New Zealand's Accident Compensation Corporation invests in Les Mills International

Auckland-based Les Mills International says a multi-million investment by New Zealand's Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) will drive it move in new directions in a post-COVID world.

As reported by New Zealand's Stuff news website, the ACC has taken an 18% stake in the global group fitness pioneers.

While the state-owned corporation has not disclosed how much it paid for the stake, Stuff suggested that ACC “usually does deals in the vicinity of $30 million to $100 million”.

Advising that while the fitness innovator had been growing through its own means for about 40 years and while there were no plans to list, Les Mills International (LMI) Chief Executive, Clive Ormerod (pictured below) said ACC’s investment drive future developments and diversity, commenting “COVID's really helped us diversify.

“The health and wellness market is going from strength to strength right now and we’re perfectly placed to be a part of that.”

The company’s revenue is drawn from services it offers overseas gyms and its fast-growing online ‘on-demand’' classes for consumers.

Advising that during COVID lockdowns LMI’s 20,000 gym partners were able to provide on-demand classes to keep their memberships alive, Ormerod suggested that there are other areas it could develop, including new digital services which connect gyms more closely with their members.

The company was also on the lookout for new business partnerships and products, with Ormerod stating that wellbeing packages for employees, and fitness packages for hotels and apartment complexes are '’something that’s just taken off in the last four months and we’re looking to continue to invest for that.'’

He went on to say “there are so many examples of where our business would need further investment if we had to go faster.”

Ormerod advised that COVID had not stopped LMI filming its updates, noting “we’ve got 120,000 Les Mills instructors around the world. Even at the moment, we can't get them into the country but our last filming two weeks ago, we had a studio in Shanghai, a studio in Australia, a studio in London.

“So we’ve been able to film those overseas presenters even now.’’

Martin Goldfinch, ACC’s head of private markets, said the move was in line with the corporation's strategy of partnering with top New Zealand companies, following similar investments in Icebreaker and Rocket Lab.

LMI founder Phillip Mills, who remains on the board with his wife Jackie, welcomed ACC’s investment, telling Stuff “it’s the best of both worlds.

“We are going to get some fresh energy and expertise into the business with two new board members and the kind of financial backing that will help us access funding to execute further transformational growth initiatives.”

ACC manages about $2 billion of assets spanning property, infrastructure and private equity.

The Mills family will remain majority stakeholders in both LMI and the Les Mills gym chain in New Zealand, with the latter not part of ACC’s investment.

Images courtesy of LMI.