• Mutual goal: expansion into additional countries, rapid market leadership in Europe
• Corporate Fitness & Wellness: Booming market with huge potential
• High double-digit million purchase price

Munich/Paris, 26 April 2022

New European powerhouse for corporate fitness

Health and wellness for all employees in Europe – with this joint mission, EGYM and the French company Gymlib are reaching for European market leadership in the booming corporate fitness segment. The Munich-based fitness-tech company is now acquiring Gymlib, by far the biggest player in the French corporate fitness market, for a high double-digit million purchase price.

With its qualitrain brand, EGYM has become the top corporate fitness provider in Germany within the last four and a half years: the fast-growing qualitrain network currently includes around 3,600 corporate customers, whose employees have access to a wide range of 5,500 high-quality sports and health facilities throughout the country. Gymlib is the undisputed market leader in France with around 600 corporate customers and 4,300 fitness facilities. The company is also active in Belgium.  

By joining forces, EGYM and Gymlib aim to further extend their lead over their national competitors and jointly offer corporate fitness activities in other parts of Europe. The clear goal, according to the CEOs of EGYM and Gymlib, Philipp Roesch-Schlanderer and Sébastien Bequart, is to become the market leader in Europe in order to provide all employees on the continent with qualified yet inexpensive products and services to keep fit and healthy in a seamless network of partner facilities.

EGYM CEO Philipp Roesch-Schlanderer: “Providing all employees with easy and affordable access to health-oriented training”

Philipp Roesch-Schlanderer continues: “Sébastien and his co-founder Grégoire Véron have worked tirelessly since Gymlib’s beginnings to connect the fitness industry and the corporate health market. We are very impressed by the entrepreneurial spirit of the two Gymlib founders, who have massively grown their business, especially during and after the pandemic, with a clear focus on market leadership and capital efficiency. We look forward to providing technology and capital to support the realization of our common goal of providing employees in all industries with easy and affordable access to health-oriented training.”

qualitrain Managing Director Nicolas Stadtelmeyer added: “With this merger, we are combining the clout of the respective market leaders in corporate wellness in the two largest European economies. We look forward to our joint future and are convinced that we will continue to massively expand our business in the coming years.”

Gymlib CEO Sébastien Bequart: “EGYM’s innovations are revolutionizing the way people exercise around the world”

Gymlib co-founder and CEO Sébastien Bequart on the reasons for joining forces with EGYM: “To continue our growth in an increasingly competitive European market, we were looking to partner with a leading industry player. We were won over by how Philipp and Nico intelligently combine EGYM’s innovations with corporate wellness to revolutionize access to fitness around the globe today. EGYM’s values and the great development of our personal relationship over the past months have further strengthened our decision.”

Many benefits

Companies sign a framework agreement with qualitrain or Gymlib and determine for themselves the personal contribution that their employees pay for participation. After registering, they have immediate access to currently around 9,500 exercise facilities in Germany, France and Belgium and a constantly growing range of online courses. Usable tax benefits further reduce costs for employees.

Thanks to this attractive offer, corporate fitness reaches particularly those people who were not previously active in sports. Therefore, it is not only the fitness studios, the employees and the employers who benefit from the positive effect, but entire national economies.

The corporate wellness market

The combined volume of the corporate wellness market in Germany and France is estimated at ca. 2.5 billion euros (worldwide: around 51 billion euros). Experts predict an average annual growth rate of seven percent for the period up to 2027.

Demand could further increase as more and more businesses and companies in all industries launch wellness programs for their employees. Workplace wellness programs help companies increase productivity while reducing the cost of sick leave. Rising awareness of employee health and wellness is expected to further fuel the corporate wellness market.

About EGYM
EGYM is a global fitness technology leader providing fitness and health facilities with intelligent workout solutions. EGYM makes exercising smarter and more efficient with its comprehensive suite of connected gym equipment and digital products that integrate seamlessly with 3rd-party hard- and software. EGYM enables gym owners and operators to leverage a fitness technology ecosystem that delivers a fully connected workout experience for exercisers and drives measurable business and health outcomes on and off the fitness floor.
EGYM’s global headquarters are in Munich, Germany, with additional offices across Europe, and North American offices in Denver, Colorado.
www.egym.com 

About qualitrain
The qualitrain corporate fitness network supports companies in planning and implementing holistic corporate health management. qualitrain offers companies and their employees access to over 5,500 high-quality sports and fitness facilities throughout Germany with just a single membership. These include premium fitness studios, swimming pools and leisure pools, yoga studios, and climbing and bouldering gyms. In addition, members select from a digital sports offering of more than 1,000 online and live courses, as well as guided meditation classes. More than 1.2 million employees from over 3,600 companies, including major corporations such as RATIONAL AG, Bombardier Transportation, Personio, Malteser Hilfsdienst gGmbH, and Adolf Würth, are eligible to participate and train with qualitrain - when, where and as often as they want. qualitrain has been part of the Munich-based sports tech company EGYM since 2017.
www.qualitrain.net

About Gymlib
Founded in 2014 by Sébastien Bequart and Mohamed Tazi, then joined by Grégoire Véron, Gymlib has raised more than 14 million euros since its creation to engage employees in a healthy and active lifestyle, combining - a single subscription with no commitment, giving access to more than 4,300 partner sports and well-being facilities, to alternate between yoga, swimming, fitness, soccer, boxing, golf, climbing, etc. - social features to connect teams and get them moving, thanks to challenges, exclusive content (lives, workshops, apps) and a news feed dedicated to companies for their employees' activity.
The offer has already attracted more than 600 companies with more than 300,000 eligible employees, including major accounts like Deloitte, Danone, Capgemini, Verisure, SMEs as well as hyper-growth start-ups such as  Qonto, PayFit, Spendesk, Mirakl, Deliveroo and many others.
www.gymlib.com