Pinnacle U.S., a subsidiary of PureGym, a global gym operator, completed its acquisition of Blink Fitness’ corporate operations and a significant number of locations in New York and New Jersey for $121 million in cash plus assumption of certain liabilities.
On Aug. 12, 2024, Blink Fitness commenced a sale process through Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. On Sept. 10, 2024, PureGym entered into an asset purchase agreement (APA) with Blink Fitness, which covered Blink’s corporate operations and up to 67 of its locations in New York and New Jersey. This APA gave PureGym ‘stalking horse bidder’ status ahead of an auction. On Nov. 12, 2024, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware approved PureGym’s as the successful bidder, and PureGym consummated the sale on Nov. 29, 2024.
Latham & Watkins represented PureGym in the transaction with an M&A team led by London partner Kem Ihenacho and Century City partner Sean Denvir and a Restructuring & Special Situations team led by New York partner George Davis and Los Angeles partner Ted Dillman, with associates Michael Houlder, Beini Chen, Shayna Servillas, Whit Morley, and Kevin Shang. Advice was also provided on real estate matters by Los Angeles partner Kim Boras; on tax matters by Chicago partner Joseph Kronsnoble, with associates Aaron Bradley and Derek Gumm; on finance matters by London partner Jocelyn Seitzman and Los Angeles partner Dennis Lamont; on executive compensation matters by New York partner Bradd Williamson, with counsel Leah Segall; on labor and employment matters by counsel Sandra Benjamin, with associate Sahar Merchant; on consumer protection matters by Washington D.C. partner Jennifer Archie; on data privacy and security matters by San Francisco partner Robert Blamires, with associate Kathryn Parsons-Reponte; and on intellectual property matters by counsel David Kuiper, with associates Nathan Wages and Azzam Chaudhry.
