Tata Digital-backed Cult.fit acquires Gold's Gym fitness chain across India

Health and wellness platform Cult.fit has picked up a majority stake in F2 Fun & Fitness India Pvt Ltd, thereby becoming the master franchise partner for Gold’s Gym in India. 

Cult.fit, which is operated by Cure.fit Healthcare Pvt Ltd, had recently acquired RPM fitness, Fitkit, Onefitplus, and Urban Terrain. The company also closed its $150 Mn Series F round led by Zomato to enter the coveted Unicorn club in November last year.

Cult.fit will focus on independently growing the Gold’s Gym brand, scaling revenues of existing Gold’s Gym centres, and enabling further expansion using the franchise model, said the company in a press release. 

Besides India, Cult.fit aims to expand the Gold’s Gym brand across key geographies such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan.

Cult.fit claims to operate more than 350 owned and partnered centres in over 25 cities in India. This strategic partnership with Gold’s Gym should help Cult.fit to significantly expand its footprint and strengthen its position across the country.

On the other side, Gold Gym claims that it has over 140 outlets in more than 90 cities with multiple long-term franchise partnerships across metros, tier II, III and IV markets.

Offline gyms have been some of the most prominent casualties in the past couple of years due to the covid pandemic. This can be gauged from the fact that Gold’s Gym operating revenue saw a decrease of 58% to Rs 20.09 crore in FY21 from 47.74 crore in FY20. During the period, Gold’s Gym expenses also came down 36% to Rs 28.72 crore from Rs 45.17 crore in the preceding fiscal year, shows the company’s regulatory filings with MCA. 

The company recorded a loss of Rs 39 lakhs in FY21 from Rs 1.19 crore profit in FY20.

Tata Digital, a subsidiary of Tata Sons Private Ltd, had signed a strategic deal to invest up to $75 million in Cure.fit in June last year. As a part of the deal, Mukesh Bansal, co-founder and CEO of Cure.fit, had joined Tata Digital as president and continued his leadership role at the Bengaluru-based company. 

With an end to the pandemic finally, in sight, opportunities for acquisition should be aplenty for stronger hands like Cult.fit, so we wouldn’t be surprised at all to see more such announcements in the coming months.