Viva Leisure looks to drive growth with $30 million capital raising

Listed fitness club and aquatic facility operator Viva Leisure has announced a $30 million capital raising to further expand its market share.

The Canberra-based operator is understood to be looking to use the funds for the acquisition of new locations and the refurbishment recently acquired sites.

With all its sites now open following Coronavirus lockdowns, Viva Leisure Chief Executive, Harry Konstantinou has advised that member visitations have returned to pre-COVID levels.

The business’ ongoing expansion follows its acquisition of Australian Fitness Management (AFM), the master franchisor of the Plus Fitness brand, in August.

That deal has given it a presence in New Zealand for the first time and significantly bolstered the company's footprint of fitness centres.

Viva Leisure currently has 89 locations, together with the 200 franchised clubs in the Plus Fitness group.

As part of the acquisition of AFM, Viva Leisure is in the process of finalising the establishment of a New Zealand presence to manage the existing franchisee relationships, grow the franchisee network with the sale of additional territories. It is also seeking to establish company owned locations under the Plus Fitness and other Viva Leisure brands which include Club Lime.

The company has also reported today that all members were off COVID suspensions. There were 6,175 members on requested suspension, down from 15,000 in September.

Revenues in October were also higher than pre-COVID shutdown levels.

Viva Leisure also has achieved record memberships totalling 103,000 in its company owned centres, along with the 175,000 Plus Fitness network members.

The group expects to open more than 20 locations by the end of this financial year, and it already has secured leases for 19 of them. It plans to have more than 400 locations by 2025.

Earlier this week, Body Fit Training announced planes to open 50 new studios in the next three months.

Image: Viva Leisure, Tuggeranong.