New York-based Equinox Holdings Inc., the owner of SoulCycle and Equinox, is in talks to land new investments from private equity groups to expand its digital offerings in order to better compete with Peloton, according to a Jan. 9 report by Bloomberg.
An anonymous source told Bloomberg that Equinox is in discussions with California-based Silver Lake Partners, a private equity firm focused on technology, to secure funding as soon as the end of January.
Silver Lake has previously invested in Dell, Alibaba, GoDaddy, The Madison Square Garden Company, William Morris Endeavor, Skype and NASDAQ. At the end of 2018, the group claimed more than $42 billion in assets under management.
Furthermore, Bloomberg reported that Equinox Holding is seeking new investors, in part, due to the 2019 boycotts of Stephen Ross' support of President Trump. Ross is chairman of Equinox Holding's parent entity The Related Companies and, in August 2019, was scrutinized for holding a fundraiser for Trump's 2020 re-election campaign.
Silver Lake and Equinox have declined to formally comment on the Bloomberg report. However, on Jan. 10, Harvey Spevak, executive chairman and managing partner of Equinox Holdings, told Axios "don’t believe everything you read" in regard to the alleged investment news.
Equinox is already supported by private equity firm L Catterton who, in 2015, also invested in Peloton.
In mid-2019, Equinox opened its first hotel concept in New York with additional hotels planned in Los Angeles and Chicago. In August, SoulCycle also teased the launch of an at-home bike that would directly compete with products from Peloton, Echelon Fit and Flywheel Sports.
In November, SoulCycle CEO Melanie Whelan resigned.
Equinox ranked No. 4 on Club Industry's Top 100 Health Clubs of 2019 list with $1.43 billion in estimated 2018 revenue.