Silver Oak Services Partners has made an investment in VASA Fitness in partnership with the founders and management. Prior to the investment by Silver Oak, the clubs operated as a franchisee of a national health club brand. Immediately following the investment by Silver Oak, the clubs were relaunched under their new brand, VASA Fitness. Silver Oak invested alongside the founders and management in the transaction.
VASA Fitness is the largest operator of health clubs in the Utah market, serving approximately 150,000 members in 17 locations. Clubs vary in size with a cluster of large, full-service clubs (45,000 square feet and over) and small, express clubs (15,000 to 25,000 square feet). The clubs provide a variety of services and amenities including personal training, child-care, group exercise classes, cardio cinemas, swimming pools and tanning. The company offers memberships at value price points that range from $9.99 – $19.99 per month, with terms that include both month-to-month and yearly contracts. VASA Fitness was founded by CEO Scott Felsted in 1996 and is headquartered in Provo, UT (www.vasafitness.com).
Silver Oak makes control investments of $10 million to $30 million in companies with revenues from $15 million to $150 million and EBITDAs from $3 million to $20 million. Sectors of interest include business services, healthcare services, and consumer services. As part of their sector-focused investing strategy, Silver Oak first identified health clubs as an attractive sector for investment in 2007. Silver Oak is based in the Chicago suburb of Evanston (www.silveroaksp.com).
Mr. Felsted, along with long-time COO, Troy Peterson, will continue on in their current roles with VASA and are retaining significant ownership stakes in the business. “We couldn’t be more excited about our partnership with Silver Oak and the launch of our new brand, VASA Fitness. We have gotten to know Dan Gill and the Silver Oak team over the past six years and are very optimistic about what we can collectively achieve with VASA. They understand the health club space and their expertise in growing businesses like ours will be valuable as we look to improve our product and expand into new markets,” said Scott Felsted, founder of VASA Fitness.
“We have enjoyed building our relationship with Scott, Troy and their team and are thrilled to have the opportunity to be their partner,” said Dan Gill, Managing Partner at Silver Oak. The VASA team are experienced operators who have built the dominant market leader in Utah. VASA is well-positioned to become a leading health club chain in the Western United States by reinvesting in their clubs and growing into adjacent markets.”
2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 11-25-14