The group currently has a network of 13 locations in Bucharest, Constanta and Ploiesti.
The transaction will allow an accelerated development of the Gymboland group, the shareholders planning to double the number of locations in the next three years, expand outside Romania, and introduce innovative concepts of entertainment and recreation for children.
The transaction, whose value has yet to be disclosed, was signed in the second half of November 2023 and targeted both the acquisition of existing shares and a share capital increase.
“(…) The children’s entertainment and recreation market has important room for growth if we look at how big the demand is vis-a-vis the offer, especially if we consider that most of the indoor entertainment offering for children is in Bucharest, especially in the north of Bucharest, and in a few big cities. We hope that by investing in Gymboland we can contribute to the development of this niche and make the indoor playgrounds accessible to as many children and parents as possible”, said Arin Ion, Founding Partner at Black Sea Fund.
Gymboland is a brand launched in 2009 by the couple Adi and Lavi Shalom together with Favi Stelian. The idea to launch Gymboland was Lavi Shalom’s. At the time of launch, Gymboland was one of the first players to enter the local children’s indoor playgrounds market and soon became a leader in the segment by the number of locations.
Rematch is a brand launched in 2022 and represents areas with games featuring a variety of activities for the whole family.
Gymboland targets children under ten years old, while Rematch is for all the family, but especially for teenagers. In 2023, some 280,000 children played in Gymboland and Rematch locations.
In 2022, the group reached a turnover of just over EUR3 million, and currently, the network has 125 employees and 13 locations in Bucharest, Ploiești, and Constanța. Gymboland and Black Sea Fund plans to have over 25 Gymboland and Rematch units by the end of 2026. The targeted cities are those with more than 50,000 inhabitants.
The shareholders consider expanding the brand and its concepts regionally, in countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic.
The Romanian market for children’s entertainment spaces is around EUR75 million, of which the indoor playgrounds market represents around EUR20 million, according to Black Sea Fund’s estimates. The balance encompasses waterparks, outdoor adventure parks and other entertainment concepts (karting, etc.).
“In the 14 years since we launched the business, Gymboland has grown strongly and built a good reputation that helped us make our decision to go hand in hand with the Black Sea Fund. We believe that the Black Sea Fund team is a partner that has a real interest in the world of children and wants to develop it on a larger scale. So we saw this as an opportunity to expand the Gymboland & Rematch chain and make more children happy. Thus, along with this step, we intend to develop new units in shopping centers and also to open our first family entertainment center that will offer solutions for all ages. These include food service, separate areas for parents, children’s shows, and other necessary services for parents and kids in one place”, stated Adi Shalom, Managing Director & Co-founder Kids Element S.A, the company that owns and operates Gymboland and Rematch brands.
“The idea of creating play centers for children came after we came to Romania after several years we both spent in the USA. At that time we didn’t have children, but we noticed this market need in Romania. Now we have three children and we want our services to best meet the needs of the parents and children. Thus, every year we go to the most important entertainment events and exhibitions in the world, especially in the USA and Europe, just to bring new ideas, strategies and services to Romania”, added Lavi Shalom, Co-founder of Kids Element S.A.