By Dietrich Knauth
(Reuters) – U.K.-based fitness company PureGym will acquire most of bankrupt U.S. gym operator Blink Fitness’s assets for $121 million, the two companies said Thursday.
PureGym, which is backed by private equity firms Leonard Green & Partners and KKR, will acquire Blink’s corporate operations and 67 gyms in New York and New Jersey.
PureGym said that the acquisition will give it a strong foothold in the U.S., a market it first entered in 2021.
“The American fitness market is the largest and most dynamic in the world,” PureGym CEO Humphrey Cobbold said in a statement. “We are incredibly excited by the scale of opportunity and the chance to tailor and apply our proven model there.”
Blink, an Equinox-owned chain of about 100 low-cost gyms, filed for bankruptcy in Delaware in August with about $280 million in debt. It blamed its bankruptcy on the lingering effects from the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced it to shut its operations for nine months and incur additional debt and deferred rent obligations, according to court filings.
The company on Thursday said it is still evaluating offers for its remaining gyms in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Texas.
It will seek bankruptcy court approval of the sale at a November 6 court hearing.
Before filing for bankruptcy, Blink marketed itself as an “all-inclusive and inviting” place for everybody to get fit, with membership prices between $15 and $45 per month.
The case is In Re Blink Holdings Inc, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, No. 24-11686.
For Blink: Michael Nestor, Sean Greecher, Allison Mielke, Timothy Powell, Rebecca Lamb and Ben Carver of Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor
For PureGym: George Davis of Latham & Watkins; Norman Pernick and David Dean of Cole Schotz
Read more:
Blink Fitness files for bankruptcy to pursue sale
BowFlex files for bankruptcy with $37.5 mln buyout offer
(Reporting by Dietrich Knauth)
