Palladin Consumer Retail Partners Establishes PB Metro, LLC To Acquire And Manage 28 Pure Barre Studios

BOSTON and NEW YORK, June 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Palladin Consumer Retail Partners, LLC ("Palladin" or "PCRP") (pcrp.com) announces the acquisition of 13 Pure Barre studios and a management agreement for one studio under PB Metro, LLC ("PB Metro" or the "Company") in partnership with the franchisees of the Pure Barre studios (purebarre.com) and Pure Barre Franchising, LLC which is owned by Xponential Fitness, LLC ("Xponential") the franchisor. 

PB Metro has been formed to offer Pure Barre clientele in the New York metropolitan market the ability to utilize multiple locations in the region, to grow the footprint and presence of the brand, to provide associates with additional career opportunities and to continue sharing the Pure Barre workout and sense of community.  The Company has committed to opening at least 15 new Pure Barre studios in the New York Tri-State area over the next three years.  The PB Metro team will be led by current Pure Barre studio owners Kaitlin Vandura, Chelsea Costello, Tiffany Simpkins and Lauren Singer.  Ed Silvera and Becca McCarthy will continue as owners in an advisory role.  Collectively, the team has over 18 years of experience managing Pure Barre studios. 

Palladin, founded in 1998, has helped build numerous consumer and retail platforms.   The portfolio team led by Robert Fioretti, Managing Director and Mark Schwartz, CEO, will work closely with Pure Barre Corporate, Xponential Fitness and Palladin operating partners providing marketing, financial, real estate, systems and other expertise to help expand the Pure Barre system platform.  

Kaitlin Vandura, Chairwoman of PB Metro, said, "The Palladin team brings a wealth of experience growing consumer brands.  Being able to work with them marks a critical next step in our growth strategy.  Their expertise, support and leadership will provide creative insights and operational improvements that will be instrumental in becoming a major regional network." 

Mark Schwartz, CEO of Palladin, added, "We are excited to partner with both Xponential Fitness and Kaitlin, Chelsea, Tiffany, Lauren and the entire PB Metro team.  They are experienced and dedicated Pure Barre franchise owners, have managed some of the top performing studios in the network and are well-respected in the industry.  We are confident that, with additional capital and resources, we can work together with the team and Xponential to significantly expand the PB Metro platform."   

Rob Fioretti, Managing Director of Palladin commented, "We have spent over a year researching the studio fitness market and identified Xponential as a strong partner and Pure Barre as the right concept to build a leading regional studio fitness franchise.  The experience of the management team and their commitment to employees and customer service provide an excellent foundation for growth and development.  Moreover, Xponential is one of the leading boutique studio franchisors in the industry with significant resources and the commitment to building world class boutique studio franchise networks.  We look forward to working with the Xponential and PB Metro teams growing Pure Barre both organically and through acquisitions."

Anthony Geisler, CEO of Xponential Fitness, added, "We're thrilled to partner with the team at Palladin to further develop the New York City region. This will grow the Pure Barre presence considerably over the next few years, allowing more people to enjoy the low-impact, challenging workout."

Advisors to Palladin included Morgan, Lewis & Bokius, LLP for legal services, Crowe, LLP for accounting, Krauter & Company for insurance and Retail Technology Group for systems.  Wachtel Missry, LLP provided legal advisory services to the franchise owners and Alantra LLC provided corporate finance advice. 

ABOUT PALLADIN CONSUMER RETAIL PARTNERS (PCRP)
Palladin Consumer Retail Partners is a private equity firm with extensive experience investing in and building leading retail and consumer brands.  Founded in 1998, the firm prides itself on working closely with management teams to create value through strategic and operational initiatives.  Its principals have previously held CEO and other senior executive roles at several wholesale, retail, and related companies, and have invested in, financed or managed over 100 public and private companies.  Current and former investments include Splash Car Wash, KT Tape, Nic+Zoe, InMotion Entertainment, J. McLaughlin, Things Remembered, Restoration Hardware, Spencer Gifts, Jamba Juice, Worldlynx, Multi-Flow, Kwik-Tek, and Party America.  The firm targets middle market consumer product companies with $5 to $20 million in EBITDA.

ABOUT PURE BARRE
Founded in 2001 by dancer, choreographer and fitness guru Carrie Rezabek Dorr, Pure Barre has quickly grown into the largest barre franchise in the nation, with more than 550 studios throughout the U.S. and Canada. Since launching its franchise opportunity in 2009, Pure Barre has exploded in popularity, due to it's extremely effective technique, friendly, high-energy atmosphere; and fun, motivating music. The brand offers a total body workout that uses the ballet barre to perform small isometric movements, which burn fat, sculpt muscles and create long, lean physiques. Headquartered in Irvine, CA, Pure Barre is backed by Xponential Fitness, a team with decades of experience in fitness franchising. To learn more, visit https://franchise.purebarre.com/.

ABOUT XPONENTIAL FITNESS
Xponential is the curator of the leading brands across every vertical in the boutique fitness industry including Pure Barre, the largest barre brand in the world with over 550 studios.  The Xponential team has decades of boutique fitness franchising experience and the resources and network to dominate every boutique fitness category.  Its portfolio of brands include Pure Barre, Club Pilates, the nation's largest and fastest growing Pilates franchise, CycleBar, the first and largest premier indoor cycling franchise, StretchLab, a concept offering one-on-one assisted stretching services, Row House, a rowing concept that provides an effective and efficient workout centered around the sport of rowing, AKT, a dance-based cardio workout, YogaSix, a modern fitness boutique offering a fresh perspective on one of the world's oldest practices and Stride, a treadmill based cardio and strength workout.

SOURCE Palladin Consumer Retail Partners, LLC