Health-and-Fitness online information.

The health club operator LA Fitness revealed yesterday that it was planning a series of acquisitions in a bid to compete with the market leader, Fitness First, and other rivals. Fred Turok, the chief executive, said he believed the company was in the right shape to benefit from 'inevitable consolidation' in the fitness industry.

Mr Turok was unveiling LA Fitness's latest business strategy, following the company's delisting from the London Stock Exchange last month. The group was taken off the market in a pounds 90m deal with the private equity firm MidOcean Partners.

Although LA Fitness is one of the country's largest operators, with 68 health clubs across the UK, it is dwarfed by Fitness First, which has more than 400 clubs around the world. MidOcean aims to add to the company's portfolio by targeting both rival chains and small- time operators.

Just a third of the health clubs open for business around the country are owned by the major chains " including LA Fitness, Fitness First, Esporta, Cannons and Holmes Place " with most of the rest run by individual operators. 'There are certain to be casualties in a consolidating industry and the niche operators are going to find life increasingly difficult, especially the mom and pop individual outfits,' Mr Turok said. 'We are planning on LA Fitness being a vehicle for furthering this industry consolidation.'

# posted by Medical Information : 3:47 AM