STAMFORD — Olympus Partners has acquired a Planet Fitness franchisee for greater than $675 million, highlighting one of many busiest-ever intervals for the Stamford personal fairness agency.
The acquisition of Austin, Texas-based Excel Fitness Holdings will increase the variety of firms to 13 in Olympus’ portfolio. Excel serves almost 750,000 Planet Fitness members throughout greater than 90 places that it operates in Austin; Dallas-Fort Worth; Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Tulsa, Okla.; northwest Arkansas; and throughout Virginia. Supported by Olympus, it goals to run greater than 100 places by the tip of 2022.
The deal comes as different firms in Olympus’ portfolio are thriving. Olympus officers mentioned their agency has returned a complete of roughly $1.5 billion in dividends and sale proceeds to about 40 institutional traders prior to now eight months — an Olympus-record distribution to traders in a one-year interval.
“We’re fairly pleased with the state of the portfolio and the way our firms are doing,” Olympus founder and managing companion Rob Morris mentioned in an interview. “In the case of the Excel Fitness acquisition, of the assorted well being golf equipment and gymnasiums which might be nationwide franchises, Planet Fitness appears to have been probably the most resilient with respect to COVID. We assume we are able to proceed to construct out that mannequin in geographies adjoining to current places.”
Among different latest offers, Olympus introduced in March the acquisition for about $450 million of Irving, Texas-based Omega Environmental Technologies, a distributor of automotive air-conditioning merchandise.
“They have a wonderful market place with distribution of elements wanted to restore or rebuild air-conditioning methods in automobiles. These guys provide everyone,” Morris mentioned. “And it’s additionally a wonderful platform, which we are able to use to purchase different firms to construct onto this administration group to produce comparable sorts of things within the after-market.”
Last September, Olympus sold pet-products provider Petmate for nearly $700 million. Of that complete, it distributed about $400 million to traders.
Producing 10-figure dividends
Amid the latest acquisitions, Olympus officers mentioned lots of the firms in Olympus’ portfolio have been performing strongly prior to now yr.
Among the highest performers are Soliant, a supplier of well being care and training staffing companies; Tank Holding, a producer of polyethylene tanks and containers; and Vaco, a supplier of enterprise consulting and expertise companies.
Based on these three companies’ rising earnings, Olympus officers mentioned their agency has distributed about $1.1 billion in dividends to traders prior to now few months.
“When we purchase firms, we attempt to purchase ones which might be capable of do moderately nicely, even in hostile situations akin to COVID,” Morris mentioned. “That occurred right here, so we have been delighted to distribute $1.5 billion value of income (dividends, mixed with proceeds from the Petmate sale), on the heels of an enormous financial softening brought on by COVID.”
Olympus manages funds totaling greater than $8.5 billion, primarily on behalf of company pension funds, endowment funds and state-sponsored retirement applications.
Several traders contacted by Hearst Connecticut Media Group declined to reveal how a lot they acquired from Olympus’ latest dividend distribution, however mentioned they have been glad with their share of the proceeds and happy with Olympus’ efficiency.
“They have a really steady group, and their efficiency is pretty much as good as we’d have anticipated,” mentioned John Kyles, a managing director at Darien-based Portfolio Advisors, a middle-market personal asset administration specialist with about $38 billion in property below administration.
Other traders embrace London-based Wellcome Trust, one of many world’s largest charitable foundations and well being analysis funders, supported by an endowment of round $50 billion. Wellcome has greater than $100 million invested with Olympus, and it has been an investor with the agency for greater than 20 years.
“Olympus is considered one of our oldest relationships, which testifies to their success,” mentioned Robert Coke, Wellcome’s managing director of personal fairness. “They have usually taken on complicated and challenged companies and turned them into rising and engaging companies which have delivered good returns for shareholders and created jobs.”
Morris mentioned he was assured about Olympus’ future, regardless of the volatility within the international economic system. The agency’s workplaces are within the Metro Center complicated, at 1 Station Place, throughout the road from the downtown Stamford Metro-North Railroad station. It has about two-dozen staff.
“The massive issues that we fear about and are having to behave on usually need to do with inflationary pressures. There are super rises in commodity inputs in each enterprise, akin to resin for making plastics and the value of sugar within the baked-goods trade,” Morris mentioned. “But total, our portfolio is faring nicely — so we’re comfortable.”
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https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/business/article/Stamford-private-equity-firm-acquires-Planet-17160016.php
