United PF Partners, the largest Planet Fitness franchisee, has acquired a 19-club Planet Fitness franchisee in the Phoenix market, the company announced. With this purchase, which was for an undisclosed amount, United PF’s club count has grown to 108 clubs across 10 states.
This is the second purchase of a Phoenix group by United PF. In October 2017, the company acquired the Thomas group in Phoenix for an undisclosed amount. Also at that time, the company purchase the Sinopoli/Hurring/Siragusa group in New Orleans.
United PF was formed in November 2016 by JLM Financial Partners, Austin, Texas, and Eagle Merchant Partners, Atlanta, after the merger of several Planet Fitness franchisees gave it 59 locations across nine states. The group also had development rights to build future clubs across the Midwest, South and Mid-Atlantic regions.
This recent purchase not only will recapitalize the ownership of the Phoenix club group, but it also will allow the company to improve the purchased clubs as well as acquire and develop new clubs in this market, according to a media release from the company.
"We have known and admired the Phoenix group for several years, and the United PF team is thrilled to welcome the Phoenix clubs to our growing enterprise," Trey Owen, CEO, United PF, said in the release. "This fast-growing group and high-performing team will fit nicely with our existing family of clubs, furthering our ability to share best practices and leverage scale across all of our clubs."
United PF’s board includes members of JLM and Eagle. Financing for United PF was jointly led by Goldman Sachs Specialty Lending Group and AB Private Credit Investors, co-agents and co-lead arrangers, and Antares, co-lead arranger.
Corporate Planet Fitness, Dover, New Hampshire, which is a publicly traded company, ranked No. 6 on Club Industry’s 2018 Top 100 Clubs list with 2017 revenue of $429.9 million. This revenue was from corporate-owned clubs as franchisee fees. It was a 14 percent increase from 2016 revenue.