Deloitte Study: Fitness Sector Remains Focus of Investors

The fitness industry continues to attract a great deal of attention from potential investors within the leisure industry according to the results of the latest private equity survey from Deloitte. For the areas fitness & wellness (80 percent), sports (63 percent), and gaming & betting (61 percent), the majority of respondents foresee positive market and revenue developments, which puts them in the focus of investors as potential investment fields. Sporting goods manufacturers are among the most attractive takeover candidates in the sports segment. In comparison, prospects for the tourism and hotel sector are rated lower. For the PE survey, over 1,000 representatives from the private equity and investment sector were interviewed. In regard to the expected turnover development as well as the interest in future investments, the fitness industry attained the best survey results: good two-thirds of the investors could imagine future involvement in this area. The main candidates for acquisition are fitness clubs, some of which are settled in the premium segment and some of which have services geared to the needs of older people – a timely reaction to the repercussions of demographic developments. At the moment, however, the discount vendors dominate the market. McFit, for example, noted a 25 percent increase in its members – now totalling 520,000 – in the first half year of 2007. (eap)