Life Fitness
TypePortfolio company
Founded1977 (1977)
FounderAugie Nieto and Ray Wilson
Headquarters
Franklin Park, Illinois
Key people
  • Jim Pisani (CEO)
BrandsLife Fitness
Hammer Strength
Cybex
Indoor Cycling Group
SCIFIT
InMovement
OwnerKPS Capital Partners
Number of employees
  • 2,460 (2019)
Websitelifefitness.com

Life Fitness is an American fitness company specializing in the production and distribution of cardiovascular and strength training equipment under several brands including Life Fitness, Cybex and Hammer Strength. It is headquartered in Franklin Park, Illinois and is a portfolio company of KPS Capital Partners.

History

Keene P. Dimick created an exercise bike in 1968. In 1977, Augie Nieto incorporated the company in Illinois as Lifecycle, Inc. to sell exercise bikes based on the same name that were based on Dimick's.[1] Nieto sold the company to Bally Total Fitness in 1984, who subsequently renamed the company Life Fitness, Inc.[2]

Life Fitness created the first computerized strength training program in 1988.[3]

In 1991, Bally Total Fitness sold the company to Mancuso & Company, a private equity firm, for $62.5 million.[4] The same year, Life Fitness expanded into treadmills.

Life Fitness was acquired by Brunswick Corporation in June 1997 for $310 million.[5][6] The sale was completed on July 11, 1997.[7] Later in 1997, Life Fitness bought Hammer Strength, a manufacturing of weight machines.[8]

ParaBody, Inc. was bought by Life Fitness in 1998.[9][10]

In 2013, Energym Sport purchased the franchise rights for the American brand Life Fitness, for a figure of over one million New Shekel and would start to promote and sell the company's products in Israel.[11]

In 2015, Brunswick Billiards was placed under Life Fitness by its parent company. In addition, Life Fitness created InMovement, a product line for workplaces, and acquired SCIFIT.[12]

In January 2016, Cybex International became part of Life Fitness, following its $195 million acquisition by Life Fitness parent company, Brunswick Corporation.[13] Indoor Cycling Group was also acquired the same year.

Row GX Trainer

In 2019, Brunswick Corporation agreed to sell Life Fitness to New York private equity firm KPS Capital Partners for $490 million. The deal moved Brunswick Corporation's entire fitness and recreation division — including Brunswick Billiards — into private hands, as Brunswick Corporation focused on its remaining portfolio of marine engines and boats.[14] The sale was completed on June 27, 2019.[15]

In 2022, Life Fitness agreed to sell its Brunswick Billiards business unit to Escalade Sports for $32 million.[16]

References

  1. ↑ "The Early Years | Life Fitness". www.lifefitness.com. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  2. ↑ "Augie Nieto II". North Castle Partners. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  3. ↑ "1980s | Life Fitness". www.lifefitness.com. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  4. ↑ "Bally Agrees To Sell Life Fitness Business". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2013-04-11.
  5. ↑ Gibson, Richard (1997-06-04). "Brunswick to Buy Maker Of Lifecycle for $310 Million". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  6. ↑ "BRUNSWICK TO BUY LIFE FITNESS FOR $310 MILLION". The New York Times. Reuters. 1997-06-05. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  7. ↑ Fitzgerald, Jacqueline (1997-07-11). "Brunswick Completes Acquisition". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  8. ↑ Banks, Claudia (1997-11-14). "Life Fitness Buys Weighty Company". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  9. ↑ "1990s | Life Fitness". www.lifefitness.com. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  10. ↑ fitnessunicorn, fitnessunicorn. "Fitness Unicorn". Fitness Unicorn. fitnessunicorn. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  11. ↑ כלכליסט, כתב (2013-01-21). "חברת ציוד הספורט אנרג'ים רכשה את הזיכיון למותג לייף פיטנס". כלכליסט - www.calcalist.co.il. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  12. ↑ "2010s | Life Fitness". www.lifefitness.com. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  13. ↑ "Brunswick Acquires Cybex for $195 Million, Will Join Life Fitness". Club Industry. 2016-01-20. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  14. ↑ Channick, Robert (2019-05-06). "Brunswick works out $490 million sale of Life Fitness to private equity firm". Chicago Tribune.
  15. ↑ "Life Fitness Acquisition by KPS Capital Partners Completed". PRNewswire. 2019-06-29.
  16. ↑ Miller, Ben. "Life Fitness selling Brunswick Billiards to Escalade for $32 million". Chicago Business Journal. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
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