Virgin Active has agreed to buy 13 Holmes Place fitness and wellness clubs in Germany for €135 million, entering a new national market through an existing network in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Cologne, Essen and Lübeck.
The agreement was signed October 30 and announced in a November 9 release issued from Berlin, Germany. Virgin Active said the agreement is unconditional, with no outstanding conditions to completion. Ownership is scheduled to transfer in mid-December 2026, so the business has not yet changed hands.
The seller is a joint venture between Holmes Place Europe and funds controlled by AUCTUS Capital Partners. The partners have owned Holmes Place Germany together since 2016. The cash consideration is subject to customary adjustments at completion.
Virgin Active said it will fund the purchase from existing cash after an October rights issue, in which existing shareholders were offered new shares. The deal therefore draws on funds already raised for the group’s growth and investment plans rather than financing arrangements still to be announced.
Buying operating clubs gives Virgin Active members, facilities and an experienced management team at the outset. It avoids the time needed to develop and fill a new network from scratch. The company says the price is below the cost of building an equivalent estate, although the release does not provide a detailed replacement-cost calculation.
The company projects that Holmes Place Germany would contribute about 14% of group 2026 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization on a pro forma basis. That means a calculation as if the acquired business were included, not earnings Virgin Active has already collected from owning the German clubs.
For members, the planned change is gradual. Virgin Active said there are no immediate plans after completion that would affect members or staff, and the current German management team will stay. It intends over time to introduce its Social Wellness Club model, which combines exercise with recovery and spa facilities and spaces to work and socialize.
The purchase also extends a wider expansion in German-speaking Europe. Virgin Active recently acquired its first club in Lugano, Switzerland, and plans its first Vienna, Austria, opening in early 2027. Before the German acquisition, it said it operates 224 clubs across 10 countries, serving more than one million members.
The announcement does not give a date for each German club’s transition, a membership-pricing plan or a detailed integration budget. The immediate next milestone is the scheduled December ownership transfer; the projected earnings contribution and the pace of changes at individual clubs remain ahead.
JBizNews Desk | Berlin, Germany
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