Crunch Fitness is setting its sights on a transformative milestone — 1,000 gyms worldwide — after private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners (LGP) completed a majority acquisition from TPG Growth in a deal valued at more than $1.5 billion. The transaction, finalized in June 2025, positions the New York–headquartered fitness franchisor for what CEO Jim Rowley calls a new era of “firepower” and accelerated unit growth across the United States and beyond.
The deal saw LGP acquire a majority interest in Crunch from TPG Growth and the brand’s minority shareholders, with the transaction closing in June 2025. Multiple buyers competed for the asset, but Rowley — a 34-year veteran of the fitness industry — said LGP separated itself by displaying intense interest from the very beginning of the process and demonstrating a collaborative approach to partnership.
“The level of interest they showed, the style, the manner in which they went about things felt fitting,” said Rowley.
LGP brings deep experience in the gym sector, with current and prior investments including Life Time Fitness, PureGym, Equinox, and SoulCycle. That portfolio-level expertise is already proving valuable for Crunch’s leadership team as the brand navigates rapid expansion.
Crunch currently operates approximately 575 gyms across 41 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Portugal, Puerto Rico, and Spain. Since launching its Crunch 3.0 format early last year, the brand has opened approximately 125 locations — and the pace is only increasing.
The company is now opening a minimum of two new units per week, a cadence that puts the 1,000-unit milestone within striking distance. Rowley has also signaled plans to remodel more than 100 additional existing locations to the Crunch 3.0 standard by 2027.
The financial trajectory underscores the operational momentum. Crunch generated $1.2 billion in systemwide sales in 2024 and expects to surpass $2 billion in 2026 — representing growth of more than 66% in just two years. The leap is driven by a combination of new unit openings, the Crunch 3.0 format’s higher revenue per unit, and aggressive franchisee investment from multi-unit operators backed by institutional capital.
Rowley emphasized that LGP is “not really impacting operating decisions” at Crunch, but instead provides strategic guidance drawn from a portfolio of fitness and consumer brands. The firm’s institutional memory of what has succeeded — and failed — across its holdings gives Crunch’s leadership a reference library of best practices that a standalone company would not possess.
This dynamic is particularly relevant as Crunch navigates the complexities of a dual focus: executing aggressive new-unit development while simultaneously rolling out the Crunch 3.0 design refresh across the existing base. Both initiatives ran in parallel with the acquisition process itself — a challenge Rowley acknowledged required exceptional resource management.
The LGP transaction signals that institutional appetite for value-fitness franchising remains robust despite broader macroeconomic headwinds. For master franchise investors evaluating multi-unit Crunch development opportunities, the deal validates the brand’s unit economics and its ability to attract premium capital.
Crunch’s international footprint — currently spanning seven markets outside the United States — remains modest relative to its domestic base. That gap represents untapped runway, particularly in Asia-Pacific and Middle Eastern markets where demand for affordable, high-amenity fitness continues to rise. Compared to the strategic uncertainty at Xponential Fitness, Crunch’s ownership clarity under LGP may give international partners greater confidence in long-term brand stability and franchisor support.
The $1.5 billion valuation, the $2 billion systemwide sales trajectory, and the two-per-week opening cadence collectively paint a picture of a franchisor entering its next growth phase with significant financial backing and operational discipline — factors that matter deeply in master franchise due diligence.
Source: Franchise Times — Crunch Fitness Has Even More Firepower After Sale to Leonard Green
