Software company eGym, Munich, Germany, announced on March 22 it has entered into an agreement to purchase San Francisco-based partner Netpulse for an undisclosed sum.
As part of the deal, Netpulse CEO John Ford will become the new CEO of eGym North America, according to a media release. Netpulse Chief Commercial Officer Alex Peacock will replace Ford as Netpulse CEO. Additionally, Netpulse chairman and co-founder Tom Proulx will join eGym's board of directors.
“This will be the combination of the largest supplier-independent digital fitness platform and the largest open mobile platform," Ford said in the release. "We want our customers to benefit from a completely integrated system without sacrificing their ability to buy different types of equipment. Gym operators don’t need to worry anymore about not being future-oriented or having to choose from many different, costly siloed solutions. Once the entire training floor is digitized, the options to add value are endless.”
Ford said all of eGym's offerings from the Gym Fitness App will be built into the existing Netpulse app, beginning with specialized eGym activity tracking.
"Netpulse will continue on its mission to bring innovation to gyms with the renewed energy and resources of the combined company," he said.
Ford assumed responsibility for all eGym sales across North America in October 2017, after the closure of a continental distribution partnership between the two brands.
eGym plans to continue to expand its portfolio in Europe, the release said. This includes the eGym Trainer and Fitness Apps as well as cloud-based software eGym ONE, which syncs exercise equipment in order to create a comprehensive training experience.
“Our first meeting at SIBEC in Austin two years ago already showed that John [Ford] shares our vision of a fully networked training area," eGym CEO Philipp Roesch-Schlanderer said in the release. "In the course of our following conversations, Netpulse impressed us in many ways: Its excellent management team, its value-adding shareholder base, its deep footprint into the U.S. fitness market and its highly scalable and customizable IT platform."
Netpulse is currently the largest provider of mobile apps for health clubs, according to the release, with thousands of global clients including Planet Fitness, Gold's Gym and 24 Hour Fitness. Its European portfolio also includes Virgin Active, Migros, DW Fitness First and INJOY .
"Through our distribution partnership, we developed the idea of working together with our customers, club operators, to help them fully take advantage of the potential of mobile digital technologies for their gyms," Roesch-Schlanderer said in the release. "For both of our companies, meaningful fitness data for all members is the most important aspect of our work. Valid digital training documentation is an essential factor for successful training, sustained high motivation and, last but not least, for more profitable gyms. In addition, with our open cloud platform eGym ONE, we are connecting the training floor with more and more machines from other manufacturers. As a result, the training area networked by eGym is continuously increasing.”