Planet Fitness Makes Play for Blink Fitness in Last-Minute Bid

Planet Fitness has made a last-minute bid to compete for Blink Fitness in a second attempt to seize the budget gym chain after its initial offer was rejected over antitrust concerns, according to CNBC.

Last week, U.K. gym operator PureGym won a bankruptcy auction for the Equinox-owned gym brand with a $121 million bid — a move that gives the U.K. gym operator a sizable portion of Blink’s locations in New York and New Jersey.

Bid details

Planet Fitness, set to report its Q3 2024 earnings on Thursday, has proposed two offers to Blink Fitness, according to CNBC: a $142 million offer for Blink’s assets, provided Planet Fitness isn’t required to address antitrust concerns, and a $155 million offer that includes select regulatory filings.

A Delaware bankruptcy court is scheduled to consider Planet’s proposals on Wednesday.

Blink Fitness confirmed that it is continuing to evaluate bids submitted for its locations outside the Northeast, including its gyms in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Texas. The gym brand had filed for bankruptcy in August, although it noted that revenue had increased by nearly 40% over the last two years. Earlier this year, Blink Fitness had unveiled a multimillion-dollar investment to refresh 30 of its most frequented gyms.

Market impact

Considered a top player in the U.K. gym scene, PureGym’s move to acquire Blink would give the company a meaningful presence and strong foothold in the New York and New Jersey markets, PureGym CEO Humphrey Cobbold said. The fitness operator already has a presence in the U.S. under the Pure Fitness brand, with three locations in the Washington, D.C., area.

“U.S. expansion has been an important part of our growth plan, which is why we actively participated in the Chapter 11 process and entered into an APA with Blink Fitness,” Cobbold explained. We have, over several months, spent a considerable amount of management time and resources getting to know the business, and the management team and have developed an excellent understanding of both its prospects and the opportunity it represents.”