Planet Fitness has signed an agreement to acquire Sunshine Fitness – an operator of 114 Planet Fitness fitness clubs in the US – in a deal worth US$800m.

The cash and shares deal, which is expected to be finalised during the first quarter of 2022, will allow Planet Fitness to diversify across more geographies, according to CEO Chris Rondeau.

Sunshine Fitness was the first franchisee in the Planet Fitness system and has been backed by TSG Consumer Partners since 2017.

Its 114 locations – in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina – will be merged into the current Planet Fitness company-owned portfolio, which is predominantly located in the northeast.

On closing of the transaction, Shane McGuiness, Co-Founder and CEO of Sunshine Fitness, who has been an owner and operator in the Planet Fitness system for nearly 20 years, will oversee operations of the combined corporate store portfolio.

Rondeau said: "Sunshine Fitness is one of our best-performing franchisees, with locations that will provide geographic diversity to our current corporate portfolio and that are in markets with a long runway for future development.

"Owning corporate clubs 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 profit-generating locations in our system which will enhance our corporate store leadership and capabilities.

"Following this purchase, we'll own more than 200 corporate locations, allowing us to retain our asset-light business model which is an important part of our shareholder value proposition."

Planet Fitness opened 132 new locations during 2021, ending the year with 2,254 worldwide.

Read HCM's recent interview with Chris Rondeau here.