Luxury Gym Equinox Weighs Going Public Via SPAC

Luxury gym operator Equinox Holdings, often used by celebrities and financiers, might end up merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) backed by investor Chamath Palihapitiya, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources.

There are negotiations going on between Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. VI and Equinox, which also operates SoulCycle and Blink Fitness. Nothing has been finalized yet, and the deal might not actually come to fruition, according to Bloomberg.

If the transaction does happen, however, it could value the company at over $7.5 billion, Bloomberg reported.

Equinox has been forced to close numerous locations because of the pandemic. The company reported a loss of $350 million on $650 million in revenue in 2020. But the company had drawn interest from SPACs, which valued it at $7 billion or more, according to Bloomberg.

Equinox struck a deal with Silver Lake, a private equity firm, for funding last year, working to build out its Equinox+ platform. L Catterton, another private equity firm, also owns a minority stake, Bloomberg reported.

Palihapitiya has raised six SPACs in partnership with Ian Osborne of Hedosophia, according to Bloomberg data. Social Capital Hedosophia SPACs have merged with companies to form Virgin Galactic Holdings, Opendoor Technologies and Clover Health Investments. In addition, another vehicle from the two has agreed to merge with Social Finance.

Equinox was formed in 1991 and expanded into hospitality in 2019 with its first hotel in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards neighborhood, Bloomberg reported. It is helmed by Executive Chairman Harvey Spevak.

In related news, PYMNTS reported that fitness platforms fell prey to the pandemic, with the company Moxie having to go through a total reinvention in order to build a new type of fitness system people could use from home. What the company came up with was a subscription model for users to access monthly or weekly classes online.

Moxie’s idea gave independent instructors a place to set up shop whether they previously taught with Equinox or other such companies.