clubs with three con- clubs in South East Asia. More on Virgin Active in Fitness
maintain and recover to the level News Europe #10.
...continued from page 1
(113 million) and that, at the offer price, markets could be rolled out as efficiently
The level of interest in our IPO under- its remaining stake of 27.3% was worth in other countries. The IPO also took
pins our strong belief that we have an at- about 153 million (194.5 million). Ba- place at a time of market uncertainty, a
tractive investment story with significant sic-Fits enterprise value was set at 275 few days before the British referendum
growth and value-creation opportunities, million when 3i invested 97 million in on Brexit.
with a strong margin profile and cash the fitness group. Another potential factor is the weak
generation, Moos added. He reportedly It had previously been said that 3i held a stock market performance of The Gym
shrugged off the bumpy start of BFIT stake of 52%, but that apparently included Group in the last few weeks. Shares of the
shares in Amsterdam on Friday as just the interests of a co-shareholder. British budget gym operator, probably the
the beginning. As previously reported (Fitness News most suitable benchmark for Basic-Fit in
Basic-Fit says it will use the net proceeds Europe #8), the offering was based on an Europe, tumbled by more than 20% in
of about 350 million from the sale of new expansion plan in which Basic-Fit identi- May, although the trend has been more
shares to refinance some of its debts and fied potential for 900 more budget gyms in positive so far in June and their price re-
repay its shareholder loans in full, which the four major markets where it operates. mains comfortably above the 195 pence
should help to support further expansion. Basic-Fit spotted the largest potential set for the IPO in November.
The offered shares amount to 48.8% of in France, where Basic-Fit had 32 clubs at Basic-Fits supervisory board was due
Basic-Fits share capital after the IPO, ex- the end of March but its analysis suggests to be formally enlarged today with two
cluding an over-allotment option of up to that 485 low-cost gyms could be added in new members: Herman Rutgers, who has
15% of the offer shares. the country. The potential is estimated at spent the last two decades in the fitness
3i Group, the investment company that 245 more budget clubs in Spain, where industry, with Life Fitness and as a board
bought into Basic-Fit in December 2013, Basic-Fit had 26 clubs at the end of March. member of Europe Active, among others;
said it reduced its stake in the fitness The analysis even suggested more poten- and Carin Gorter, an independent banking
group from 44.4% to 23.7% (before the tial in Belgium, where more than half of professional who previously spent twelve
green shoe option). AM Holdings, which all fitness club members work out at Ba- years at ABN Amro Bank.
is controlled by Moos, holds a stake of sic-Fit. Ronald van der Vis, former chief execu-
22.4%, which would be reduced to 20.3% Among considerations that may have tive of Esprit Holdings, remains chairman.
if the over-allotment were fully exercised. contributed to the pricing, some special- The two other members are Pieter de Jong
3i said that its gross proceeds from the ists wondered if the well-oiled model that from 3i Benelux, and Hans Willemse, man-
partial sale reached about 89 million reshaped the Dutch and Belgian fitness aging partner at Craic Capital.
FITNESS NEWS Europe 5
 Gyms

Turkish dismay over Jatomi closures

...continued from page 1 leadership, Jatomi had 64 gyms Jatomi went on to claim that its a swimming brand from Ma-
in Poland, the Czech Republic, efforts to re-negotiate leases laysia and some Reebok fitness

