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Mandeville, LA - Bryan O’Rourke, CEO of Vedere Ventures, a mergers and acquisitions advisory and investment firm focusing on the health club, fitness, and technology space, today announced the successful conclusion of an engagement involving the strategic sale of three award-winning Georgia based Gold’s Gyms to two different reputable strategic buyers. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Mr. O’Rourke and his firm represented the well respected and long-time health club operator Gordon Johnson, his team and partners, who operated three Georgia based Gold’s Gym clubs.
The three Georgia based Gold’s Gyms were among the most award-winning clubs in the worldwide chain. Started as Douglasville Health and Athletic Club by Gordon Johnson in 1984, the clubs joined the Gold’s Gym brand in 1996. Since then, the businesses have earned over 20 state, national, and international health club awards.
Industry insider and Vice-Chairman of ABC Financial, Paul Schaller, had this to say: It does not surprise me that Gordon engaged Bryan O’Rourke, who has become such a trusted advisor to the top leaders and brands around the world in the health club industry space.”
Johnson’s team launched a strategic plan to evaluate alternatives for their members, employees, and partners; engaging Bryan O’Rourke and his firm Vedere Ventures, to guide them through the transactions. Johnson had this to say, “We were very fortunate to have engaged Bryan O’Rourke to assist us in this project and through these transactions. His expertise and experience were truly valuable to our team and we would highly recommend working with him.”
O’Rourke has over 30 years of M&A experience. He began his career in finance becoming CFO of a large multi-national franchise food brand and since that time has overseen over 40 transactions and grown dozens of companies. He currently advises some of the leading global brands in the fitness and technology space and is a board member of IHRSA and CEO of the Fitness Industry Technology Council. Bryan’s companies, Moon Mission Media, a digital marketing firm, and Vedere Ventures, which has made investments in the America’s, Europe, and Asia during the past three years, are part of a conglomerate of 14 operating companies focused on fitness and technology.
O’Rourke entered the fitness industry in 1997. In 2016, he and partner Robert Dyer, a health club industry veteran, sold their Les Mills US distribution business, launching a number of new endeavors. Dyer is active with O’Rourke in their companies including Florida based VertiMax. Along with Dyer, O’Rourke has other significant global fitness industry players involved with his firm. Among he and his partners’ many successful investments, O’Rourke keynotes around the world on consumer, technology, and health club trends and has contributed to 6 books on the subjects.
Alloy Personal Training Franchise founder, Rick Mayo, who has collaborated with O’Rourke for a number of years shared, “Being able to rely on Bryan’s insights during the development of our Alloy brand, concept, and franchise, has been something we greatly value. I am not surprised our long-time friend Gordon sought his insights and support.”
O’Rourke had this to say about the transaction and representation of Johnson and his health clubs, “It is a great honor to work with such reputable people. I’ve known Gordon and his team for nearly a decade and it is very fulfilling for us to help folks that we care about achieve their goals for their members, their community, and their partners.”
About Vedere Ventures
In addition to advising clients in strategic transactions and strategies, Vedere Ventures has made investments in health club, fitness, and technology companies in Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Mr. O’Rourke and his partners including Robert Dyer, and other notable leading health club and fitness industry experts have advised leading global brands in fitness, health clubs, and related technologies for several decades.
Learn more at VedereVentures.com
About Moon Mission Media
Moon Mission Media is a boutique strategic marketing advisory group with a network of specialists who have been guiding brands collectively for over 50 years. With expertise in technology, franchising, fitness, health, and wellness, the Moon Mission Media team has advised and managed leading global, national, and regional brands on strategy, marketing, creative, technologies, and communications successfully for years.
Having relationships with a significant group of operators, suppliers, and industry groups and the Moon Mission Media team is deeply familiar with trends, opportunities, and challenges facing both the industry as a whole as well as specific technology providers among others.
As a boutique firm, the team takes on a limited group of clients and is very hands-on with all of its projects working with each clients' unique businesses to gain understanding as to what are the key issues, opportunities, and methods to achieve business goals.
Moon Mission Media deals in all aspects of marketing from Strategic Planning, Digital Marketing, Thought leadership, Social Media, PR, etc.
Learn more at MoonMissionMedia.com
About Bryan O’Rourke
Mr. O’Rourke serves on the board of directors of the global health club industry association IHRSA and as chairman and CEO of the Fitness Industry Technology Council. He has a background in finance and has been advising firms on strategic transactions and initiatives in a variety of industries for the past 30 years. He has active investments in fourteen operating companies, has written six books with colleagues in the fitness and health industry, and keynotes on consumer and technology trends in health, fitness, and technology around the world.
To learn more visit bryankorourke.com.