“We are starting to see the fitness market come back on a stronger trend. We hope that this year we will approach the results of 2019, when we achieved revenue of EUR35 million,” Dan Farcașanu, investment director of Resource Partners, the Polish private equity firm that bought World Class Romania in 2014, told ZF.
“We have a budget for acquisitions, we are looking for individual clubs in Bucharest, but also in provincial cities where we are already present. We hope that all restrictions will be lifted.”
The network operates most of the fitness clubs in the capital, with two lines of business, namely clients who come on private memberships and those who come on corporate memberships. The chain currently has 45,000 members, according to Dan Farcașanu.
World Class is the biggest player in the fitness center market in Romania. Official data from the Finance Ministry shows that World Class posted RON99.4 million revenue in 2020, compared with RON171 million in 2019, and losses of RON43.5 million compared with a profit of RON6.6 million the previous year. The number of employees stood at 340, down from 401, according to the same source.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)