Planet Fitness Acquires 114 Locations from Top Franchisee

Planet Fitness acquires 114 locations from Sunshine Fitness Growth Holdings, in a transaction valued at $800 million.

Planet Fitness Corporate has signed an agreement to acquire Sunshine Fitness Growth Holdings, a Planet Fitness franchisee with 114 locations in the Southeast U.S. The transaction is valued at $800 million, including cash and stock. 

Founded in 2017 and backed by TSG Consumer Partners, Sunshine Fitness was the first franchisee within the Planet Fitness system. According to the brand, the locations will be combined into the current Planet Fitness company-owned portfolio, which is predominantly located in the Northeast. 

Shane McGuiness, the co-founder and CEO of Sunshine Fitness, will join Planet Fitness Corporate upon completion of the transaction and oversee operations of the combined corporate store portfolio.

As a result of the acquisition, Planet Fitness will own more than 200 corporate stores, representing approximately 10 percent of its total system. In addition, the transaction is expected to be accretive to the brand’s adjusted net income per diluted share in 2022.

“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, the CEO of Planet Fitness, in a statement. “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.”

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022. 

Planet Fitness ended fiscal year 2021 with 15.2 million members, reporting an increase of 1.7 million members over the past 12 months. Last year, it opened an additional 132 stores, bringing its total count to 2,254 stores worldwide.