Xponential Fitness, Irvine, California, is purchasing Body Fit Training (BFT), an Australian fitness franchise, for $44 million in a combination of cash on the balance sheet and debt from its existing senior secured loan facility, Xponential announced on Oct. 13.
BFT offers a functional training and strength-based brand to the Xponential portfolio, which includes nine other brands: Club Pilates, CycleBar, StretchLab, Row House, AKT, YogaSix, Pure Barre, STRIDE and Rumble.
When announcing the company’s second quarter 2021 financials in August, Xponential Fitness CEO Anthony Geisler told analysts that the company was looking to add a functional training brand to its portfolio.
In connection with the transaction, Xponential acquired all of the intellectual property of BFT. BFT’s co-CEOs Cameron Falloon and Richard Burnet will continue to operate as the master franchisor in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore with Xponential providing support to the 130 open studios and the 150 BFT studios expected to open within the next 12 months. Xponential will now grow the brand across the United States and Canada.
With this purchase, Xponential, which began trading on the New York Stock Exchange as XPOF in July, now has more than 1,000 international studios currently open or obligated to open.
Founded in 2017 in Melbourne, Australia, BFT offers community-based 50-minute functional, high-energy strength, cardio, and conditioning-based classes across 13 workout programs, each designed to achieve the unique health goals of its members. BFT uses training techniques aimed at reducing fat and creating lean muscle through a variety of training sessions in a group environment. In 2020, BFT received the APAC (Asia-Pacific) Franchise of the Year Award, recognizing its growth during 2020 despite national lockdowns.
“We are very pleased to announce the addition of our tenth brand through the partnership with BFT,” said Anthony Geisler, Chief Executive Officer of Xponential Fitness, Inc. “Xponential has a demonstrated history of seamlessly integrating brands, and this acquisition expands our portfolio of boutique fitness offerings to include a functional strength and HIIT (high intensity interval training) based product that is complementary to our existing modalities. We see significant opportunity to expand BFT’s existing studio base both in the U.S. and internationally, as we leverage the Xponential Playbook to provide robust franchisee support, implement best practices and leverage synergies across our entire portfolio.”