A
s Jatomis clubs were
abruptly shut down,
anxious members
formed online groups
exchanging information to try
and recover the remainder
of their memberships. Some
sources alleged that Jatomi
continued to take on long-term
memberships in the days be-
fore it filed for bankruptcy in
Turkey, and that some staff had
not received all of their pay.
Jatomi said that the Turkish
business has been left with
substantial cash balances
and tangible assets which the
trustee will liquidate. None of
the shareholders in Jatomi will
receive a return on their in-
vestment in Turkey as all pro-
ceeds from the liquidation will
be used to repay employees,
members and the Turkish tax
authorities, said Brennan in a
second statement. The trustee
had yet to be appointed at the
end of last week.
The decision to shut down
the Turkish business was taken
about two months after the ap-
pointment of Trevor Brennan
at the helm of Jatomi Fitness.
This international fitness club
executive took over from Tracy
Gehlan, who left the company
after just over one year, as part
of wider management changes
at the head office in Warsaw.
When Brennan assumed the
Romania and Turkey, along
with several Asian markets.
Jatomi Fitness emphasised
that the decision to shut down
the Turkish operations was
taken after much effort to make
the business sustainable.
Our attempts to save the
business, which included val-
iant tenacity from our team
in Istanbul unfortunately did
not yield the return that was
required, Brennan said upon
the announcement of the
bankruptcy. It soon became
very apparent that we could
no longer financially support
the business in Turkey with-
out significantly affecting the
sizeable number of members
that we have within our global
operation.
As the closures caused some
agitation in Turkey, Jatomi pro-
vided further details about the
events that led to the decision.
It said that an independent re-
view of the business had been
carried out by a major Brit-
ish accounting firm, at the in-
struction of the Jatomi groups
board.
The Polish group claimed
that the rents paid by Jatomi
Fitness Group were signifi-
cantly above market rate and
the clubs landlords were un-
willing to assist with changes
that would enable the com-
pany to continue operations.
were denied by landlords who
have proven to be intransigent
and unsympathetic to the busi-
ness needs.
Although Jatomi did not dis-
cuss the market situation, it had
to deal with sharp competition
from MACFit, a fast-growing
competitor owned by Turkish
investors, working with far
more judicious leases.
At a meeting on May 24, the
board took the view that it
Photo: Jatomi Fitness
could not recommend further
cash injections into the oper-
ation and a unanimous deci-
sion was made to immediately
put the Turkish company into
administration.
The Turkish businessman
who declared interest in Jatomi
is Hasan Ipek, the owner of
Sport Dunyasi, which is one
of the leading traders in fit-
ness equipment in Turkey. The
company distributes its own
brand of commercial equip-
ment, Hattrick Pro, as well as
several other brands, such as
Adidas table tennis equipment,
products for home use.
The Turkish industry is
growing and we think there is
plenty of opportunity for de-
velopment, said Ebrun Ipek,
Hasan Ipeks daughter and
partner at Sport Dunyasi. She
admitted that the company
has no track record in running
fitness clubs, but added that
it was very familiar with such
operations since it was deliver-
ing fitness equipment to many
other clubs, as well as hotels
and municipal facilities.
Jatomi was apparently ea-
ger to emphasise that John
Caudwell was not involved in
the decision to pull out of Tur-
key. The investment arm of
the British businessman, who
co-founded Phones4U, started
investing in Jatomi in 2012 and
has since acquired a majority
stake in the fitness group.
Brennans statement says
that Caudwell has invested
significantly into the group
since he bought his initial
stake, and that a large share of
this investment has been used
to sustain the Turkish busi-
ness. It added that Caudwell
was a passive angel investor
and not a member of the board
that decided to cease Turkish
operations. There has been no
loan repayments, no dividends
and no repatriation of money
out of Turkey, the group said.

...continued from page 1
The group wants to continue renovating
and upgrading existing clubs, while rein-
forcing its network in Paris with about
one opening per year - alternating medi-
um-sized gyms and full-fledged fitness
hubs such as the One club opened in Paris
Saint-Lazare in April.
Hdin says that this opening was a
catalyst for the deal with LFPI. The hub
spreads on 3,000 square meters, with
a premium gym and three independent
studios for CrossFit, Les Mills Immersive
cycling and boxing. It clearly showed our
ability to capture all the trends in the fit-
ness market, said the chief executive. He
added that One Saint-Lazare has drawn
about 1,000 members in one month and
that it should be profitable this summer.
As previously reported, CMG Sports
Club is also considering expansion in
other major European cities, to replicate
the strategy that reinforced its market
leadership in Paris in the last three years.
The takeover by LFPI should make it much
easier to finance such investments, as the
previous structure involved a substantial
level of indebtedness.
Silhouette is a Swiss chain with 20 gyms
with sales estimated in the range of 40
million, which is managed separately. The
takeover relates to both chains, although
it appears that Silhouette was formally
purchased by a separate entity.
Sbastien Duvanel, chief executive at
Silhouette, says that the takeover should
make it easier for the Swiss chain to invest
in the upgrading of its existing clubs. Our
priority is to have impeccable clubs taking
advantage of all the latest digital technol-
ogy, said Duvanel.
When it comes to further openings, Sil-
houette wants to reinforce its strong posi-
tion in existing regional markets. Silhou-
ette is a market leader in Geneva, where
half of its clubs are located. The groups
two latest openings occurred in Geneva,
with two Pure clubs.
Silhouette is the third-largest player in
the Swiss market after the Migros group
and Lets Go in number of clubs. While ac-
cess to Silhouette clubs amounts to 1,199
Swiss francs, the price rises to 1,700 Swiss
francs for the Pure clubs.
LFPI Group describes itself as an alter-
native asset manager with more than 3
billion of assets under management. It in-
vests in private equity, private debt, real
estate and asset management.
Duvanel denied a Swiss report that
LFPI Group intended to swiftly offload the
Swiss fitness chain again.

