TryghedsGruppen and Altor have joined forces by bringing together the strongest and most respected brands in Nordic fitness. The merger of SATS, Elixia and Fresh Fitness will strengthen the companies’ offering and geographical coverage. Altor Fund III and the Elixia shareholders will own 51% of shares in the combined entity, and TryghedsGruppen will own 49%.
The new group will have more than 2,000 employees, combined revenues of approx. 2.5 billion NOK, 181 fitness centers and nearly 500,000 members, and will continue operating under the brands of SATS, Elixia, Fresh Fitness, SAFE and Metropolis.
The new group will have sufficient presence and financial backing by the owners to continue to invest in improving its offering to customers in all segments and better address their individual needs and preferences. The group expects to launch new club formats, applications, and offerings that address even better customer preferences and needs in an innovative way.
“The fitness market is undergoing change due to new competitors, changed customer preferences and demographics, new technologies, and in new ways of training. This merger will allow us to bring customers a wider range of training options, to invest in and lead changes in new technology and products to support our customers’ training preferences” says Olav Thorstad, CEO of TryghedsGruppen’s Health & Fitness Nordic.
“The companies are very complementary, with SATS having a strong position in Sweden, and Elixia and SATS being major players in Norway and Finland. Fresh Fitness with its no-frill concept will further help us develop our business. This will give us the scale and geographic presence to be able to offer our customers even better training options” says Ståle Angel, CEO of Elixia.
It is a merger of equals, where Altor Fund III and the Elixia shareholders will own 51% of shares in the combined entity, and TryghedsGruppen will own 49%. The merger is part of TryghedsGruppens new investment strategy, where the company’s goal is to become co-owner of large cash generative companies.
“TryghedsGruppen and Altor will have joint control, and following the process leading up to this merger, the two main owners share the same vision about the further development of health and fitness in the Nordic countries. The goal is to develop the combined company to the benefit of customers and employees” says Jørn Wendel Andersen, CEO of TryghedsGruppen.
“By keeping all of the brands, and continuing to invest in new clubs we will further strengthen the current growth and innovative position both companies enjoy today” says Reynir Indahl, Partner in Altor Equity Partners and Chairman of Elixia.
Reynir Indahl will become Chairman of the merged company and Jørn Wendel Andersen will take the position as Vice-Chairman. The new combined holding company will after closing adopt the “Health & Fitness Nordic” name of the holding company currently held by TryghedsGruppen.
The merger is subject to customary regulatory requirements and approvals.
For further information, please contact:
Reynir Indahl, Partner, Altor Equity Partners, telephone +47 90691113
Jørn Wendel Andersen, CEO, TryghedsGruppen, telephone +45 4526 0826
Facts about TryghedsGruppen
TryghedsGruppen’s activities include a majority shareholding in the Tryg insurance group, direct investments in enterprises and asset management. TryghedsGruppen had assets under management of about DKK 30 billion at 31 December 2012Part of TryghedsGruppen’s profit is used for benevolent purposes through TrygFonden which distributed DKK 547 million in 2012. TryghedsGruppen smba is a member- based organisation with more than one million members who are policyholders of Tryg and Nordea Liv & Pension.
Facts about Altor
Altor Equity Partners act as investment advisor to the Altor funds. Since inception, the Altor funds have invested in close to 40 companies with a committed capital of EUR 3,800 million. The investments have been made in Nordic mid-cap companies with focus on value creation through growth initiatives and operational improvements. Among the investments are Lindorff, Helly Hansen, Apotek Hjärtat, Carnegie, Papyrus, Dustin, Qmatic, Piab, Byggmax, Ålö, Max Matthiessen, Elixia and CTEK.
