> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.businessbagel.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Virgin Active buys its way into Germany instead of spending years building new clubs from scratch
- URL: https://www.businessbagel.com/virgin-active-buys-its-way-into-germany/
- Published: 2026-11-11T03:15:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-11T03:14:59.000Z
- Description: The €135 million deal for Holmes Place Germany means most of Virgin Active's earnings will now come from outside South Africa.
- Author: Christian Maidman
- Tags: Companies, Business Bagel News

Virgin Active is buying Holmes Place Germany for €135 million in cash, a deal that makes it Germany's leading premium gym operator. The business has 13 large clubs across six cities, including Berlin, Hamburg and Düsseldorf, with about 84,100 members. That's a foothold in Europe's largest fitness market, which has 12.4 million members. Its premium segment is forecast to grow by 9.3% a year to 2028, and the market is still fragmented and underpenetrated compared with the rest of Europe. The deal is unconditional and is expected to complete by mid-December.

## Why buy instead of build

Rather than spending years building new clubs, Virgin Active is buying a business that is already profitable. Holmes Place Germany is forecast to make €70.2 million in revenue and €21.5 million in EBITDA, or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, this year, with EBITDA up 27%. Virgin Active says the price is considerably less than it would cost to build an equivalent set of clubs, and buying lets it skip the start-up losses of opening a new network. It's paying from its existing cash, which takes its net debt to 2.9 times EBITDA, and the clubs will need some spending to rebrand them as Virgin Active.

## Less reliant on home

Once the deal is complete, 56% of Virgin Active's earnings will come from outside South Africa, with South Africa contributing the other 44%. The company says that continues its strategy of growing in markets where it has the scale to succeed. At home, Southern African revenue grew 6% in the year to March, mostly thanks to higher membership prices and sales at higher-end clubs. But membership cancellations stayed high, partly because of club closures for refurbishment and affordability pressures on consumers. The region has 623,000 active members and makes up 35% of group revenue.

Brait, the investment company that owns a stake in Virgin Active alongside food producer Premier and UK retailer New Look, will share more detail at its interim results this morning. Brait has already reported a 37% rise in Virgin Active's EBITDA to £110 million for the 12 months to December 2025, with earnings growing everywhere except Australia. Christo Wiese, whose investment firm Titan owns 42% of Brait, has said they are "very excited" about the deal. For South African members, the bigger takeaway is that their gym's next stage of growth is increasingly happening overseas.