VIEW FROM EUROPE Results from a survey conducted by the Leisure Database Company show a slight increase in the number of U.K. clubs, from 5,795 in 2009 to 5,885 in 2010, while membership rose from 7.3 million in 2009 to 7.4 million in 2010. However, Continental Europe was still restrained by the recession in 2010, with the main exception being
Germany, points out David Giampaolo, the chief executive of Pi Capital, based in London. “Greece, Ireland, and Portugal had to be bailed out by the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Unemployment is high in most countries, and taxes are on the rise. I don’t think the industry has turned the corner yet,” he suggests. “However, there are some very successful exceptions, including Fitness First, Virgin Active, and Health City.” When it comes to debt financing, medium and large companies still enjoy access, Giampaolo says. “However, it’s
neither easy nor cheap,” he adds. “Generally speaking, debt financing, in my opinion, will be a lot harder to obtain for years to come. Part of the reason for this is the fact that most banks need to shrink their balance sheets and increase their capital reserves. And there are other industries with a better credit history than fitness.” Still, the end of 2010 and the first half of 2011 were ripe with noteworthy deals. Health City acquired all 57 Fitness
First facilities in the Benelux region, which, when combined with their takeover of the budget chain Basic Fit, brings Health City’s total count to 210 clubs. Virgin Active agreed to acquire Esporta’s 35 health and fitness operations and 20 racquet-sport clubs in the U.K.,
which will give the company 124 sites in Britain, in addition to its locations in Italy, Spain, Portugal, and South Africa. Club Med Gym’s majority shareholder, the private-equity group 21 Partners, acquired Group Helvetique Silhou-
ette. Club Med Gym operates 22 clubs in Paris, and 32 corporate or hotel facilities; Silhouette has 22 sports clubs in Geneva, Zurich, and Brussels.
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NUMBER OF FACILITIES OWNED—YEAR 2010 Rank & Company
1 Fitness First Group, Ltd. 2 24 Hour Fitness USA, Inc. 3 LA Fitness International, LLC 4 Bally Total Fitness
5 GoodLife Fitness Clubs
6 Konami Sports & Life Co., Ltd. 7 HealthCity 8 Virgin Active 9 B-Fit
10 Town Sports International Holdings, Inc. 11 ClubCorp
12 Central Sports Co., Ltd.
13 SATS Sports Club Sweden AB 14 Renaissance, Inc.
15a Life Time Fitness, Inc. 15b David Lloyd Leisure, Ltd. 16 LA Fitness, Plc.
17 Fernwood Women’s Health Clubs 18 Fitness World
19 Gold’s Gym International, Inc. 20 Bannatyne Fitness, Ltd. 21 Lifestyle Family Fitness
22a Nuffield Health Fitness & Wellbeing Centres 22b Lucille Roberts Health Clubs 23 L&T Health and Fitness 24 Organizacion Britania 25a ELIXIA Nordic AS 25b Bodytech
Number Owned 474 419 360
300+ 216 210 203 194 164 158 139 115 113 98 89 89 80 74 64 63
60+ 55 52 52 48 46 45 45
Other Units
Franchised: 18 N/A N/A N/A
Franchised: 48 Managed: 149 Franchised: 7 N/A N/A
Total Units 492 419 360
300+ 264 359 210 194 164
Managed: 4; Partly Owned: 2 164 Managed: 8 Managed: 40
147 155
Licensed: 30; Franchised: 3 146 Managed: 6 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Franchised: 637 N/A N/A
Managed: 148 Franchised: 3 N/A
Managed: 5 N/A N/A
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JULY 2011 | Club Business Internat ional 39
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