Fitness First executives disclosed the company would be spending around GBP77.5 million this year in an effort to turn the business around. The plans also include expanding its presence in countries worldwide.
GBP44 million of the investment would be used on renovating clubs and testing out new ideas. The GBP77.5 million investment follows a smaller investment of at least GBP20 million into the UK business earlier this year.
"Investing at this level illustrates our confidence in the potential of our business and the international fitness industry, which is growing at over 5% a year. In addition to our recent GBP26 million investment to boost the quality of our UK clubs, we have our sights set on building on our strong position internationally," said Andy Coslett, Fitness First CEO.
The previous operators of Fitness First was BC partners, a private equity firm. BC Partners bought the chain for GBP1 billion in 2005. BC Partners, however, just held on to a very small stake Fitness First in a debt-for-equity swap deal with Marathon and Oaktree Capital in May of this year.
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