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Less than three months ago, the CEO of Malaga-based gym chain VivaGym, Juan del Río, announced in an interview with SUR that his goal was to reach 300 operational gyms on the Iberian Peninsula by 2027. It is an ambitious goal that will require the company to triple its size in three years. And judging by two deals this summer, it's clear that VivaGym is on the right track.
At the end of July the chain acquired ten of the eleven clubs of the Catalan chain, Smartfit, which has centres in Andalucía, Catalonia, Madrid and Cantabria. And on Tuesday 27 August another strategic purchase was announced: eight of the nine Macro Fit centres, which means that VivaGym is now present on the Canary Islands.
With this latest addition, VivaGym brings its total number of members to 340,000 and its network of centres to 122, in addition to five more openings in the pipeline for this year. Macro Fit, founded in 2013 by the Canary Islands company LUDE Gestiones y Servicios, has been a pillar in the promotion of fitness on the archipelago and has "strong local roots and a solid customer base", according to the Malaga-based chain. Macro Fit employees will join VivaGym Group.
"We are excited to welcome the Macro Fit teams. The Canary Islands was always an area we wanted to be in, but until now we had no activity there. This acquisition allows us to strengthen our presence in the Spanish market and continue to offer a quality product accessible to all," says Juan del Río.
The acquisition of Macro Fit, together with the recent purchase of Smartfit, underlines VivaGym's growth strategy for 2024, focused on the improvement and expansion of its network of gyms in the Iberian Peninsula. In the last six years, VivaGym has swallowed up six competitors.
In 2018 it acquired Fitness Hut, the leading operator in the Portuguese market. In 2019 it added Duet Fit, a Catalan chain with 13 gyms in Barcelona, to its network. Then, in 2020, it added Happy Gym. And in the last month VivaGym has completed the acquisitions of Smartfit and Macro Fit.
This growth is supported by the injection of capital provided to VivaGym by the US investment fund Providence Equity Partners, which became a shareholder in April of this year. "Our dream is to have one million members and for the headquarters to remain in Malaga by 2027," said Juan del Río in conversation with SUR.
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