Dealflow | June 12, 2019

Morgan Stanley Capital Partners acquires Impact Fitness from Bain Capital and Bridges

Dennis Price
ImpactAlpha Editor

Dennis Price

ImpactAlpha, June 12 – Impact Fitness, the first investment of the Bain Capital Double Impact Fund, is now the $390 million fund’s first exit. Morgan Stanley Capital Partners acquired the stakes of Bain and Bridges Bridges Fund Management, marking the first exit as well for Bridges’ U.S. Sustainable Growth Fund.

Impact Fitness, a franchisee of Planet Fitness, provides affordable gym access in 29 underserved communities in Michigan, Indiana, British Columbia, and Ontario. “We accomplished what we wanted to do with Impact Fitness, which was to develop a highly-skilled management team, a mission-aligned culture, and a focus on providing low-cost fitness options to an underserved market, Bain Capital Double Impact’s Peter Spring told ImpactAlpha.

Bain and Bridges, for example, tied management compensation and three-year targets to impact metrics, like increases in first-time gym users and usage per month. As a result, says Spring, Impact Fitness’ B Impact Score rose by 67% from 2017-2018.

“We invested with the thesis of finding a way to grow and scale and embed the impact approach into the Planet Fitness franchisee, and by extension into the franchisor,” Bridges’ Brian Trelstad told ImpactAlpha

Said Morgan Stanley Capital Partners’ Aaron Sack: “Impact has differentiated itself through its mission-driven culture,” he said