Castanea Partners, a private equity firm, made an investment in West Coast Fitness LLC, a leading franchisee and area representative of Orangetheory Fitness that operates ten Orangetheory studios and oversees an additional seventeen studios owned by other franchisees in Los Angeles and San Francisco’s South Bay area.
West Coast Fitness founders Paul Marcus and Brendon Ayanbadejo remain significant shareholders and will continue to lead the business.
“We are thrilled to partner with the Castanea team,” said Paul Marcus, CEO of West Coast Fitness. “Castanea has extensive experience growing successful passion brands, and their investment will provide the resources to accelerate our expansion in California and pursue acquisition opportunities in other markets.”
Brendon Ayanbadejo, president of Fitness at the company, added, “We remain extremely excited to continue building the West Coast Fitness platform and to work closely with Castanea to strengthen our operational capabilities and further enhance our members’ fitness experience.”
Founded by Dave Long, Ellen Latham and Jerome Kern, Orangetheory has developed an approach to fitness that blends a trifecta of science, coaching and technology and aims to elevate participants’ heart rates to help burn more calories. Orangetheory workouts incorporate endurance, strength and power to generate the ‘Orange Effect’–whereby participants burn fat calories for up to 36 hours after a 60‐minute workout. Orangetheory has 1,000 studios in 48 U.S. states and 18 countries
“Orangetheory is an exceptional brand, evidenced by its growth and passionate member community,” said Adam Garcia Eveloff, partner at Castanea, “and West Coast Fitness is a best-in-class operator within the system. We are excited about the opportunity to work with Paul and Brendon to expand the business in our current territories and to grow strategically through acquisitions and continue to be a leader within the Orangetheory network.”
Latham & Watkins served as legal counsel to Castanea. Davis Wright Tremaine served as legal counsel and Piper Jaffray & Co. served as financial advisor to West Coast Fitness in the transaction.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Castanea focuses on select consumer verticals including beauty, food and beverage, multi-unit services and enthusiast lifestyle. The company typically invest between $15 to $150 million of equity in minority or majority transactions. Castanea has more than $1 billion in assets under management and is currently investing from a $735 million fourth fund.
