The popular fitness and gym brand in Nigeria, i-Fitness, in recent news, made changes in equity partners as Cardinal Stone Capital Advisers (CCA) offloaded all its shares to Verod Capital Management.
CCA was representing 65% of the fitness brand, which stands at a value between $8 – $12 million at the time of the deal closing. There has been inadequate information on the exact price of the 65% sale or the fitness brand’s current value.
The joint financial advisors for the transaction were Rand Merchant Bank Nigeria Limited (RMB) and Cardinal Stone Partners Limited (CSP). While, Belo Osagie and Udo Udoma played the legal counsel of Cardinal Stone.
Official sources state that Cardinal Stone invested an undisclosed amount in i-Fitness in 2021, and approximately 2 years after, the fitness brand was reported to have spent over $5.2 million (equivalent to ₦2 billion) on operational costs.
At that time, i-Fitness was just opening its 10th branch in Lagos, Nigeria, and was boasting of 8,000 active subscribers. Now in 2024, the fitness brand has accumulated over 26,000 active subscribers across 21 branches and is projected to reach a milestone of 100,000 subscribers by the end of 2024.
That, according to many, seems unrealistic, as the fitness brand will have to acquire at least four times the current subscriber number to achieve that goal.
How does i-Fitness generate revenue?
The fitness brand, i-Fitness, offers their fitness and gym services on a subscription base, which has a fluctuating price based on the location of the branch.
Its fitness centers in Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt have a monthly subscription pricing of ₦24,890 for old subscribers.
New subscribers are to pay a onetime entry fee of ₦18,896 and then continue paying the regular pricing from the second month.
While Fitness centers in Ibadan, on the other hand, have a lower monthly subscription fee of ₦19,890. The new subscriber’s fee remains the same as the Lagos branch.
Then there is the app, which subscribers use to access any of their branches in the country. We are unclear about whether the fitness brand utilizes this in a creative way to add up revenue or if it’s just an ease of service to their client base.