6 FITNESS NEWS Europe

 Gyms
DiR wants to expand around Spain with franchise concepts

C
lubs DiR, which is
strongly established with
nineteen fitness clubs
and 70,000 members in
the Catalan market, wants to
expand around Spain through
three franchised concepts of
fitness boutiques specialising
in boxing, yoga and proximity
gyms.
The Catalan group con-
trolled by Ramn Canela has
planned to open three more
DiR clubs in Barcelona this
year, but further expansion
should go the franchises
around Spain and potentially
other markets.
The existing clubs are all
in and around the Catalan
capital. They are often large
facilities, reaching up to
13,000 square meters, some
of them with facilities such
as swimming pools or padel
courts.
DiR has been hard-pressed to brand recognition as well as The second option is Yoga
expand in the last years amid well-oiled operating systems One, which the company has
the tough economic situation and training methods, among already opened in two loca-
and the rise of low-cost opera- other things. DiR says that the tions one of them in a DiR
tors in Spain. The Catalan oper- three franchise concepts are club and the other a standal-
ator went through some finan- meant to fit a variety of re- one club of about 400 square
cial restructuring to enable a quirements in terms of space meters opened in the Sant
return to growth. and investment capability. Gervasi district earlier this
The franchising business The most affordable franchise year. The Yoga One franchis-
should thus allow DiR to le- option is Boxing DiR, which ing concept was developed for
verage its resources and ex- fits for locations of up to 300 locations of 250 to 450 square
pand in square meters, with a cost estimated
other mar- meters. at 155,000.
kets, with- The con- The third franchise concept
out major cept in- consists of full-fledged fitness
capital in- cludes studios of 500 to 1,200 square
vestments. organised meters with cardio equipment,
The opera- boxing strength training gear and free
tor points sessions weights, with one or more
out that the as well as spinning studios and classes.
business free work- The business model for this
it has built out space. concept starts with invest-
up over Photo: DiR The group ments from 260,000, with an
more than already has option for DiR to invest half of
three decades adds value to boxing facilities in some of its the costs.
the franchises in terms of existing clubs.

A
nytime Fitness has reportedly
Anytime Fitness starts in Italy appointed Emilio Quero Ro-
drguez to become its general

A
nytime Fitness, the American fran-
chising concept for gyms that are
always open, is getting started in
Italy after the opening of a club in
Rome.
Domenic Mercuri, an Australian busi-
nessman who co-founded Anytime Fit-
ness in Italy on the back of a master fran-
chising agreement obtained last year,
says he is targeting franchises around the
country for the next ten to fifteen years.
Mercuri opened a gym of about 400
square meters on the Viale Libia in
Rome, with a pyjama party held about
two weeks ago. He said that nearly 300
people have signed up for membership,
which comes at a cost of 50 including
all classses. He estimates that the busi-
ness should reach break even with about
350 members.
People appreciate the concept of being
able to work out at any time and particu-
larly on Sundays, when most of the other
gyms are closed in Italy, said Mercuri.
Mercuri said he was inspired by the
rapid spread of Anytime Fitness gyms in
Australia, where the concept has taken on
such dimensions that there is a shortage
of available franchise territories. Australia
has turned into the second-largest mar-
ket for Anytime Fitness, with a network of
more than 400 gyms in the country.
On his business travels in Italy Mercuri
decided to study the fitness market and be-
came convinced that the market was ripe
for Anytime Fitness. Theres fast-growing
enthusiasm for fitness in Italy but no fran-
chise model on the market that is really
catching that growth, said Mercuri.
While his parents emigrated from Italy
to Australia, Mercuri moved in the oppo-
site direction, from Adelaide to Rome, to
get the Anytime Fitness concept started in
Italy.
We have already received enquiries from
many people who are very eager to move
forward in all parts of Italy, from Sicily to
Florence and Turin, said the master fran-
chisee, who partnered with Rino Centrella.
Pyjama party in Rome. Photo: Anytime Fitness
Italy and Switzerland are the latest Eu-
ropean countries where Anytime Fitness
has appointed master franchisees. The U.S.
company wants to continue its European
expansion in countries such as France and
Germany, which were described as pri-
ority future markets, by John Kersh, vice
president of international development.
manager in Iberia. CMD Sport
reports that he was introduced to fran-
chisees at an annual convention held in
Barcelona last week.
This comes after the departure of
Rod Hill, who has left Anytime Fitness
but remains a franchisee with a club
near Barcelona, as reported in our pre-
vious issue.
Anytime Fitness said at the time
that it was appointing a manager with
a strong track record in the franchis-
ing business. It turns out that Quero
was previously business development
director at Regus, a company specia-
lised in workspace infrastructure, af-
ter several years as senior manager
for franchise operations and business
development at Burger King and Ibe-
rian expansion director at Bricorama,
among others.
After assignments at Fitness First
and El Gym, Hill brought the Anytime
Fitness franchise into Spain just over
four years ago and turned it into a
group of 21 franchises, with three own
locations.The U.S. companys target
is to raise the number to 40 Spanish
clubs at the end of this year and to 200
in 2020.
The global network of Anytime Fit-
ness reached more than 3,000 fran-
chises in over 20 markets last year
and it aims to raise the figure to nearly
3,500 franchises this year.

FITNESS NEWS Europe 7