Equinox Holding Co., which counts among its brands Equinox, SoulCycle and Blink Fitness, is in discussions about going public, according to a March report by Sportico.
Executives at Equinox Holding Co. reportedly have been talking with executives at approximately 12 special purpose acquisition companies (SPAC) about taking the company public, but the SPACs were not named. SPACs offer a way for a company to go public more quickly than a traditional initial public offering. (Learn more about SPACs in this article.)
Equinox Holdings is looking at other alternatives, too, Sportico reports. Bloomberg reports that the company lost $350 million in 2020 due to temporary club closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Club Industry has reached out to Equinox for comment but has not yet heard back.
Equinox Holding is a private company owned by a group of investors including Equinox Holding Executive Chairman and Managing Partner Harvey Spevak, principals of The Related Companies, L Catterton and venture capital firm Silver Lake Partners, which offered funding in February 2020 to help the company grow its digital offerings. At that time, Equinox Holding was valued at $9 billion, which is more than the $6.8 billion valuation of Planet Fitness, according to Sportico.
A public offering isn’t new for SoulCycle, which filed for an initial public offering in 2015 but ultimately pulled the plug on that plan in May 2018.
In February, two lawsuits were filed against Equinox Holding for unpaid rent related to two locations in New York City. One of the lawsuits seeks $1 million in back rent on its 196 Orchard location, which the landlord says Equinox has not paid rent on since April 2020. The lawsuit seeks $23 million in interest. The other lawsuits seek $1.7 million in back rent, stating the company had not paid rent on its 14 Wall Street club since April 2020.