Basic-Fit has acquired RSG Group’s Spanish portfolio of 47 clubs for €50m.

RSG had signalled its intention to exit the Spanish market back in March this year and various parties have been in negotiation, including Vivagym and its backer, Bridges Ventures who lost out to Basic-Fit in the race to dominate in Iberia.

The deal gets Basic-Fit 42 McFit locations and five Holmes Place clubs, which it says it will rebrand and fully integrate into its portfolio by the end of 2024.

Although McFit would appear to represent a straightforward conversion to the Basic-Fit model, there are some questions about whether the Holmes Place locations – which are luxury health clubs – will be retained as a more high-end offering or perhaps sold on.

RSG had only acquired the Holmes Place clubs in July 2021 when the Fisher family sold them to focus their funds on growing the TRIB3 franchise, however, the untimely death of Rainer Schaller in October 2022 set the company on a different path and it has made some alterations to its portfolio since then.

RSG Spain reported revenue of €39 million in 2022 and Basic-Fit CEO, Rene Moos expects the acquisition to deliver a return on capital invested of at least 30 per cent by 2026, with an immediate impact being felt from 2024 onwards.

“As we will leverage our technologies over the new clubs and integrate them into our network, we expect the acquisition to be accretive to the underlying earnings in 2024,” said Moos.

The deal will give Basic-Fit a market-leader position in Spain and strengthen its cluster model. Moos said: “With the intended acquisition, we’ll strengthen our position in Spain by adding 47 clubs to the 140 we currently have, while also growing our positions in several important regional markets.

“In Barcelona, for example, we’ll increase the number of clubs from two to nine, which fits our cluster strategy, enabling us to offer our members an increasing number of clubs to work out in, conveniently located near where they live or work.”

Members of the 47 RSG clubs will be given access to the Basic-Fit network, including the app, virtual group classes and the 140 existing clubs.

Basic-Fit’s syndicate of banks has committed a further €110 million to fund both the deal and the club refurbishments, while also increasing the company’s financial headroom.

Terms and conditions of the bank facilities remain unchanged, with no hike in interest rates, indicating the financial markets are stabilising.

The agreement is subject to clearance from the Spanish competition authority which will scrutinise the transaction to ensure it doesn’t give Basic-Fit too great a market share. The deal is expected to complete in Q1 of 2024 if it clears the process.

Basic-Fit is the fastest-growing operator in Europe, with 1,400 clubs and counting.

It has scaled at a breathtaking rate, having built a powerful roll-out 'machine' and so far has a strong market position in its native Netherlands, with operations in Belgium, Luxenbourg, Germany, France and Spain.

It has not yet tackled the UK market, but if it did so, it would likely be by acquisition.