Gold's Gym Franchise in Southwest Leaves Brand after Purchase by Private Equity Firms

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.