Inflexion invests in elite fitness business Ultimate Performance
Inflexion, the private equity investor, has invested in Ultimate Performance, which it describes as “the unique global, premium health and fitness platform”.
The investment is being made by Inflexion’s dedicated lower mid-market fund, Enterprise Fund V.
Ultimate Performance was founded in 2009 by Nick Mitchell and its high-end personalised training and nutrition programmes were inspired by Californian gyms run by Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The business delivers its programmes from 24 sites with a team of over 450 employees including 350 personal trainers, across the UK, US, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.
Ultimate Performance programmes are described as “market leading with very high satisfaction scores from both clients and the personal trainers who build their careers backed by Ultimate Performance.”
Ultimate Performance customer Carlos Oliveira
One customer of Ultimate Performance described the “12 week body transformations” as intense and “not cheap” – estimating the programme cost close to £3k for 3 months.
Its strategy is now to roll out the intensive personal training proposition across the world.
Malcolm Coffin, Partner and Head of Enterprise Fund at Inflexion, commented: “Ultimate Performance is a truly differentiated business with a strong global growth opportunity. We look forward to supporting the team as they accelerate the growth of the business and expand its footprint.”
Inflexion is backing the existing management team of Steve Brice (who is now stepping up to become Group CEO), Sean Murphy (Chief Personal Training Officer) and Mark Bohannon (Chief Experience Officer) all of whom have worked with founder Nick Mitchell for a number of years.
Simon McMurtrie, former Chair of Inflexion’s successful investment Virgin Experience Days, will be joining as Chair and Christian Jennings, former CFO of Virgin Experience Days, will be joining the team as CFO.
Steve Brice, Chief Executive, commented, “Ultimate Performance is committed to changing the way our clients live. We are excited to be partnering with Inflexion to continue the growth of the business and in particular build its global presence.”
The size of the stake and the amount paid has not been disclosed. Inflexion were advised by Houlihan Lokey. Ultimate Performance were advised by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
For a detailed deep dive into the deal and what it means for Inflexion, see our Rainmakers story here.
