CBE Winter Report.qk - IHRSA

News & Notes
9th Forum Il Nuovo Club meets 22-24 February
> Members of the Italian
fitness and wellness market
will meet in Verona on 22-24
February for the ninth international
congress and trade
show, Forum Il Nuovo Club,
at Centro Congressi-Palaexpo.
Organised by the magazine
Il Nuovo Club, this event
provides an insight into the
Italian market, which currently
stands at 8,000 fitness and
wellness clubs, and a total
of 15,000 facilities when
swimming pools and sports
clubs are included.
Speakers will include EHFA
president Harm Tegelaars;
sales consultant and motivational
speaker Casey Conrad
from the US; PR consultant
Virgin Active
to go public
> Sir Richard Branson
plans to offer shares of
Virgin Active health club
chain on the London
stock exchange according
to reports carried in
British newspapers.
The group, with operations
in Italy, Spain and
South Africa, as well as
Britain, has begun to court
as many as 10 investment
banks to work on the
planned share offering, the
Sunday Times and Sunday
Telegraph have reported.
The club group, which
includes the Holmes Place
chain, could be valued
as high as e1.4 bn (£1.0
bn), according to unspecified
sources. It has 167
clubs and nearly 900,000
members worldwide. �
Rapt attention: A session at the 2007 Forum Il Nuovo Club
Sue Anstiss from the UK; and
Jim Love, former coach of the
New Zealand All Blacks team
Esporta chain up for sale
8 Club Business Europe � JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008 � www.ihrsa.org
who will explain how rugby
is a powerful inspiration for
managers and operators.
> The Esporta saga continues. Reports in The Daily Telegraph
indicate that Syrian billionaire Simon Halabi will sell the
upscale UK chain, and, according to an unidentified source,
he has hired investment bank Greenhill to carry out a strategic
review of the business.
Halabi hired bankers from Lazard to sell the Esporta after
the company breached its banking covenants on a e460.5 m
(£330 m) loan arranged by French bank Societe Generale. SocGen
later placed Esporta's holding companies, Bell I and Bell II, into
administration in an effort to get the loan repaid.
Potential bidders are said to include former owners Duke Street
Capital, property group London & Regional, and US hedge fund
and private equity group Cerberus. �
Dutch clubs band together for mutual benefit
> A network has been established
in The Netherlands for
independent club operators,
providing them with a common
brand identity, website, promotions,
and purchasing benefits.
Called WellnessClubs, the
network has been formed
by the operators of 14 high
quality fitness and wellness
facilities. It was developed
after research conducted
by the WellPro Group
and was launched at the
Fitness Trade Fair in
Utrecht in October.
A national telephone
number, and the website
In addition, there will
be an international panel
discussion drawing on the
expert knowledge of professionals
from the US, UK,
Holland and Turkey.
All accredited operators
will be allowed to enter
the exhibition area free
of charge. Last year, 3,400
operators took advantage
of the opportunity to browse
10,000sq m of suppliers to
fitness and wellness clubs,
sporting and rehabilitation
facilities, swimming pools
and thermal centres.
For more information,
call +39 051 25 55 44 or
visit www.ncforum.com. �
(www.wellnessclubs.nl.),
means that consumers
can enter their postcode to
find a club near them. In
addition to this collective
marketing, the individual
club owners can also benefit
from national staff recruitment
and training. �