Virgin Active Said to Be in Talks With Private Equity Firms on Expansion

Richard Branson’s Virgin Active, the Virgin Group Ltd. fitness-center unit, was approached by private-equity firms as it seeks to raise money for acquisitions, according to a person with knowledge of the talks.

Negotiations are at an early stage following inquiries from the potential suitors about Virgin Active’s growth plans, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. Virgin is interested in consolidating the market and such a deal would help boost its ability to do so, the person said.

The Sunday Telegraph reported that the health and fitness chain has held talks with private-equity companies about a potential deal that could net more than 1 billion pounds ($1.54 billion). KKR & Co., Blackstone Group LP, Advent International Corp. and CVC Capital Partners Ltd. may be interested, the newspaper reported, without saying where it got the information.

Virgin Active has 170 health and fitness clubs worldwide with more than 900,000 members, according to its website.

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Biesheuvel in London tbiesheuvel@bloomberg.net.

• Tweet
• More
  • Business Exchange
  • Buzz up!
  • Digg
• Print
• Email