Prospect Hill Growth Partners, a private equity firm focused on operational value creation in middle-market growth companies, has acquired a majority interest in Fitness Ventures. Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, Fitness Ventures is one of the fastest growing franchisees in the Crunch Fitness system. Founded in 2016, the Company currently owns and operates Crunch Fitness locations throughout eight states in the US with several more in development. Founder Brian Hibbard will retain a substantial investment in the business and continue to lead the company as its Chief Executive Officer. Terms of the investment have not been disclosed.
“The team from Prospect Hill brings unparalleled experience in scaling multi-unit businesses across the US With that experience, combined with their team’s alignment with our values and vision for the company, we could not be more excited about this new partnership,” says Brian Hibbard, founder and CEO of Fitness Ventures. “With five successful new openings in just the last few months, our management team has demonstrated the ability to maintain a rapid growth rate, all while executing on a strategy that continues to deliver industry leading results. We have a very deep and active pipeline of unique development opportunities. This new partnership with Prospect Hill and new access to institutional capital is going to allow us to seize on these opportunities at a faster pace, accelerating our overall growth rate and pushing to our ultimate goal of owning and operating 100 Crunch Fitness locations.”
Founded in 1989 in New York City, Crunch “The Original No Judgments Gym” is a leading health and fitness company. The company owns, operates, and franchises more than 325 fitness centres serving more than 1.5 million members across the United States, Australia, Canada, and Spain. With a range of membership options available, Crunch’s business model focuses on providing its members with a superior fitness offering at a compelling price point. Memberships include access to high-quality cardio and strength equipment, dynamic group classes, and personalised training programs. Since the company launched its fast-growing franchising operation in 2010, it has represented one of the industry’s most progressive and competitive models.
Ben Midgley, CEO of Crunch Franchising, says: “Fitness Ventures has distinguished themselves by producing some of the fastest membership growth rates in the industry. The combination of Crunch’s exceptional operational support, consumer proposition and Brian’s operating strategy are producing amazing results. We look forward to our continued partnership with Brian’s team and supporting their development of the Crunch brand across the United States.”
“We are very excited about our partnership with Brian to deliver the Crunch fitness experience to new consumers,” says Prospect Hill Partner, Jeff Teschke. “Crunch is one of the fastest growing high-value, low-price fitness concepts in the United States and we believe our operational expertise and success in scaling other fitness investments like Equinox and Honors Holdings (the largest franchisee of Orangetheory Fitness) will help Brian’s team accelerate their already impressive growth.”
Latham & Watkins served as legal counsel to Prospect Hill. Shuffield Lowman served as legal counsel and MOK Capital Advisors served as financial advisor to Fitness Ventures.
