Planet Fitness Acquiring Sunshine Fitness’ 114 Locations

Planet Fitness, Inc. on Tuesday (Jan. 11) signed a definitive agreement to acquire Sunshine Fitness Growth Holdings, LLC, which owns and operates more than 100 Planet Fitness clubs in the southeast U.S. for $800 million in cash and stock, according to a press release.

Planet Fitness will fund the cash portion of the acquisition through the sale of securitized notes and available cash. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022.

Sunshine Fitness was the first franchisee in the Planet Fitness system and has been backed by TSG Consumer Partners since 2017. It operates 114 fitness club locations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, which will join the Planet Fitness portfolio.

Shane McGuiness, co-founder and CEO of Sunshine Fitness and an owner and operator in the Planet Fitness system for almost 20 years, will oversee operations of the combined company.

“We are excited to announce the acquisition of Sunshine Fitness, one of our best-performing franchisees in the system, with locations that will provide geographic diversity to our current corporate store portfolio and that are in markets with a long runway for future store development,” said Chris Rondeau, CEO of Planet Fitness, in the joint announcement.

“Owning corporate stores is an important part of our strategy, as it gives us both relevancy and credibility when making decisions that impact the entire system. Additionally, joining our corporate team is a management team that has built some of the highest store-level profit generating locations in our system, which will enhance our corporate store leadership and capabilities,” he said.

Planet Fitness will own more than 200 corporate stores when the deal is finalized.

“Partnering with TSG has been an incredible experience,” said McGuiness. “Their support for our business and growth never wavered, and it has led to this next exciting moment in our evolution as an organization.”

Planet Fitness ended fiscal 2021 with 15.2 million members, up 1.7 million members from the same time a year earlier. The chain opened 132 new stores in 2021, ending the year with 2,254 worldwide locations.

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In November, Rondeau told analysts that Generation Z is outpacing other age groups in terms of sign-ups, which, he said, “is notable, as only half of the generation is even old enough to join.”