|News & Know How| News <Former Bally’s Chief ’Sproings’ Forward
minimizes impact forces on the body, challenges balance and stability, and engages core muscles. Two interchange- able surfaces are available—Sproing Sand, which simulates the beach; and Sproing Air, which creates a sensation of bouncing on a cloud. The unit’s resis- tance system, an adjustable bungee cord attached to a stable tower, accommodates users of all ages, body types, fitness levels, and training goals.
Users can also perform strength- training exercises, using adjustable
resistance tubing attached to the machine.
A study conducted at Benedictine University, in Lisle, Illinois, suggests that, compared to traditional treadmill running, a Sproing workout reduces knee impact by 50%, back impact by 41%, and ankle impact by 32%.
“Soft-surface training is going to be big,” Toback told the Chicago Tribune. “And we’re going to be a big anchor of it.” —|
Put a Sproing in your step! .com
To learn more about Sproing and see the equipment in use, log on to
sproingfitness.com.
CVC Acquires Majority Interest in Virgin Active Proceeds of sale will help fund club chain’s future expansion
I
n August, Virgin Active, the international club chain created by Sir Richard Branson, sold a 51% share in the business to CVC Capital Partners, a private-equity firm based in London. The company, which has 254 clubs with 1.1 million members in the U.K., Italy, Spain, Portugal, South Africa, and Australia, was valued at $1.2 billion in the deal. Four months earlier, in April, Virgin Active had acquired Esporta’s 55 gyms from the French bank Société Géneralé for $105.5 million, which made it the largest chain, in terms of number of members, in the U.K. “We have been impressed with the consistent and significant growth that Virgin Active has delivered since its launch,” said Peter Hooper, a senior manag- ing director at CVC, “and
Branson on the move >
we look forward to working with management and Virgin to support the future international development of the business.”
Matthew Bucknall, the chief executive of Virgin Active, noted that the sale “brings in a new majority investor who will help accelerate the (chain’s) expansion.” At the moment, the company’s growth plan seems focused largely on Australia, where it currently has a total of four clubs in Sydney and Melbourne. Branson has said that Virgin Active might spend $40 million to open as many as 20 additional facilities over the next four years. “With anything, we try to build the best. And if you build the best health club in a city, the best normally survives and thrives,” Branson told The Australian. “We now have … health clubs around the world; it is a very successful business for us, and I think, in Australia, the Virgin brand is very strong, and the health clubs have been extremely well received.” The sale to CVC was also seen as a possible prelude to a public offering. “Virgin Active is now a $2 billion company, and we are bringing in a venture capital company, and that is nor- mally the stage before you go public,” Branson acknowledged. Virgin Active generates approximately 10% of the revenues of its corporate parent, the Virgin Group. —|
Short Takes |Exercise Boosts Productivity in Sedentary Jobs
According to a recent study conducted by Stockholm University and the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, allowing workers in sedentary jobs to move about during the workday yields higher levels of productivity. The one-year study, published recently in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, focused on three groups of employees: one granted physical activity during the work week; another granted free time (with no physical activity); and another that wasn’t granted any free or activity time. In a self-assessment, the workers who were permitted to be active reported measurable gains in their productivity; they also demonstrated greater work capacity and had fewer sick days. —|
20 Club Business Internat ional | NOVEMBER 2011 |
ihrsa.org
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