Sell by industry · Health and fitness
Selling your gym or studio
How gyms and fitness studios are bought, and what the buyers pay for.
A single gym sells as an asset purchase, priced on owner earnings plus the equipment, and the top of the range goes to a gym that runs without its owner. Buyers model the membership roll and monthly churn first, then the lease, the equipment and its liens, and any franchise agreement. The chains trade in a different market, where private equity and club operators bought at every tier in 2025.
What buyers pay for
In health and fitness, buyers pay a premium for a few things and discount the rest
Every offer is built from the same ledger. One column is what moves a gym or studio up the range. The other is what a buyer finds in diligence and takes off the price.
Priced up
- A gym that runs without its owner, the top tier of the price
- Monthly churn under 4 percent, on a membership roll a buyer can read month by month
- A lease with five years left that the landlord will assign
- Equipment that is current and clear of liens, in a club that does not look worn
Priced down
- A gym that only works with its owner, which never reaches the top of the range
- Monthly churn above 8 percent
- A lease with under two years left, or one the landlord will not assign
- A club that has come to look worn and dated, and needs capital a buyer would rather not spend
Who is across the table
The buyers who show up for a gym or studio, in the order they usually do
Five kinds of buyer exist in every sector. Health and fitness draws some of them more than others, and each one reads your business a different way. A competitive process puts more than one of them at the table, so the terms are set by competition.
Strategic acquirer
Another gym or studio operator in your market, absorbing your members. Usually pays more than a financial buyer for a single gym, by one gym mentorship firm's account.
- Wants
- Your customers, product, or territory added to theirs.
- Pays
- Often the highest price when the fit is real, with synergies priced in.
Private equity platform
A sponsor buying a regional chain to build on, the way the value chains traded in 2025. In 2025 investors bought across the multi-unit spectrum, from the value chains to premium clubs and boutiques; none of the deals the research found was a single gym.
- Wants
- A durable business to build on with add-on acquisitions.
- Pays
- A market multiple, with rollover equity for a second exit.
How the sale runs
Four phases, and what diligence reads first in health and fitness
Selling a gym or studio follows the same path as every FNDRS sale: the Go-To-Market Analysis, then four phases, prepare, market, select, and close. What changes in health and fitness is what the buyer's diligence reaches for first.
Diligence reads first
- The membership count and monthly churn, month by month, for 24 months
- The lease, and whether the landlord will assign it
- The equipment, its age, and any liens on it
- The franchise agreement and the franchisor's transfer approval, the state health club statutes, and prepaid deposits
- Before the saleThe Go-To-Market AnalysisA buyer's read of the business, with your CPA in the room
- Phase oneGo-to-market preparationThe financials and the materials a buyer will read
- Phase twoMarket launch and offersBuyers under NDA, and the offers by one date
- Phase threeMeetings and final selectionThe shortlist, the counter-offers, one letter of intent
- Phase fourDiligence and closeThe buyer checks everything, and the money moves
The terms
The deal terms a gym or studio is most likely to see
The headline number is one line of a term sheet. These are the terms that come up most often when a gym or studio is sold, what each one means, and how it tends to be used in health and fitness.
- Multiple
The factor applied to EBITDA or revenue to reach enterprise value. It rises with the six pillars.
In health and fitness. A single gym is priced on owner earnings, from about one to two and a half times, plus the equipment at about half its cost. The chains trade in a different market, on EBITDA.
- Letter of intent
The non-binding offer that sets price and key terms, usually with a period of exclusivity.
In health and fitness. In a franchised gym the franchisor's transfer approval and the landlord's assignment of the lease sit between the letter and the close.
- Working capital peg
The normal level of working capital the buyer expects to be left in the business at close.
In health and fitness. Prepaid deposits are on the buyer's checklist. How they are settled is agreed before the close.
What owners are told
Three things owners in health and fitness hear, and what buyers actually do
Each one is common enough to have cost a founder money. Open a row for the correction.
My equipment is worth what I paid for it.
FactA common rule of thumb counts equipment at about half its cost, on top of owner earnings, and a buyer reads every lien on it before the close.
Record memberships mean a record price.
FactA record year for memberships lifted the market, not your gym. A buyer prices your roll, your churn, your lease, and whether the gym runs without you.
The brand sells the gym.
FactA franchised gym needs the franchisor's approval to transfer, and the buyer still prices the roll, the churn, and the lease. The brand is a condition of the sale, not the price.
Health and fitness
Health and fitness owners on working with FNDRS
Short testimonials from owners who went through the FNDRS process. Most are under two minutes.
Not ready to sell yet
Scale the gym or studio first, then sell it for more
The valuation playbook for health and fitness reads the same market from the other side: the value gap in numbers, the element buyers weigh first, and the order of work that closes the gap before you go to market.
Selling a gym or studio? Start with a conversation
The playbook gives the range. The deal team gives the number, the buyers who will show up, and the terms to expect.