Holmes Place, the UK’s third-largest fitness-club operator, has formed a joint venture with US-based Bally Total Fitness Holding.
The jv, into which each partner will invest an initial £5.5m ($8m), will establish two Holmes Place clubs in Chicago and three Bally clubs in central Europe.
Each partner will incur startup losses of £1.5m in the first two years.
In recent years, Holmes Place has opened clubs in Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Germany and Austria, but has never previously had a presence in North America.
Holmes Place said that its first Chicago club would open in spring 2002.
Bally’s programme of European club openings will begin in late 2002 or early 2003.
EGi News 03/12/01
