Altor Fund III (“Altor”) has signed an agreement to acquire ELIXIA Holding II AS, the leading health & fitness chain in the Nordic region, from Norvestor and its other owners.
ELIXIA is the leading commercial health & fitness chain in Norway and Finland, with a recently established foothold in Sweden. The Company operates 34 centers in Norway, 11 in Finland and 2 in Sweden. ELIXIA’s Nordic operations were launched in 2000 and the Company is headquartered in Oslo, Norway. ELIXIA has revenues of some NOK 900 million and employs approximately 3,700 people.
“ELIXIA is the market leader in the Nordic region with a broad offering of group training activities, personal training services and other amenities, at high class training facilities. We are excited to support the company in its future development and see scope for substantial growth across the region” said Jaakko Kivinen, Partner at Altor Equity Partners.
“ELIXIA has demonstrated a strong track record of profitable growth. We look forward to continue developing the business with Altor as the new owner” commented Ståle Angel, CEO of ELIXIA.
“We have been impressed by what Ståle Angel and his management team have achieved during the past 10 years in the company, in particular the consistent and systematic execution model in all parts of the business. We see strong demand for ELIXIA’s offering in various Nordic cities and are well positioned to support the Company in its expansion with our pan-Nordic presence” said Reynir Indahl, Partner at Altor Equity Partners.
”Over the past five years, Norvestor has participated in the development of ELIXIA into a leading health & fitness chain in the Nordic region. ELIXIA is a high quality company with a strong concept and a world class management team with the competence to continue the development of the company going forward. Every year, ELIXIA has gained market shares in a growing market and also succeeded with implementing new products and services. We are very pleased that Altor has seen the opportunity for further growth and the strong potential for business development. ELIXIA has been a good investment for Norvestor and we think the company will be a good investment for the next owner as well”, says Lars Grinde, Managing Partner in Norvestor and outgoing Chairman of ELIXIA.
The transaction is expected to close in June subject to customary closing conditions.
Altor was advised by ABG Sundal Collier, McKinsey, Wiersholm and PwC. Acquisition financing will be provided by DnB NOR. Norvestor and ELIXIA were advised by UBS, Thommessen and Deloitte.