PE club completes Life Time Fitness acquisition

Leonard Green & Partners, LNK Partners and TPG band together to buy the Minnesota health club operator

Leonard Green & Partners, LNK Partners and TPG have completed their take-private purchase of health club chain Life Time Fitness Inc. in a deal valued at more than $4 billion, according to a statement by the target company.

LNK, a New York.-based private equity firm focused on consumer and retail businesses, invested $100 million in the club transaction that included investments from Texas-based TPG and California's Leonard Green. The investor group entered into an agreement to acquire Minnesota-based Life Time for $72.10 per share on March 15, 2015, according to Securities & Exchange Commission filings.

Life Time chairman, chief executive and president Bahram Akradi rolled over $125 million in common equity in the company as part of the deal, the company's regulatory filings noted.

Life Time, which sports the tag name The Healthy Way of Life Company, manages 115 fitness centers that are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and operate under the company's  own brand name and the Life Time Athletic brand names in both the US and Canada. The company confirmed regulatory approval of its acquisition in April.

For the LNK deal team, the deal represents a continuation of its relationship with Life Time when the firm's private equity dealmakers led an investment in the company while at Apax Partners in the year 2000.

Life Time recorded $374.3 million in EBITDA on $1.29 billion of revenues for 2014, according to SEC filings.

As a result of the deal's closing, Life Time's shares stopped trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker LTM on June 10.