PureGym raises £300m from KKR for expansion

Pure Gym has raised £300m to fund its expansion by selling a stake to KKR, the US private equity firm.

Britain's biggest gym operator said KKR would be a "significant minority investor" alongside PureGym's management and existing private equity investor Leonard Green & Partners.

PureGym has been weighing up options to raise capital. It scrapped plans for a London flotation in October, blaming volatile markets. The company said on Tuesday its profits were bouncing back from the worst of the pandemic.

Together with existing funds, the company will have almost £500m to open more sites in markets where it already trades and expand in other countries. It has 511 clubs in the UK and Europe and 1.6 million members.

Blaine MacDougald, a partner at KKR, said: "This investment provides PureGym with flexible capital to support its growth and international expansion plans and we will draw on the full range of KKR's global platform and operational resources to help them drive further success for the business."