Australian functional fitness chain Body Fit Training has sold its intellectual property to US-based Xponential Fitness Inc in a $60m cash upfront deal.
Xponential will now grow the brand across the US and Canada and Body Fit Training (BFT) will continue to operate as the master franchisor in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.
The partnership will allow BFT to build and sustain the brand across the Asia Pacific region, and beyond, while capitalising on Xponential’s global strength and reach.
Cameron Falloon, founder and joint CEO, and Richard Burnet, joint CEO said “We are delighted to partner with one of the world’s leading fitness operators to continue our growth globally and provide additional brand strength for our franchisees and members.”
Xponential Fitness has a portfolio of brands including Pure Barre, AKT, Row House, YogaSix and Stride. In a busy 18 months three of its brands, Rumble, StretchLab and CycleBar have been launched in Australia through Matt Gordin’s Boutique Fitness Studios while Brendan James signed the master franchise for Club Pilates.
Xponential Fitness also has a presence in Canada, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Austria and Singapore.
Anthony Geisler, CEO of Xponential Fitness, Inc. said “We are very pleased to announce the addition of our 10th brand through the partnership with BFT. Xponential has a demonstrated history of seamlessly integrating brands, and this acquisition expands our portfolio of boutique fitness offerings to include a functional strength and HIIT (high intensity interval training) based product that is complementary to our existing modalities.
“We see significant opportunity to expand BFT’s existing studio base both in the US and internationally, as we leverage the Xponential playbook to provide robust franchisee support, implement best practices and leverage synergies across our entire portfolio.”
In 2020, BFT received the APAC Franchise of the Year Award, recognising the company’s continued strong growth during 2020 despite national lockdowns.
In its four years of business the fitness chain has sold more than 300 franchises across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the US, and now has about 35,000 studio members.
BFT was featured as the cover story on Inside Franchise Business‘ Aug/Oct edition.
