Latest news
LA Fitness snaps up Crown Sports in £38m deal
LA Fitness has announced that it is set to buy Crown Sports, the owner of 21 Dragons health clubs, for £38.5m.
A recommended cash offer of 13.2 pence for each Crown Sports share has been agreed by LA Fitness owner MidOcean and 90 per cent of Crown Sports' shareholders.
Ray Pierce, chair of Crown Sports, said the offer, which is 70 per cent higher than the closing share price of 7.75 pence on 16 February, represents “a good deal for shareholders.”
Christian Purslow, acting chair of LA Fitness and a MidOcean partner, said: "We are delighted that LA Fitness is already delivering on its strategic plan to drive consolidation in the UK health and fitness industry.
“Dragons and LA Fitness have similar product-market strategies and are an excellent fit. We are committed to working with the management team to grow our network of full service, conveniently located, value for money gyms which is the market segment where we see most growth opportunities.”
Fred Turok, chief executive of LA Fitness, added: “The purchase of Crown Sports is an excellent strategic acquisition for LA Fitness in terms of business model and culture and we are looking forward to working with and integrating the Crown Sports team. It is an important building block in our objective to become the leading value and convenience operator in the health and fitness market.”
Crown Sports was formed in September 2000 and at 30 June 2005, the group had net assets of £51.2m. Pre-tax profits for the year ending 31 December 2005 are estimated to be approximately £2.2m (2004: £3.4m; 2003: £1.4m). Details: www.lafitness.co.uk
Photograph: Fred Turok, chief executive of LA Fitness