Fort Lauderdale, FL — Diversified Health & Fitness Inc. purchased another chain of women-only health clubs — this time acquiring the assets of San Ramon, CA-based Butterfly Fitness Inc., the franchisor of Butterfly Life, for an undisclosed amount.
Included in the acquisition deal are Butterfly's franchise agreements, franchise disclosure document registrations, area developer agreements, manuals, trade names and other intellectual property.
The Butterfly acquisition pushes Diversified's holdings to nearly 200 clubs, the company said, including six locations in the Japanese market. Diversified, headed by CEO Roger Wittenberns, now owns Liberty Fitness, Fit For Her, ShapeXpress, Access Fitness, Fit Zone, The Blitz, The Zoo and Sedona Fitness.
Created in July 2007, Diversified has said that it will give struggling franchisees the type of support and structure that their previous corporate ownership did not give them.
Mark Golob, former CEO of Butterfly Life, said in a statement that he thought Diversified would offer the corporate, marketing and operational support and experience that Butterfly Life franchisees need.
Andrew Barnett, Diversified Health's executive vice president of corporate development, says that neither Golob nor former Butterfly Life Chairman Tom Gergley is part of Diversified's company.
“In our acquisition strategy, the seller is not part of the organization,” Barnett says. “Our strategy is to purchase franchise contracts and service and support them.”