New York-based Equinox Holdings Inc., the owner of Equinox, SoulCycle and Blink Fitness, has secured an investment for an undisclosed amount from California-based Silver Lake Partners, a technology-centric private equity firm with $43 billion in managed assets, according to a Feb. 7 report by Bloomberg.
Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources, first reported the potential investment on Jan. 9. If Equinox received new funding, it would be able to better compete with rival Peloton, the report said. Bloomberg confirmed the news on Feb. 7 with a statement from Equinox Executive Chairman Harvey Spevak.
“As we accelerate our expansion while delivering a first-of-its-kind online/offline experience for our growing global community, Silver Lake is providing valuable expertise as well as capital to fuel this next stage of growth,” Spevak said.
Silver Lake’s investment will help Equinox further develop its digital content platform and add up to 50 new locations per year, Spevak said. Equinox currently operates 100 locations across the United States, United Kingdom and Canada and plans to expand to the Middle East in the near future.
Silver Lake did not immediately respond to Club Industry’s request for a comment on its investment in Equinox.
SoulCycle is developing an at-home bike that will directly compete with products from Peloton, Echleon Fit and Flywheel Sports, among others. Over the last year, Peloton began publicly trading on the New York Stock Exchange (PTON), Echelon Fit received a strategic private equity investment and Flywheel was acquired by Town Sports International.
Peloton's stock price has declined by as much as 16 percent since Feb. 4. Peloton announced its quarterly results on Feb. 5—which included $55.4 million in net losses. Peloton’s stock price closed at $28.60 on Feb. 10.
Equinox Holdings ranked No. 4 on Club Industry's Top 100 Health Clubs of 2019 list with $1.43 billion in estimated 2018 revenue for Equinox, SoulCycle and Blink corporate-owned clubs.