Planet Fitness loses 11th hour bid to acquire bankrupt Blink

Planet Fitness lost its bid in bankruptcy court to acquire budget fitness chain Blink Holdings, according to court filings viewed by CNBC.

Planet Fitness placed its competing eleventh hour bids early this month during a 48-hour challenge window. The two higher bids came after it lost out in a bankruptcy auction to U.K.-based, privately held fitness chain PureGym.

Late Tuesday, Delaware’s bankruptcy court formally accepted PureGym’s $121 million offer, which initially won at auction in late October.

J. Kate Stickles, bankruptcy judge in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of Delaware, said in Tuesday’s hearing that PureGym’s offer would avoid antitrust risks. The company only operates three locations in the U.S., which it first entered in 2021.

PureGym’s offer, assuming Blink’s liabilities, also comes with 60 of Blink’s fitness centers still operating in New York and New Jersey.

“PureGym is committed to ensuring continuity of service for Blink’s members in New York and New Jersey by maintaining the high-quality fitness experience that Blink members have come to expect,” said PureGym CEO Humphrey Cobbold when the company initially made the bid in September.

“The American fitness market is the largest and most dynamic in the world. We are incredibly excited by the scale of opportunity and the chance to tailor and apply our proven model there,” he said.

Planet Fitness’ initial bid was rejected in part because of antitrust concerns, as the roughly $6.8 billion company already owns more than 2,000 club in the U.S., sources familiar with the matter told CNBC.

Planet Fitness’ offer would have further delayed closing the deal, they added. By accepting PureGym’s offer now and avoiding antitrust issues, Stickles said it would allow Blink to continue to operate rather than dissolve as a deal was negotiated in court.

Planet Fitness did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.