London / Paris, 28 October 2026 – Providence Equity Partners L.L.C. (“Providence”) today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Fitness Park Group (“Fitness Park” or the “Group”) from Philippe Herbette, Future French Champions (“FFC”), Momentum Invest and M Capital Partners (together, the “Selling Shareholders”).
Founded in 2009, Fitness Park has grown to serve more than 1.7 million members across over 467 clubs. France remains the group’s largest market, where its network employs approximately 2,400 people, but it has also successfully expanded internationally into Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Italy through master franchise agreements. Further openings are planned for Belgium.
Providence has a demonstrated track record of investing in market-leading businesses and supporting them through their next phase of growth. Working alongside Chairman Philippe Herbette and Fitness Park’s management team led by Gaëtan Dubuisson, Providence will support continued investment in the company’s network, customer proposition and product innovation, while helping accelerate its growth in France and internationally.
Robert Sudo, Senior Managing Director at Providence, said:
We believe Philippe, Gaëtan and his team have built an outstanding business and a highly recognised brand, underpinned by a compelling customer proposition and an impressive track record of growth. We know the European fitness sector well and see significant opportunity to continue building scale in a market we believe is benefiting from strong structural growth.”
“We believe Fitness Park is well positioned to capture that opportunity. Its differentiated proposition, strong franchise network and established position in France provide an exciting platform for continued growth, both organically and internationally. We also want to assure franchisees that we remain committed to retaining and accelerating the growth of the Fitness Park brand across the various markets and we look forward to partnering with Philippe, Gaëtan and the wider team for the next phase of the company’s development.”
Fitness Park Founder and Chairman Philippe Herbette said: “Since founding Fitness Park, our ambition has always been to offer the best fitness experience at the best price to as many people as possible. It has been an incredible journey to get to this point, and we are very well positioned for further success as we continue to expand across a wide number of markets. I look forward to working with Robert and the Providence team as we enter into the next chapter of Fitness Park’s story.”
Antoine Emmanuelli, President of Future French Champions, said: “We are proud to have supported Fitness Park, Philippe Herbette and the management team through the challenges of the COVID period and subsequently during a phase of accelerated growth, including organic expansion, build-ups and international development. We would like to thank Philippe, the management team, Fitness Park’s employees, franchise partners and everyone who has contributed to the Group’s success and wish them every success alongside Providence in this next chapter.”
The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals. Providence’s financial adviser was Houlihan Lokey, its legal adviser was White & Case, while McKinsey advised on commercial due diligence, and Deloitte on finance and tax due diligence. Fitness Park’s selling shareholders were supported by J.P. Morgan as sole financial adviser and Mayer Brown, Volt Associés and Jeausserand Associés as legal advisers. Fitness Park was assisted by 8A on financial due diligence, EY on tax, legal, and social due diligence and OC&C on commercial due diligence.
About Providence Equity Partners L.L.C.
Providence Equity Partners L.L.C. is a leading middle-market private equity firm with deep sector expertise in media, communications and education focused on North America and Europe. Providence looks to invest in businesses that are benefiting from the long-term growth trends around experiences, learning, and connectivity by partnering with exceptional management teams to build enduring, scaled companies.
Founded in 1989 in Providence, Rhode Island, the firm has invested over $40 billion across more than 180 portfolio companies with a transatlantic investment team based primarily in London, New York and Boston. Through disciplined portfolio construction, prudent risk management and a collaborative culture, the firm seeks to deliver strong results across market cycles. To learn more, please visit www.provequity.com.
About Fitness Park Group
Founded in 2009, Fitness Park is a next-generation fitness brand offering premium facilities at affordable prices. As the #1 fitness franchisor in Europe and recently named Franchise of the Year 2026* in the Sport-Bodybuilding category, the company operates over 467 clubs in France and abroad, spanning more than 500,000 m² of training space and over 1.7 million members, through both corporate-owned and franchised locations.
Learn more at: group.fitnesspark.com and follow Fitness Park on LinkedIn.
*Study conducted in France by Qualimétrie for Gabaon from March 27 to July 7, 2025, based on 1,246,741 votes.
About FFC
Future French Champions is the partnership between QIA and Bpifrance, initiated in 2014.
QIA is the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar. QIA was founded in 2005 to invest and manage the state’s reserve funds. QIA is one of the largest and most active sovereign wealth funds in the world. QIA invests across a wide range of asset classes and diverse regions, as well as partnering with leading institutions across the globe to develop a global and diversified investment portfolio, with a long-term perspective that can generate sustainable returns and contribute to the prosperity of the State of Qatar.
More information on: www.qia.qa
Bpifrance Investissement is the management company that handles Bpifrance's equity investments. Bpifrance is the French national investment bank: it finances businesses – at every stage of their development – through loans, guarantees, equity investments and export insurances. Bpifrance also provides extra financial services (training, consultancy) to help entrepreneurs meet their challenges (innovation, export…). More information on: https://www.bpifrance.com/
