Sixteen Gold's Gym locations in Phoenix, Las Vegas and Southern California are now called EOS Fitness after after being acquired on Feb. 3 by two private equity firms: Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co. (BRS) and Performance Equity Management (PEM). Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
BRS is a New York-based private equity firm with $1.4 billion of committed capital under management in three investment partnerships focused on investing in middle-market consumer goods and services businesses. Former and current investments include Town Sports International. PEM is a global private equity firm with committed capital of more than $20 billion.
Sean Paxton, president and CEO of EOS Fitness, said in a prepared statement: “We worked very closely with BRS since 2013 and were impressed with their deep expertise in the fitness club space and in the retail and consumer industries as a whole. We learned how BRS took Town Sports International from 22 clubs to 162 clubs and an IPO in 10 years. We believe BRS will bring great value as a partner to EOS Fitness and are excited to begin a new growth phase with them.”
Fifth Street Finance Corp. and Stellus Capital Investment Corp. provided debt financing and co-invested in the equity in the transaction.
Brad Neste started the clubs in 1985 as Gold’s Gyms.