Florida-based private equity firm, Brockway Moran Partners, has announced the closing of the sale of Gold’s Gym International for $158 million to a group led by TRT Holdings.

TRT, a privately-owned holding company, also owns the Omni hotel chain.

“Brockway Moran Partners has been an outstanding partner over the past five years, and Gold's Gym has prospered under their ownership,” said Gene LaMott, president and CEO of Gold's Gym.

“We are excited to enter the next stage of our growth and believe TRT will be a valuable partner that will help further the Gold's Gym brand and our presence worldwide.”

The deal has been closed just days after the death of Gold’s founder. Joe Gold, at 82.

The lifelong body-building enthusiast opened the first Gold's Gym in Venice Beach, California in 1965, calling it “the first gym made specifically for bodybuilders”.