Fitness IPO gives SPACs a work over – Reuters

Cast member Mark Wahlberg poses at the premiere for the film “Spenser Confidential” in Los Angeles, February 27, 2020. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

NEW YORK, July 7 (Reuters Breakingviews) – Mark Wahlberg’s fitness company has shown that the projections bandied around in SPAC mergers can sometimes prove conservative. F45 Training, which puts workout-goers through 45-minute sessions, is planning an initial public offering roughly a year after abandoning a merger with a special purpose acquisition company. The delay has paid off: F45 is gunning for a value of $1.5 billion, 80% more than in the SPAC deal.

F45’s revenue fell by 11% in 2020, to $82.3 million. That’s about half what it had forecast before Covid-19. But it’s a solid outcome considering competition from stay-at-home workouts like Peloton Interactive (PTON.O) read more , and beats the scaled-back $60 million forecast F45 put out after the pandemic hit. In the last year its studios, nearly all franchises, also increased by a fifth, more than anticipated.

The market is also hotter now. In the year since F45 agreed to be bought by Crescent Acquisition for $845 million , gym operator Planet Fitness’s (PLNT.N) enterprise value-to-sales multiple has also doubled. That makes F45’s $1.5 billion price tag seem fair. Sometimes it’s a marathon, not a sprint. (By Lauren Silva Laughlin)

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Editing by John Foley and Amanda Gomez

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