New Evolution Ventures and Kirk & John Galiani Partner to Build US Fitness Platform

LAFAYETTE, Calif., Feb. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- New Evolution Ventures, LLC (NeV) is pleased to announce that it has partnered with industry veterans Kirk and John Galiani to develop and operate a collection of health clubs in the Mid-Atlantic region. The new partnership, US Fitness, is backed by NeV and Vision Capital, an international private equity investor, and includes the Galianis' Mid-Atlantic Onelife Fitness clubs, Crunch Fitness clubs in Washington, DC, and other new facilities in various stages of development throughout the Region. US Fitness is actively seeking acquisition and ground-up opportunities.  In addition, the Galianis have joined the Board of Directors of NeV bringing over two decades of industry experience to the NeV family.

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"I've always admired Kirk and John Galiani for being two of the top operators in the industry. The Mid-Atlantic region has strong growth potential for our brands and I'm excited to rapidly grow our footprint," said Mark Mastrov, Chairman of NeV. "We're honored to have Kirk and John join the NeV Board as we continue to build NeV into a global health, wellness and fitness company."

The Galianis bring a wealth of knowledge to the NeV team, previously owning, operating and selling Gold's Gym International before starting their new business venture in the Onelife Fitness brand. The Galianis continued to build on their success in the industry by opening Crunch Fitness clubs in the Nation's Capital in 2011.  

"John and I are excited to partner with NeV and Vision Capital. We could not have found better partners than NeV, led by Mark Mastrov, arguably the greatest mind in the fitness industry and Vision Capital, a top-tier private equity firm," said Kirk Galiani, Co-CEO of US Fitness.  John Galiani added, "We believe there will be significant growth prospects in our industry over the next two to five years and our ability to develop and operate clubs under different brands within the NeV portfolio puts us in a very strong position."  

Vision Capital is an international private equity investment firm.  In addition to backing US Fitness, Vision Capital also made a significant investment in NeV in June 2011. Together, they look to not only grow the US Fitness brand, but continue to cultivate and expand the NeV brand around the globe.

"Kirk and John's impressive track record of creating value by building, acquiring, operating and selling fitness businesses including Gold's Gym International and Pulse Fitness Clubs speaks for itself," said Matt Constantino, Managing Partner at Vision Capital. "We believe the US health club industry is ripe for consolidation and are confident the NeV/Galiani partnership is ideally suited to thrive in this environment."  Kirk and John Galiani were advised on the transaction by Integrity Square (www.integritysq.com), a boutique advisory firm focused on the health and wellness sector.

About New Evolution Ventures™ (NeV) Based in Northern California, New Evolution Ventures (NeV)  focuses on the acquisition, development and operations management of health, fitness, and wellness businesses both domestically and internationally.  Founded in 2008 by Mark Mastrov, Jim Rowley and Mike Feeney, the current team of NeV professionals is shaping the world of fitness, media, and sports one brand at a time.  With a foundation representing over a century of business experience, NeV currently has operations and investments in more than 20 countries worldwide representing over 800+ facilities.  For more information, please visit www.nev.com

Vision Capital is an innovative private equity investor focused on delivering comprehensive strategic transactions for sellers. Vision Capital has operations in Europe and the Americas and a multi-sector approach. Vision Capital typically acquires entire portfolios of assets instead of single companies. Since inception, Vision Capital has raised seven funds totalling over EUR 1.9 billion. Through 13 transactions, Vision Capital has invested in ten portfolios with an underlying enterprise value of EUR 2.5 billion and has acquired over 40 companies in total. www.visioncapital.com

SOURCE New Evolution Ventures, LLC