Apollo Global Management (New York City) is acquiring a minority stake in The GoodLife Group (London, Ontario), Canada’s largest operator of gyms – about 400 of them, with a membership roll of about 1.5 million.
The deal, whose terms remain undisclosed, is subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions. Reuters, citing “sources familiar with the matter,” sets the company’s value at $2 billion Canadian dollars (€1.2bn). The key executives, founder and Chairman David “Patch” Patchell-Evans and CEO Jeff van Haeren, will be staying put.
Apollo says its funds “will provide capital to advance the Company’s long-term strategy and enhance its leadership position in the fitness market, while continuing to improve member and employee experiences.”
Patchell-Evans has until now kept his company’s equity undiluted, accepting infusions from private equity (Penfund, Manulife Financial) only to make acquisitions – such as the purchase, in late 2012, of seven independent Gold’s Gym locations.
The GoodLife in perspective
At present The GoodLife alone has a Canadian market share above 20 percent, according to IBISWorld, which expects the company to generate revenues of CAD 760.1 million (€469.6m) and profits of CAD 99.7 million (€61.6m) in the current year. That would put it within striking distance of the world’s ten largest fitness companies by revenue.
| World’s largest gym operators | ||
|---|---|---|
| By revenue | ||
| Company | Revenue (€ million) | |
| 1 | 24 Hour Fitness | 2,480 |
| 2 | Invited (ClubCorp) | 2,390 |
| 3 | Konami Sports | 2,210 |
| 4 | Anytime Fitness | 2,120 |
| 5 | Life Time Fitness | 2,020 |
| 6 | LA Fitness | 1,200 |
| 7 | Planet Fitness | 1,010 |
| 8 | Basic-Fit | 1,010 |
| 9 | PureGym | 665 |
| 10 | Equinox | 419 |
| By total clubs | ||
| Company | Clubs | |
| 1 | Anytime Fitness | 5,200+ |
| 2 | Planet Fitness | 2,740+ |
| 3 | Basic-Fit | 2,150+ |
| 4 | Orangetheory | 1,500+ |
| 5 | LA Fitness | 700+ |
| 6 | PureGym | 680+ |
| 7 | Gold’s Gym | 600+ |
| 8 | Crunch Fitness | 500+ |
| 9 | Clever Fit | 500+ |
| 10 | L’Orange Bleue | 400+ |
| Source: https://www.wellnesscreatives.com/biggest-gym-chains | ||
Atop this list sits 24 Hour Fitness (€2.48bn), all of whose operations are within the US. The largest in Asia, Konami (€2.39bn), operates only in Japan. The largest is Europe is Basic-Fit (€1.01bn), with headquarters in Netherlands but clubs in many countries.
About Apollo
Apollo is among the world’s largest players in sports investment. In September 2025, when establishing the holding company Apollo Sports Capital (ASC), it claimed that its managed funds had to date “deployed” some $17 billion in “the broader space” of sports, with “investments in sports and entertainment companies, media rights, and stadium and league financings.”
Itself worth about €5 billion, ASC is to invest “predominantly in credit and hybrid opportunities in the sports landscape” (franchises, leagues, venues, media, events) and serve as a “stable, long-term partner to the sector, providing patient capital and adding strategic value.”
At ASC’s helm is Al Tylis, who served as CEO of NorthStar Asset Management (New York City) for 12 years into 2017, when he pivoted from real estate to sport. Since then he has acquired stakes in several football teams (Club Necaxa, Club Deportivo La Equidad, Swansea City AFC, DC United) and one Major League Pickleball team (Brooklyn). He also sits on the board of G2 Esports.
Among ASC’s first deals (November 2025) is the acquisition of a majority stake – of about 55 percent, according The Athletic – in Atlético de Madrid (LaLiga). The deal gave the club an implied value of about €2 billion.
Soon thereafter ASC acquired a minority stake in Wrexham AFC.
Apollo is also an investor, through its Hybrid Value Funds, in the Spanish online retailer TradeInn, as reported earlier this month and last year.
