Rainier Partners, a private equity firm investing in lower middle-market service businesses, and its portfolio company Omega Fitness announced the acquisition of 21 gyms in Wisconsin from MDS Fitness.
Omega Fitness is an Anytime Fitness franchisee that was formed by combining businesses built by two franchise operators, Andy Gundlach and Russ Allen. Since Rainier’s partnership began, Omega has roughly doubled the number of gyms in its portfolio.
“The growth we have seen since Rainier’s initial investment in November 2023 is remarkable, and the addition of MDS Fitness’ gyms furthers our goal of strengthening our presence in target geographies,” said Gundlach. “Rainier’s partnership and strategic guidance have undoubtedly accelerated our growth trajectory. We are excited to continue this momentum through the remainder of 2024 and beyond.”
The company is the second largest Anytime Fitness platform in the U.S., now with over 120 gyms in California, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
The acquisition of MDS’s Wisconsin assets strengthens Omega’s position in the state and remains consistent with the company’s focus on establishing geographic density in select markets.
“Since day one, we knew we had a big runway ahead of us. We have been laser-focused on deploying our Summit value creation playbook in partnership with Omega Fitness to seamlessly integrate the acquired businesses both operationally and financially into Omega’s strong platform,” said Dave Shephard, Director of Portfolio Operations, Rainer Partners. “We are thrilled with how the company is performing and will continue to support its leadership team.”
Image courtesy Anytime Fitness
