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Capital and M&A

Capital and M&A raise practical questions about how fitness businesses grow, combine, and find the right partners. These conversations offer a place to explore them through merger decisions, private equity experience, and relationships behind deal flow. Fritz Lanman and Philipp Roesch-Schlanderer discuss integration priorities, investment capacity, and what their combination could mean for operators. Jon Canarick revisits investments in Equinox and Curves, including the challenge of bringing nutrition and fitness together. Jon Ward considers how trusted networks can connect founders with capital and support partnerships across fitness, wellness, and healthcare. Along the way, guests examine where scale might help, where business models constrain expansion, and how leaders weigh new opportunities without losing focus on the businesses they run every day.

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Latest conversations

Julia Klim - Equinox: Cutting Edge Innovation For An Iconic Brand49 min

capital

Julia Klim - Equinox: Cutting Edge Innovation For An Iconic Brand

Julia Klim

Garrett Marshall - Confidence In Digital Fitness55 min

tech

Garrett Marshall - Confidence In Digital Fitness

Garrett Marshall

Anthony Vennare - Fitt Insider & Megatrends For 202352 min

capital

Anthony Vennare - Fitt Insider & Megatrends For 2023

Anthony Vennare

David Weston - North Castle Partners & Shifts in Investor Appetites46 min

capital

David Weston - North Castle Partners & Shifts in Investor Appetites

David Weston

Dr. Lauren Kelly - Chew; Levels: Democratizing Metabolic Health53 min

tech

Dr. Lauren Kelly - Chew; Levels: Democratizing Metabolic Health

Dr. Lauren Kelly

Bill Davis - ABC Fitness, Glofox, & Industry Consolidation52 min

capital

Bill Davis - ABC Fitness, Glofox, & Industry Consolidation

Bill Davis

Pete Moore - HALO Talks: Live at IHRSA37 min

capital

Pete Moore - HALO Talks: Live at IHRSA

Pete Moore

Lauren Foundos - FORTE: A Bold Vision of Digitalization47 min

tech

Lauren Foundos - FORTE: A Bold Vision of Digitalization

Lauren Foundos

Kirt Debique - SyncFloor & The Future of Music Licensing49 min

tech

Kirt Debique - SyncFloor & The Future of Music Licensing

Kirt Debique

Dan Uyemura - The Future of Gym Operating Systems50 min

tech

Dan Uyemura - The Future of Gym Operating Systems

Dan Uyemura

Jim Crowell - Crafting A Lucrative Client Experience41 min

operators

Jim Crowell - Crafting A Lucrative Client Experience

Jim Crowell

Helaine Knapp - CityRow & The Recalibration of Consumer Demands45 min

operators

Helaine Knapp - CityRow & The Recalibration of Consumer Demands

Helaine Knapp

Sam Cole - FitXR - The Broadening Opportunities in Virtual, Augmented, & Mixed Realities52 min

tech

Sam Cole - FitXR - The Broadening Opportunities in Virtual, Augmented, & Mixed Realities

Sam Cole

Brian Chappon & Mohammed Iqbal - Centred Wellness & The Future of Travel52 min

capital

Brian Chappon & Mohammed Iqbal - Centred Wellness & The Future of Travel

Melanie Lauer - HOI & Kettler's Entry Into The US Market)53 min

capital

Melanie Lauer - HOI & Kettler's Entry Into The US Market)

Melanie Lauer

Austin Cohen FlexIt Virtual: Private Aviation to Personal Training50 min

tech

Austin Cohen FlexIt Virtual: Private Aviation to Personal Training

Austin Cohen FlexIt Virtual

Christian Toetzke - HYROX & The Advent of "Fitness Racing"51 min

capital

Christian Toetzke - HYROX & The Advent of "Fitness Racing"

Christian Toetzke

Jeff Stokes - Stride Franchise & The Wellness Economy55 min

operators

Jeff Stokes - Stride Franchise & The Wellness Economy

Jeff Stokes

Matthew Januszek - The Art of The Interview & Differentiating In the New Normal57 min

capital

Matthew Januszek - The Art of The Interview & Differentiating In the New Normal

Matthew Januszek

Al Noshirvani - Fitness' Place In The Healthcare Continuum55 min

tech

Al Noshirvani - Fitness' Place In The Healthcare Continuum

Al Noshirvani

Anthony Vennare - Fitt Insider - An Investor's Guide to Fitness & Health55 min

capital

Anthony Vennare - Fitt Insider - An Investor's Guide to Fitness & Health

Anthony Vennare

Natalia Karbasova & Stefan Tilk - FitTech Summit 2021 Preview61 min

tech

Natalia Karbasova & Stefan Tilk - FitTech Summit 2021 Preview

Garrett Marshall - Xponential Fitness & Transitioning From Multichannel to Omnichannel49 min

operators

Garrett Marshall - Xponential Fitness & Transitioning From Multichannel to Omnichannel

Garrett Marshall

Avrum Elmakis - CEO & Founder of CLMBR50 min

capital

Avrum Elmakis - CEO & Founder of CLMBR

Avrum Elmakis

Voices in the conversation

From the conversations

How are the merger leaders approaching integration?

“And so we've been very, very cautious about integration for the sake of integration and have spent a lot of energy thinking about okay, how do we make sure we work really well together?”

Inside the $7.5B Merger Behind Mindbody, ClassPass and EGYM with Fritz Lanman & Philipp Roesch-Schlanderer · 7:33 ↗

What happened when Canarick's team combined fitness and diet through the Jenny Craig acquisition?

“Uh, we ended up buying Jenny Craig uh as part of that. And so we actually sort of brought in this we created this combined center trying to bring fitness and diet together under one roof. I'm I'm I'm not embarrassed to tell you it did not work.”

Jon Canarick, North Castle Partners, on Curves, Equinox, and GLP-1s in Fitness · 8:00 ↗

How does Ward describe capital introductions within his network?

“Or you're looking for capital. I know a guy like literally fits this family office model that you're talking about, and he knows other people. Can I connect you? Yeah, like who is he? Sends the link, there you go, off and running.”

The Assembly Founder Jon Ward on GLP-1s, Deal Flow and Fitness's Future · 21:21 ↗

THE FUTURE OF FITNESS NEWSLETTER

What I’m paying attention to.

Every week, I talk with founders, operators, investors and scientists across fitness, health and wellness, then share the ideas that stayed with me, the shifts worth watching and what they could mean for the industry.

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