A&O Shearman advises Virgin Active on its market entry in Germany through the acquisition of the German Holmes Place fitness clubs

back to overview

Deals

Frankfurt am Main, 9 November 2026. A&O Shearman has advised Virgin Active, a Virgin Group company, on the acquisition of the German Holmes Place fitness clubs. The seller is a joint venture between Holmes Place Europe and funds controlled by AUCTUS Capital Partners AG. The agreement is not subject to any further conditions. Closing of the transaction is expected in December 2026. The total purchase price amounts to EUR 135 million.

The transaction comprises 13 premium fitness and wellness clubs in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Cologne, Essen and Lübeck.

The acquisition marks Virgin Active's strategic entry into the German premium health and wellness market and supports the company's goal of becoming the global leader in premium health and wellness.

Virgin Active has been operating since 1999 and runs 224 premium clubs in ten countries, focusing on holistic health, fitness and community. The company now has more than one million members worldwide.

The transaction was led in-house by Poppy Georgiades (née Kevelighan), General Counsel of Virgin Active.

Financial and tax advice was provided by Grant Thornton.

The core A&O Shearman team was led by partner Dr. Michael Weiß and also included senior associate Dr. Veronika Gaile (both Frankfurt), associates Dr. Christina Vossen and Dr. Dominic Herold (both Düsseldorf) and transaction lawyer Mykola Oleksin (Frankfurt, all Corporate/M&A).

The team further included partners Dr. Jochen Scheel (Real Estate), Dr. Heike Weber (Tax, both Frankfurt), Dr. Jens Matthes (IP/IT, Düsseldorf), Dr. Sebastian Schulz (Employment and Benefits, Frankfurt), Catharina Glugla (Data Protection, Düsseldorf) and Dr. Jan-Hendrik Bode (Debt Finance, Frankfurt), counsel Alexander Wüpper (Corporate/M&A, Frankfurt) and Dr. Ioannis Thanos (Antitrust, Hamburg), senior associates Simon König, Hasan Kaya, Hauke Jung (all Real Estate), Anne Pelzer (Employment and Benefits) and Alan Markgraf (Debt Finance, all Frankfurt), associates Pascal Yves Schroeder (Data Protection, Düsseldorf), Franziska Tischler (Real Estate, Frankfurt), Johanna Otten (IP/IT, Düsseldorf), Nico Schweitzer (Tax), Olga Stange (Employment and Benefits), Dr. Helene Maskow (Corporate/M&A) and Thorsten Lauer (Debt Finance, all Frankfurt), as well as executive transaction lawyer Laura Ulm (Frankfurt) and senior transaction lawyer Julia Khandogina (Hamburg, both Corporate/M&A).

This text was automatically translated from the German original.